Popeyes is launching a collaboration with One Piece. The collaboration includes exclusive merchandise—like an official One Piece Bento box, key chains, and t-shirts—giveaways, and a menu with items named after the series’ Straw Hat Crew. This marks Popeyes’ first anime collaboration, and they’re timing it to place ads across cities hosting AnimeCons this month. It’s a strategic launch to draw in young consumers, especially because recent data from Crunchyroll shows that more than half of Gen Z are anime fans. Brands have long leaned into these fandoms, but it’s been having a particularly big moment lately. Just last week, Kikkoman launched an anime-inspired campaign to promote its teriyaki line, and Duolingo launched an anime series last year. While Popeyes’ U.S. sales declined in the fourth quarter, this Gen Z-focused campaign is likely their hope to get those numbers back up. (Marketing Dive)
👀 Read more from YPulse: How Brands Are Using Anime to Reach Gen Z & Millennials
