Rio Ferdinand became the latest famous face to experience what it's like when #collabs with big brands go down like a lead balloon among fans last week – after facing a barrage of criticism for collaborating with McDonald's.
The former Manchester United star shared a photo of himself posing in front of a McDonald's Happy Meal to promote Mental Health Awareness Week on his Instagram account, which has 6.1 million followers.
The former England defender, 45, teamed up with the fast food giant in a social media advert that saw the smiles removed from Happy Meals boxes in a bid to get people talking about the mental wellbeing of young people.
In the post, marked #Ad, Rio told his fans that he wanted to “inspire more conversations about children's mental well-being.”
As important as the message behind the campaign was, joining forces with the global burger chain seems to have proven to be something of a goal of its own for the star – with the vast majority of comments on the post being negative.
Rio Ferdinand joined forces with McDonald's last week to promote children's mental health, but the partnership was not well received by many of the sportsman's fans
One wrote: 'oh wow! How could you advertise McDonald's? This is so disappointing.”
Another added: 'Oh ferdy man. Disappointed.'
One critic wrote: 'There's so much wrong with it…. You need to fire your PR team.”
One person referred to Cristiano Ronaldo, who famously took away two bottles of Coca-Cola placed in front of him at a Euro 2020 press conference, telling people Portuguese people will instead “drink water” and say, “Wow. Ronaldo wouldn't be happy about this! Promoting junk food to children, disappointing'.
Ferdinand is just one of many stars to have collaborated with the brand in recent weeks, with high-profile names from the world of fine dining and healthy eating also taking on paid gigs to promote the famous Golden Arches.
Restaurant critic Grace Denta regular on BBC One's MasterChef, has shared two posts with her followers, in which she raved about the country's 'favourite' beef burgers to her 205,000 Instagram followers.
Restaurant critic Grace Dent is one of a number of 'foodie' names starring in McDonald's social media posts – but the MasterChef critic doesn't allow comments on the posts about the fast food giant she shares
The 50-year-old critic, whose day job is to review the country's best restaurants, has left fans 'unconvinced' by her decision to collaborate with the fast food brand
She told them: 'Yes, I eat at the fanciest restaurants, but it's no secret that I have a soft spot for a cheeky, satisfying McDonalds.'
In another post, we see the food writer and TV star, who briefly appeared on I'm a Celebrity in 2023, posing on a giant burger at an event in London last month to promote a recipe makeover.
Perhaps aware of the possibility of negative comments, Dent disabled comments on both posts.
Although comments on the same post on McDonald's UK Instagram page did come through, with one person saying: 'How much are they paying you for this? I'm very unconvinced here…'
Cooking up a storm of flack: Food and home cooking influencer Tyler Butt was also invited to collaborate with the burger chain… but admitted he got 'beef left, right and center' for the paid cooperation
And that was the criticism leveled at “nutrition and home cooking” influencer Tyler Butt when he collaborated on a commercial ad with McDonald's earlier this year. He published a follow-up video defending his partnership with the brand.
Some of his 327,000 Instagram followers said they were baffled by the commercial affair after he posted a video of himself devouring an “incredible” revamped version of the chain's classic burger.
One wrote: 'Unfollowed friend. Cheerio, I'm sure you won't miss us.'
Another added: 'Sold out now. Such a pity. I was keeping an eye on you for your health.”
The influencer, a father-of-one who has built an impressive following through his cooking videos, said he was all about “balance” and thought it was a “great opportunity” to join McDonald's headquarters.
The chef said the negative reactions he had received “forced you to feel guilty about certain food choices, which is not okay” and added that he had “really been eating at McDonald's all my life.”
Days after posting a video talking about McDonald's “incredible” burgers, he posted another video defending his decision to work with them commercially
Butt, who has been posting content about cooking from scratch and nutrition on Instagram for four years and has 327,000 followers, said it was “all about balance” and that he had been eating McDonald's burgers “all his life.”
One fan responded to his video defense, saying, “I understand the whole balance thing and I completely agree. And that's what I like about your videos. But I don't know, it just seems crazy to me to work with such a company.'
However, others were convinced by Tyler's response, with one saying: 'Agree with your message Tyler, you have always advocated a nice piece of chocolate, bread, burger or pastry to embrace ALL food, and encourage EXERCISE to support a decent, calorie-fed food regimen. ! We all love a burger and providing a cost-effective fast food option for everyone.”
MailOnline contacted McDonald's, Rio Ferdinand and Grace Dent for comment.
Responding to the response to Rio Ferdinand's post, a McDonald's spokesperson said: 'Our campaign is solely designed to encourage families to have positive conversations about mental health during this Mental Health Awareness Week.
'The items, created by our charity partner BBC Children in Need, are available for free on the iconic Happy Meal box, as well as on the McDonald's Family Hub website, with no purchase necessary to ensure all families can access have access to the information they need.
'We are delighted to see such an overwhelmingly positive response to the campaign we proudly launched on Monday and hope it supports many more families to have important conversations about their children's mental wellbeing.'