Rio Ferdinand, Grace Dent and nutrition influencer Tyler Butt face criticism for promoting McDonald's - as fans say they're 'selling out' by being paid to promote the fast food giant McDonald's has teamed up with famous faces from the world of food and sport in recent months - but some fans aren't convinced by the paid partnerships Read more: The mother and daughter who LIVE in McDonald's: Women, aged 64 and 31, have spent 19 hours a day in Brazilian branch for three months By Jo Tweedy For Mailonline Published: 14:11, 21 May 2024 | Updated: 14:50, 21 May 2024 e-mail 1 View comments Rio Ferdinand became the latest famous face to experience what it's like when #collabs with major brands go down like a lead balloon with fans last week - after he faced an onslaught of criticism for teaming up with McDonald's. The former Manchester United star shared a snap to his Instagram account, which boasts 6.1million followers, of himself posing in front of a McDonald's Happy Meal to promote Mental Health Awareness Week.
The former England defender, 45, partnered with the fast food giant in a social media commercial that saw the smile removed from Happy Meals boxes in a bid to get people talking about young people's mental wellness. In the post, marked as an #Ad, Rio told fans he wanted 'to help inspire more conversations around children’s mental wellbeing.' However important the message behind the campaign was, joining forces with the global burger chain seems to have proved something of.