Nike, McDonald's, and Devin Booker Turned a Sneaker Drop Into a Desert Scavenger Hunt

As a player for the Phoenix Suns, Devin Booker often went to the McDonald's in Sedona, Arizona, which is famous for swapping the brand’s traditional golden arches for turquoise ones that match the red rock scenery. So when the NBA star began sketching ideas for his second signature Nike sneaker, those arches became inspiration. The result is the Nike Book 2 McDonald’s: a white basketball shoe with a turquoise Nike Swoosh and golden arch. To promote the launch, Nike, McDonald’s, and Wieden+Kennedy New York turned Booker’s longtime habit of hiding signed, unreleased sneakers in public into a scavenger hunt that sent fans into the Arizona desert chasing cryptic clues, eerie Ronald McDonald statues, and a pair of limited-edition sneakers. As the former McDonald’s All-American athlete considered how to launch the shoe, his team worked with Wieden+Kennedy, creative agency for both McDonald’s and Nike, to give fans access to something unexpected: the Nike Book 2 McDonald’s Friends and Family edition, a second limited-edition sneaker in all turquoise. With sneaker-drop culture and Booker’s previous “Finders Keepers” hunts in mind, fans weren’t handed the details in a carefully packaged press release. Instead, the shoes were treated like a rare discovery—much like turquoise in the desert—with clues directing fans toward the Sedona McDonald’s. Alongside immersive billboards in New York, Los Angeles, and Sedona, clues were hidden in a series of social films. Shot against a mysterious desert backdrop with a vintage camcorder, the videos created a found-footage effect. Posted with the question “Ronald?”, the first film shows an old-school Ronald McDonald statue—once a staple of restaurants from the 1970s through the 2000s—sitting on a bench at the edge of a desert cliff, wearing a distinctive pair of turquoise shoes. View this post on Instagram A post shared by McDonald’s (@mcdonalds) Another cryptic post soon followed, asking: “Do you seek the turquoise arches?” In it, Booker hikes through the Sedona desert as a turquoise basketball falls from the sky before he encounters the eerie Ronald statue. News of the sweepstakes then broke with a post inviting fans to win an exclusive pair of the Nike Book 2 McDonald’s Friends and Family edition by ordering one of six new McCafé drinks in the app between May 22 and May 28. Sharp-eyed fans later spotted coordinates at the end of another camcorder-style video showing Booker with Ronald on the bench. The coordinates led to an early-access activation at the Sedona McDonald’s on May 29, where fans could buy the limited-edition sneakers before their official June 2 release through Nike.com, SNKRS, and select retailers nationwide, with Booker handing out pairs through the drive-thru. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Nike Basketball (@nikebasketball) “This collaboration represents the kind of culture-driven storytelling we want to continue building at McDonald’s,” Jennifer “JJ” Healan, vice president, US marketing, brand, content, and culture at McDonald’s, said in a statement. “What made this partnership so special is that it started from a real story. As a McDonald’s All-American athlete, Devin Booker already had a longstanding connection to the brand, and his personal connection to the Sedona McDonald’s made this partnership feel even more authentic. Together with Nike, we were able to turn that fandom into something bigger than a sneaker launch, into a cultural moment rooted in brand love, creativity, and co-creation,” she continued. Grady Linnihan and Sammy Watts Stanfield, copywriter and art director at Wieden+Kennedy New York, added in a statement: “Most brand collaborations start with a product and then try to build meaning around it afterward. This one already had a point of view. Devin has a real connection to Sedona, and that gave the whole thing a shape before we ever made a shoe… all of it came from trying to make the campaign feel like it actually belonged to that world and his personality instead of just being placed on top of it.”

Creativity x Culture

Nike, McDonald's, and Devin Booker Turned a Sneaker Drop Into a Desert Scavenger Hunt

Two brands collaborated for Booker's new sneaker by laying cryptic clues in the Arizona desert

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Imogen Watson

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