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RetailMcDonald's

McDonald’s Wants You to Make Music While Eating

By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
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By
Benjamin Snyder
Benjamin Snyder
Managing Editor
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 3, 2016, 5:26 PM ET
(FILES) A newly modeled McDonald's resta
DES PLAINES, UNITED STATES: (FILES) A newly modeled McDonald's restaurant sign on the site of Ray Kroc's original McDonald's is seen in this 14 April, 2005 file photo in Des Plaines, Illinois. Fast-food leader McDonald's Corp. said 21 April 205, first-quarter earnings rose 42 percent from a year ago, helped by solid sales and a tax benefit. The Oak Brook, Illinois restaurant giant recorded net income of 727.9 million USD, or 56 cents a share, up from the 511.5 million USD, or 40 cents per share, earned in the first quarter of last year. Excluding a one-time tax gain, the profit amounted to 43 cents a share, in line with most analysts' forecasts. Revenue rose nine percent in the latest quarter, reaching 4.8 billion USD from 4.4 billion in the same period a year earlier. AFP PHOTO/JEFF HAYNES (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)Photograph by Jeff Haynes—AFP via Getty Images

In the Netherland’s, McDonald’s want you to make music while eating your Big Mac.

The fast food chain in the country has unveiled a placemat, called a McTrax, that allows customers to bang out tunes as they dine. TBWANeboko, which is located in the Netherlands, created McTrax, according to Adweek. The item was developed with This Page Amsterdam, a digital production agency, and is made with conductive ink, a battery, and a circuit board.

To make it work, you place your phone on the mat, get an app, and then compose music (you can even record your voice).

Check out the placemat in action here:

“The paper of the placemat is what makes this technique so innovative,” TBWA creative technologist Radha Pleijsant and digital design lead Jan Jesse Bakker said in a statement to Adweek. “The phone merely acts as the speaker and screen, which is easily connected to the placemat via Bluetooth, making sure you can hear the music on your speakers.”

“This is exactly what McDonald’s is; a place to have fun and experience great moments, for everyone,” Erwin Dito, director of marketing, communications and consumer insight for McDonald’s Netherlands, said to Adweek.

About the Author
By Benjamin SnyderManaging Editor
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Benjamin Snyder is Fortune's managing editor, leading operations for the newsroom.

Prior to rejoining Fortune, he was a managing editor at Business Insider and has worked as an editor for Bloomberg, LinkedIn and CNBC, covering leadership stories, sports business, careers and business news. He started his career as a breaking news reporter at Fortune in 2014.

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