Why celebs have fast-food meals named after them now

Endorsement deals are getting weird on social media. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ [View on the web]( [Recode]( [Click to view images]( [Celebrities have always done endorsements. Now they sell their fast-food orders.]( Have you tried the new Travis Scott Meal at McDonald's? Or how about a popular The Charli coffee at Dunkin'? Are fast-food restaurants creating whole new menu items and naming them after celebrities, you wonder? No, no. It is, at the same time, much simpler and more confusing than that. According to lore, Travis Scott did an Instagram post showing him ordering a Quarter Pounder with bacon and lettuce and fries with barbecue sauce at McDonald's. The burger bosses noticed and named the meal after Scott, reportedly netting the rapper $20 million for his contribution. Charli D'Amelio did a similar thing by posting pics of her favorite Dunkin' iced coffee. Now a cold brew with whole milk and caramel syrup is called "The Charli." The strategy is sort of genius, offering fast-food companies an easy way to innovate without actually coming up with new things to sell. And celebrities can endorse something they would do anyway: eat their favorite fast-food order. Jameson Rich at The Goods explains how this trend came to be and how well it's working. [Click to view images]( [Amazon’s US tax costs jumped in 2020. It likely would pay even more under Biden plan.]( The tech giant cites boost in pretax profit as reason for higher tax expense. [ Richard Rubin / [Wall Street Journal]( ] [Click to view images]( [Quest for Hollywood fame splits Redditors at heart of market frenzy]( The moderators of the Reddit message board WallStreetBets battled over movie deals after their sudden fame with the GameStop mania. [ Nathaniel Popper, Taylor Lorenz, and Matt Phillips / [New York Times]( ] [Click to view images]( [Ford becomes an unlikely tech darling]( New chief executive Jim Farley wants to invest more aggressively in electric vehicles, but he still hasn’t fixed Ford’s combustion-engine business. [ Stephen Wilmot / [Wall Street Journal]( ] [Click to view images]( [Clearview’s facial recognition tech is illegal mass surveillance, Canada privacy commissioners say]( One commissioner said the software puts people "continually in a police lineup." [ Kim Lyons / [The Verge]( ] [Click to view images]( [Pixel phones will be able to read your heart rate with their cameras]( The Google Fit app will measure heart and respiratory rate. [ Nicole Wetsman / [The Verge]( ] [This is Cool Section Title] [Stunning images of starlings in flight]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Facebook]( Twitter [Instagram]( [Recode by Vox]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Manage your [email preferences](, or [unsubscribe]( to stop receiving emails from Vox Media. View our [Privacy Notice]( and our [Terms of Service](. Vox Media, 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, DC 20036. Copyright © 2020. All rights reserved.