- The McRib is only available for a few months each year.
- The NFT drop was also a sweepstake.
Last month, McDonald’s introduced its inaugural collection of NFTs to coincide with the reintroduction of the McRib (essentially a soupy version of a pork sandwich). The McRib is only available for a few months each year, usually in October or November.
i present to u the most important NFT. RT for a chance to win one of ten exclusive #McRibNFT
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) November 1, 2021
no purch. nec. 50 U.S./DC, 18+ only. winners need crypto wallet to receive NFT. rules: https://t.co/2QRhsPlpur pic.twitter.com/KYmWI67PhG
For the long summer months when the real product isn’t on sale, McRib NFTs are “digital versions of the fan favorite sandwich,” according to this year’s press release.
The NFT drop was also a sweepstake; winners were contacted through Twitter. On Friday night, a trader known as @ok_0S observed that an early transaction to the Ethereum address linked with the official McRib NFT collection featured a racist insult.
Digital Trail
The digital trail seems to connect McDonald’s official Twitter account to the slur-containing Ethereum blockchain transaction. On Nov. 1, McDonald’s started marketing their McRib NFT contest on Twitter. McDonald’s verified Rarible account contains the 0x2ef743b24a915a5d6c489479865a4e98d191efac Ethereum address. The McRib NFT contract was created here.
The first of 11 transactions linked with the address is a 0.000069 ETH deposit. Ethereum users may include hexadecimal data in a transaction. This data may communicate messages or even resolve standoffs, as in the $600 million Poly Network hacking case. However, the first transaction made to an address would later mint the official McDonald’s NFTs, showing that the sender had foreknowledge of the initiative.
The sender’s address holds the Ethereum Name Service domain the-boss.eth and has employed multiple DeFi techniques throughout 729 network transactions. No official announcement from McDonald’s is out yet.
