McDonald’s in China managed to pull off a bizarre prank after convincing it was launching a new piece of tech only to reveal a new chicken product instead. Arguably a much better reveal overall.

McDonald’s China teased fans with a brand-new ‘5G experience’ on its site, sharing lots of flashy images that wouldn’t look out of place on a big screen behind Tim Cook.

Alongside the fancy pictures, the page included words such as ‘fresh unlock’ and ‘super wide angle’. Announcing that all would be revealed on 15 April.

Naturally, the imagery set tongues wagging and people started to wonder what the new product could be – a phone, maybe? Or some sort of new contactless way of order your grub? A shiny new tablet?

The campaign was so convincing, several news outletsreported on the new ‘smart product with 5G connectivity’.

After getting people suitably interested, McDonald’s China CEO Phyllis Cheung then announced there will be a live-streamed unveiling of the new 5G product and used Chinese video sharing site Bilibili.

Millions tuned in to see what they thought would be McDonald’s first ever tech release.

However, Cheung actually revealed McCrispy Chicken – crispy fried chicken made with special spices and sauces. Sounds good to me.

The ‘five’ element refers to ‘taste, freshness, juiciness, crispy texture, and multiple sizes’ according to IGN.

The live-stream event was far from a washout, though, according to Global China Daily, it went on for 24-hours over which time coupons worth one million yuan (£113,421) where given out and viewers saw live test tastes as well as freebies given away to delivery riders and people who were working late into the night.

According to the news outlet, the new menu item took a whopping 18-months to perfect and the risky campaign paid off as the company said first day sales had ‘exceeded expectations’.

Cheung said the company had decided on the campaign as a way to engage with gen Z and believed a live-stream was the ideal way to announce the new product.

Maybe Tim Cook should pretend he’s going to launch nuggets before he whips out the next iPhone?