Imagine my surprise when I came across an article on X about an iPod with the McDonald’s logo. What kind of Happy Meal treat is this? While doing some research, I realized that there are also Coca-Cola iPod models. And, knowing today’s Apple, a collaboration of this type is unthinkable. For this reason, they are now being sold at auction for hundreds of dollars and are a curious mix of technology and pop culture that transports us directly to the 2000s.
The Coca-Cola iPod arriving only in Europe
The case of the Coca-Cola iPod is the one whose story is clearest. And if we look at an Apple press release from 2006, these devices were part of a exclusive joint promotion
And even if the iPod was already the device of the most famous branda collaboration of this scale would make Apple’s music player even more widely known among young Europeans. For this reason, in the summer of 2006, an entire campaign was announced including:
- The gift of 70 million songs from the iTunes Music Store in the UK
- Miles of iPods gifted in Germany
- He launching a music site of Coca-Cola in several European countries
In the United Kingdom, the promotion was impressive: 70 million free song codes were included in packs of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke. Lucky consumers could Redeem these codes for songs on iTuneslimited to five per person.
Meanwhile, in Germany, things were getting even more interesting. Free Coca-Cola an iPod and 50 iTunes songs every hour for eight weeks
The enigmatic McDonald’s iPod
On the other hand, the McDonald’s iPod is a little more mysterious. There is no official data, but on social networks there are photos of these devicessome in impeccable condition. A Reddit thread suggests these could be gifts for the fast food chain’s employees.
McNuggets pic.twitter.com/Poaxa3Q6Yi
– Elite Obsolete Electronics (@eliteobsolete) November 14, 2024
The customization of these iPods could have been done in two ways: either Apple has reached an agreement with these companies to register them directly
The most curious thing is that there is also a Pepsi iPod. Let’s also remember U2’s iPod. What is clear is that at that time, Apple was much more open to this type of collaboration. Without the iPhone on the market, they needed all the publicity they could get.
Today, these iPods have become collector’s items. On eBay you can find Coca-Cola iPods at prices ranging from 100 or 200 dollars to almost 1,000. It’s harder to get them at McDonald’s. They’re relics from a time when technology and consumer brands collided in unexpected ways.
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