#FOODBEAST: McDonald’s Gets Virtual in FarmVille

For one day only (yesterday), McDonald’s and Zynga have struck a deal to present a branded digital farm within the popular social media game FarmVille. The 24-hour tie-together rewards players who click on the farm with two virtual goodies, such as a McDonald’s-branded hot air balloon for their personal farm. The advertisement between the two brands began at 12:01 a.m. ET Thursday and ended 11:59 p.m. ET almost 24 hours later. This finite and rather quick relationship between brands was exciting for two different industries. McDonald’s ventured into a still wet-behind-the-ears social-media advertising market and on the other end, Zynga (FarmVille’s parent company) has leveraged their 18-million user count to solidify themselves as a viable advertising avenue for big name brands. Game on, eat on! (Thx USAToday)