Biden Administration Finds Unlikely Partner in Vaccine Push: McDonald's

Mike Pomranz
·3 min read

Rolling out COVID-19 vaccines to hundreds of millions of people across more than 3.5 million square miles of terrain isn't an easy task—no matter how many free beers or $50 gift cards you offer. Sometimes, the best solution is just to reach people wherever they are to get the word out. So though America's top-selling fast food chain and the Biden administration may make for strange bedfellows, if you want to get information to people from all corners of the country, who's a better partner than McDonald's?

Today, the Golden Arches announced an official partnership with the White House, offering a two-pronged approach to help provide access to information on vaccines to the millions of customers they serve on a daily basis. First, later this month, McDonald's will add vaccine information from trusted third-party sources to its billboard in Times Square. Then, in July, McDonald's will expand their reach even further, rolling out hot McCafe cups and McDelivery seal stickers that will point customers towards the official vaccines.gov website for more information on COVID-19 vaccines—including where to find a place to get vaccinate nearby.

McDonald's coffee cup
McDonald's coffee cup

McDonald's

"We all want to protect ourselves and our loved ones and be together with our communities again. McDonald's is excited to be doing our part for the people we serve, providing them with simple information that can help keep them safe," Genna Gent, McDonald's USA's vice president for global public policy and government relations, said in the announcement. "This is a team effort—it takes all of us. We're proud to enter this partnership to provide trusted, independently verified information about COVID-19 vaccines to our customers in the nearly 14,000 communities we serve."

As part of the partnership, McDonald's will integrate the imagery from Biden's "We Can Do This" vaccination campaign into the relevant packaging and ads and will be encouraging people to use the #WeCanDoThis hashtag to further spread the message.

"Getting vaccinated is easy. More than 150 million people have already gotten at least one dose of vaccine, and millions more are getting vaccinated every day," U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra added. "Thanks to McDonalds, people will now be able to get trusted information about vaccines when they grab a cup of coffee or order a meal. Ending this pandemic requires all of us working together to do our part, including encouraging our friends and family to get vaccinated. This effort will help more people make informed decisions about their health and learn about steps they can take to protect themselves and their communities."

As McDonald's points out, this campaign is a continuation of their efforts to encourage vaccination: Back in January, the chain announced that employees at corporate-owned U.S. locations and at its U.S. corporate offices would receive up to four hours of pay to get vaccinated.