By: Maddie Bimonte

Celebrity branding has never tasted this good. Or does it actually taste horrible? I set out to find the best musicians have to offer in terms of collaborative meals with big companies like McDonalds and Dunkin. And believe me, there are some bad options.

Let’s kick things off with the most recent one to date, the Ice Spice and Dunkin collaboration named the “The Pumpkin Munchkins drink.” It blends frozen coffee with pumpkin munchkin doughnut holes and caramel drizzle in the worst way possible.

I swear, I don’t understand how a drink could be dry and leave a film taste in your mouth, but somehow the Munchkins drink does just that. Other than that, it’s ridiculously sweet and impossible to drink in one sitting. I will give Ice Spice credit as the name and collaboration make sense, but it’s a bust for me. If I had to rate it, I’d give it one out of five munchkins. Do better Dunkin and Ice Spice.

Another meal that didn’t blow me away was from one of the many artist and McDonalds collaborations that have appeared over the years, the Saweetie meal. On the surface, this meal sounds good: a Big Mac, 4-piece chicken McNuggets, medium fries, and a medium Sprite. But my gripe with this artist collaboration is that there is literally no personality with the meal. They just stuck the name Saweetie on it and rolled with it. Maybe if they had a limited edition sauce or new exclusive item I’d be more intrigued, but this one just falls flat. I’ll give this one two out of five happy meals because the food itself is pretty good.

On a better note, I recently discovered that I missed out in 2021 on the Twenty One Pilots and Chipotle collaboration, probably because I was in my anti-Chipotle phase, but now I regretfully look back on myself at that time because I wish I could’ve been a part of this one. The Ohio duo released a collaboration in 2021 featuring a burrito with chicken, white rice, fresh tomato salsa, roasted chili corn salsa, cheese, romaine lettuce, and queso blanco.

Essentially, this is my go to order at Chipotle (add black and pinto beans), so I have to give them points for the actual meal. But, I don’t really know what affiliation Twenty One Pilots has with Chipotle, so it’s kind of falling in a similar boat with the Saweetie meal.

Let’s ramp it up now with what I feel were two of the better meals. Funnily enough, they’re both with McDonalds.

Time stopped across the world when international superstar boy band BTS dropped their collaboration with McDonalds back in 2021. Not only was the packaging nice with purple logos and designs, but they actually did something unique! They made their own limited edition sauces to go with a 10-piece nugget. While the meal itself is unoriginal, the sauces finally showcase some uniqueness. And let’s be real, the sauces were phenomenal too. Sweet Chili Sauce or hot mustard with chili and peppers in the Cajun Sauce made my nuggets taste so good. I was never the biggest fan of BTS but this meal was truly “Dynamite.” I’ll give this one four out of five nuggets.

The best food and artist collaboration should be no surprise. It’s the Travis Scott meal in collaboration with McDonalds. The reason this is sitting at the top is not just for the good food, but for the way this meal was marketed down to a tee, making it truly a cultural phenomenon. The meal consisted of a Quarter Pounder with cheese, bacon, and lettuce, a medium order of fries with BBQ sauce, and a Sprite, all for just six dollars.

What makes this meal truly unique is the commercial success and the fun McDonalds had with this meal. We all remember the trend on social media of people rolling up to a McDonalds drive-thru, saying “you know what I am here for,” followed by playing Scott’s song “Sicko Mode.” Coupled with all the limited edition merch that dropped at this time (further emphasizing the collaboration between the two) it just seemed as if McDonalds actually cared to make a good meal.

Obviously too, it shows a lot on Scott’s part. Rather than sticking his name on a meal like Saweetie, they designed merch, they created amazing advertisements, and they actually marketed the meal. Therefore, this is the best artist food collaboration to date. A total five out of five Cactus Jacks for this one.

At the end of the day, these collabs are so special and cool because it can get people to engage with artists they might never listen to. Heck, I never listened to BTS but when I enjoyed their meal, I was definitely more inclined to give their music a try. And it also at the same time unites communities. People wanted to go out with their friends and buy a Travis Scott meal, say the gimmicky line and laugh about it. It’s what music does every day: unites people and fosters community. So, it’s smart for musicians to branch into food as well because food also makes communities.

I can’t wait to see what the future holds for food and artist collaborations, and who knows? Maybe your favorite artist will have a collaboration meal in the future real soon.