Dubai, United Arab Emirates 04 April, 2025: In a playful twist on currency markets, McDonald’s Qatar, has launched the McDonald’s Exchange Rate, a first-of-its-kind digital platform that establishes real-time trading values between McDonald’s menu items.
McDonald’s food has always been great for sharing. But it’s also been a source of countless debates, arguments, and disputes. When you give a friend a McNugget, how many fries should they get in return? How many spoons of McFlurry are a Big Mac bite really worth?
That’s why, to help fans avoid food-related fallouts, McDonald’s Qatar created the McDonald’s Exchange Rate, the first official platform showing the value of McDonald’s menu items in other menu items. Available on the McDonald’s app, hungry guests can pick what they’re willing to trade and instantly see how much they’re owed in return.
Now, there’s no more room for unfair deals. One McNugget equals seven fries. A Cheeseburger bite? Two spoons of Oreo McFlurry. A McChicken trade? That’ll cost four sips of a soft drink. With rates for all the fan-favorite items, no one will feel short-changed again.
“This campaign taps into a universal fan truth—the most shareable items on the menu are the hardest to share. By turning our menu into a currency, we’ve sparked engagement and celebrated how people share and enjoy our iconic meals,” says Sara Abuobeid, Senior Marketing Manager at McDonald’s Qatar.
The dynamic values of each item were determined by a mix of price, demand, and, of course, overall deliciousness.
Beyond the app, the rates were displayed on digital screens inside McDonald’s restaurants, printed on tray mats, and as stickers on the packaging. To launch the activation, fans who shared photos of themselves making trades were rewarded with a free pack of fries, meaning more currency to keep the fair trades going.
According to the Terms and Condiments (yes, they spelled it that way) on the app, the McDonald’s Exchange Rate assumes no responsibility for friendship arguments over the value of Big Tasty bites or family feuds resulting from miscalculations involving Oreo McFlurrys.
