McDonald’s has introduced its first non-fungible token (NFT) to celebrate their sandwich, McRib’s 40th anniversary.
McRib is a pork sandwich with barbeque flavour which is a permanent item in the fast-food chain’s menu in a few countries.
“Our McRib NFTs are digital versions of the fan favorite sandwich – almost as saucy as the McRib itself– and we’re giving them away to a few lucky fans on Twitter beginning 1 November,” McDonald’s said in a statement.
The NFT craze is quite new, but it has gained popularity in a very short amount of time.
A non-fungible token (NFT) means a digital item that belongs to the person that purchased it. In economics, fungibility is the property of a good being interchangeable, or replicable. For example, if you shared a photo from your phone to another person over a text message, the data and image would be replicated.
The NFT does not stop that replication - you could still take a screenshot of a digital artwork, or share a Nyan Cat GIF - but it does show who ‘owns’ an original image - in the same way your passport image also contains your name, age, and an identification number.
Simply owning an image of your passport does not make that person you, and the principle applies here for NFTs.
While NTFs exist on a blockchain, like the cryptocurrencies used to buy them, there are a number of other differences: NFTs are indestructible on the blockchain, cannot be divided, and can always be traced back to the original creator.
Therefore, NFTs can be used to represent easily-reproducible items such as photos, videos, audio, and other types of digital files as unique items, and use blockchain technology to establish a verified and public proof of ownership.
For a chance to win the McDonald’s NFT, the fast-food giant said you’ll have to follow it on Twitter and retweet its sweepstakes invitation tweet anytime between 1 November and 7 November.
By 12 November, the fast-food chain will select 10 people from 50 US states and the District of Columbia, who will receive the McRib NFT.
The winners also need to have a crypto wallet to receive their prize.
“With the McRib NFT, you’ll never again have to say goodbye to the sandwich you love,” McDonald’s said.
