A Brooklyn McDonald's Is Transporting Us Back To The '80s In A Big Way
The 1980s was a time of big synthesizer sounds in popular music, bigger movies, and the biggest hair. It's something of a quaint punchline now; though '70s and even '90s chic has become a thing in the 2020s, nobody really wants to go back to the 1980s aesthetic. Nobody, that is, except McDonald's, apparently. According to CNBC, as part of a cross-promotion with the second season of Marvel's Loki, the mega-chain's Brooklyn location at 6620 Bay Parkway in Bensonhurst has transformed itself into a replica of what the Golden Arches looked like 40 years ago (apologies if that statement just made you crumble to dust).
The company has, it is worth noting, really gone all out here, changing everything seemingly down to the last detail — the booths, the walls, the registers, the artwork, everything. It's especially noteworthy that they went this far since they're only keeping it going for two days; the promotion ends at midnight on September 1.
Brand synergy kicks up something kind of cool
Throwback jerseys are all the rage in modern sports, but up until now, there hasn't been much movement on bringing their ethos to food service. But, McDonald's is all in there, too: Employees will be wearing throwback uniforms. Unfortunately, the company isn't using throwback prices — we can't have everything, it seems — but otherwise, it will probably feel like you've been transported to the Me-Me-Me decade, which is exactly the idea.
With Loki's Season 2 airing starting October 6, it's perhaps not a surprise that Marvel would try to make a splash and use a corporate partnership to do so. Their more recent TV shows haven't done nearly as well as the previous ones, with season one of Loki still standing as the high water mark for initial viewership. It's not clear if a replica restaurant — complete with a Time Variance Authority door and numerous props from the second season — will move the needle, but it's probably worth a shot. And at the very least, it's kind of cool to see what it looked like when your parents went out to get a Big Mac.