McDonald’s tweeted ‘All I Want for Christmas’ as music notes and got trolled by Mariah Carey

11 November 2021, 11:15 | Updated: 18 November 2021, 11:14

Mariah Carey sets the record straight
Mariah Carey sets the record straight. Picture: Alamy

By Sophia Alexandra Hall

G - B - D - F - G - F - D - B - G - C - D - G - D

Ah, Christmas; the smell of French fries, ketchup packets, and a Big Mac in a pear tree.

Or at least that’s what McDonald’s wants you to think of, as it announced its Christmas menu collaboration for 2021 last night.

The cryptic message G - B - D - F - G - F - D - B - G - C - D - G - D was posted on Twitter, and fans were unsurprisingly puzzled.

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Some Twitter users immediately started guessing what the global fast-food giant was trying to say.

One fan questions if the sequence holds the secret to the meaning of life...
One fan questions if the sequence holds the secret to the meaning of life... Picture: Twitter

Others, such as American singer-songwriter Charlie Puth, used this as an opportunity to ask that their favourite McDonald’s meal item remain on the menu forever...

Then, musical fans in the comments section began to realise the sequence could actually be musical, and many took to their pianos to figure the melody out.

But it wasn’t until this tweet from the Christmas queen, Mariah Carey herself, that everyone began to realise what had happened.

G - B - D - F# - G - F# - D - B - G - C - D - G - D are the notes (in G major) which open the Christmas classic, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas is You.

The 13 notes are played on a glockenspiel as an introduction to the four-minute anthem.

Read more: A music theory analysis of Mariah Carey’s ‘All I Want For Christmas Is You’

Mariah Carey - All I Want for Christmas Is You (Make My Wish Come True Edition)

As well as accidentally giving the public a lesson in how accidentals can change the entire context of a song, McDonald’s used the tweet to launch their Christmas menu collaboration with Carey this December.

“Just like McDonald’s brings people around the table with their favourite orders, Mariah’s music connects us all during this time of the year,” said McDonald’s USA Vice President Jennifer Healan. “We’re so excited to team up to bring even more holiday cheer to our fans.”

Starting on 13 December, McDonald’s customers in the US will be able to access a Twelve Days of Christmas-inspired ‘Mariah Menu’ of free food, if they spend a minimum of $1 on the fast-food chain’s app.

Mariah Carey stars in McDonald's Christmas advert

McDonald’s and Carey are hoping to unify their audiences at this time of year; but for us at Classic FM, something we can all agree on, is that at least we’re not an alto singing All I Want for Christmas this year...

Woman Sings Only Altos Part Of All I Want For Christmas