What is the point of Travis Scott's collaboration with McDonald's? Scott is a company, a multinational company, and behaves as such

It's been 5 years since the release of Rodeo, the record that projected Travis Scott into the blogosphere, making him the first real trap superstar, the one in which rap had become the new pop and, for the brands, the rappers the perfect substitutes of sports stars. In these years, no other artist has been able to elevate his image like that of Travis Scott, managing to decline it in any sector of modern entertainment. Even his debut with Rodeo had been accompanied by the release of an action figure of Travis himself: now a new action figure will appear on the market, as part of a collaboration with McDonald. 

La partnership tra uno dei brand più popolari al mondo e Travis Scott replicherà qualcosa che era stato pensato solo per Michael Jordan e che non si vedeva sul mercato dal 1992. McDonalds realizzerà per Travis un menù apposito (come era stato per il McJordan), di cui farà probabilmente parte una sorta di Quarter Pounder con salsa BBQ, patatine e Sprite, oltre alla già citata action figure e, probabilmente, del merch. In rete è circolata la notizia di una tee appartenente alla collezione venduta per oltre 600 dollari, un modus operandi alimentato da quel circuito dell’hype ai limiti dell’idolatria di cui Travis Scott stesso è stato tra i principali fautori. 

Business Insider was the first media to leak the news, obtained apparently through a memo from Morgan Flatley, McDonald's US's head of marketing. The memo reads that Travis «he is a true fan of McDonald's and our craveable, iconic food. He will resonate and spark excitement with our youthful multicultural customers, and has a few surprises to delight our crew and ensure they are part of the excitement». According to Business Insider, the goal of McDonalds is therefore extremely targeted: «We need to make sure we are looking through the lens of our operators, our crew, and our people to better connect with African-American youth as we go forward». 

Fabian Gosler on Highsnobiety pointed out that the collaboration between Travis and McDonald's is one between the most popular rapper in the world among Gen Z and one of the fast food restaurants that is primarily responsible for the high obesity rates of young Americans, perhaps all too morally emphasizing how Travis Scott is putting his economic compensation ahead of the health of his fans. But Travis Scott is a company, a multinational company, and behaves as such: it is very likely that the partnership with McDonald's will be part of the charitable shares directly linked to the sale of the menu, which will also be sold at the popular price of 6 dollars. It makes no sense to wonder whether it's ethical for Travis Scott to advertise at a fast food restaurant, how he didn't expect rappers' songs to be educational or that a brand didn't fuel a crazy and certainly senseless hype around his collaborations. The goal of all these initiatives is to build what is probably already the largest merchandising machine in recent music history, much more than bringing McDonald's back to the African-American community. From this point of view it is clear that Travis Scott does not guarantee street credibility, but engagement and coolness, a coolness that an "old" brand like McDonald's - like others in the fast food industry, such as Dunkin who collaborates with TikTok megastar Charli D'Amelio - can only search in the universe of social media. But if it's now clear what Travis Scott is for at McDonalds, the real question is, what's Travis Scott for McDonalds for?