McDonald’srestaurants in Japan have a new mascot promoting limited-time fast food items, and she’s vastly different than the red-and-yellow-dressed clown that the company is best known for. The new mascot, named Imadakedabuchitabemi, is drawn and animated in anime art style, and she derives part of her name from dabuchi, the name for double cheeseburger items currently being sold at Japanese McDonald’s locations.
Anime-style characters in McDonald’s marketing probably don’t look too amiss even to customers in western countries, as the recentcollaboration between McDonald’s andGenshin Impactin September utilized the action RPG’s Kaedehara Kazuha and Beidou on limited-time boxes for the restaurant chain’s well-known apple pie dessert items. The collaboration not only let fans snag some exclusive real-world food items themed after the game, but also get redeemable codes for some exclusive in-game items. Unlike those characters, Imadakedabuchitabemi was created specifically to sell cheeseburgers.
Japan Introduces New Anime-Style McDonald’s Mascot
Even with the temporary presence of Imadakedabuchitabemi, she still hasn’t completely replaced Japan’s version of longtimemascot Ronald McDonald. The hamburger-happy clown made his debut in 1963 and has seen a lot less visibility in the restaurant chain’s western marketing in recent years, in part due to the creepy clown sighting scares of 2016 and criticism from medical professionals over the ethics of using a clown to lure young children into unhealthy eating habits. But the charity in his name, which provides nearby housing for hospitalized children and young adults in 64 countries around the world, still persists, and Japan still has the similar-looking Donarudo Makudonarudo, or Donald McDonald, promoting its food items.
Imadakedabuchitabemi isn’t the only McDonald’s mascot currently getting attention in Japan. Following themorbid memes about the Grimace Shakein the western world from summer 2023, JapaneseMcDonald’srestaurants are getting ready to roll out their own blueberry yogurt version of the milkshake starting October 30, and the big purple blob monster has made a few appearances on the restaurant’s Japanese social media in recent days.
