Mariah Carey is pulling out all the stops this Christmas. She generally always does, but 2021 has seen her take it to a whole new level. For starters, “All I Want For Christmas” has topped the Billboard Hot 100 once again en route to over a billion overall streams. But this year also saw Carey introduce her very first themed “Mariah Menu” at McDonald’s, which is like a fast food advent calendar of sorts. For each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas, people who spend at least $1 at McDonald’s through their app can get a free item each day from the Mariah Menu. It’s been a total hit promotion and even the brown paper bags at Mickey D’s have Mariah Menu branding.
So the Christmas Queen, in all her benevolent glory, decided to pay a surprise visit to the hard-working folks at a McDonald’s in Aspen (because of course Carey spends Christmas week where it’s snowing.)
Thank you @spotify, the #lambily, and everyone who streams this song to add a little bit of festivity to the season! I truly appreciate each and every one of these 1 billion streams!
pic.twitter.com/W0sOPAhxKY
— Mariah Carey (@MariahCarey) December 22, 2021
In a trip documented in a fairly ridiculous 3-minute Instagram video, Carey’s twins Monroe and Moroccan first play a prank on an unsuspecting drive-thru operator. Then, Carey’s assistants try to place an order in Portuguese at the walk-up counter. You gotta figure these employees were at about their wits end, until Carey walks into the restaurant, hand-in-hand with her boyfriend Bryan Tanaka and her kids in tow. She steps inside in a sparkling red dress and complements one of the employees’ Mariah Menu shirt (“That’s a cute shirt!”) She tries to order a cheeseburger and it doesn’t take long for everyone to realize what’s happening.
“Oh my god!” the manager proclaimed when she noticed the star. “I didn’t clear it with the top people,” Carey explains. “The kids just wanted to go to McDonald’s.” While she said she was not fond of the lighting (lol), she graciously took pictures with all of the employees, but did not take of her mask. “I can’t. Regulations. I’m from New York,” she explained. But she still looked stunning and clearly made these people’s night.
Watch the full video above.