Some Caviar With Your McNugget, Madam?

Valentine's Day at McDonald's is getting a decidedly unexpected twist: Chicken McNuggets, meet caviar. Starting at 11am ET on Tuesday, the chain began handing out a limited batch of "McNugget Caviar" kits via mcnuggetcaviar.com/countdown, each bundling a 1-ounce tin of Baerii sturgeon caviar, creme fraiche, a mother-of-pearl spoon, and a $25 gift card for the McNuggets themselves, reports CNN. The company is pitching it as an "upscale yet effortless" way to celebrate.

The giveaway lands just ahead of the company's quarterly earnings report, as global sales inch higher and US store sales continue to grow. Vice is cautioning people not to hold their breath on acquiring the fancy feast. "Odds are, you won't get it," the outlet notes—and its prescient warning appears to be accurate for most, as just 30 minutes after the caviar kits launched, a "sold out" banner appeared on Mickey D's site. Want to know what you're (probably) missing? This Business Insider columnist did a taste test, and "I didn't expect to like the combination as much as I did."

The promo is less about romance and more about attention. With consumer sentiment falling to levels not seen in more than a decade, brands are leaning on stunts to spark buzz and, hopefully down the road, sales. McDonald's has seen that playbook work before, with its A Minecraft Movie tie-in that helped reverse a sales slump last year. The caviar pairing also taps into an online fan trend—Rihanna sampled the combo on TikTok in 2024—and comes as chicken now stands shoulder to shoulder with beef in McDonald's sales mix.