Overview

McDonald's BTS Meal refers to a collaborative promotion between McDonald's and South Korean K-Pop group BTS held worldwide.

Background

On April 19th, 2021, McDonald's official Twitter^[1] announced that the fast-food chain will collaborate with South Korean K-Pop group BTS on a project in May. The tweet received more than 636,000 likes and 193,600 retweets (shown below, left). On May 26th, 2021, McDonald's^[9] uploaded a video announcing a collaborative menu item with BTS named the "BTS Meal". The video received more than 546,000 likes and 184,000 retweets (shown below, right). The BTS meal is a 10-piece McNuggets, medium fries, a medium Coke, and sweet chili and Cajun sauces.

Developments

McDonald's first released the BTS Meal in the United States on May 26th, 2021.^[2] The next day, the meal released in South Korea. It also released June 9th, 2021 in Indonesia, and released in 49 countries except for China and Japan. The day of the U.S. release, YouTube channel TheReportOfTheWeek uploaded a video titled "McDonald's New BTS Meal Review!". The video received more than 880,000 views in two weeks (shown below). On May 30th, YouTube user BENBROS uploaded a video titled "Can I get the BTS Meal?". The video received more than 676,000 views in three weeks (shown below, right).

During the promotion, some attempts to sell items related to the BTS meal grew popular online. For example on May 30th, 2021, Reddit user patriktitan3411^[3] uploaded a screenshot from eBay of someone selling a chicken nugget from the BTS meal that was shaped like an Among Us crewmate to /r/CrackheadCraiglist subreddit. The post received more than 8,000 upvotes (shown below, left). Meanwhile on eBay^[4] itself, there were 360 similar items (shown below, right). One such nugget sold for $100,000.

BTS Meal in Indonesia

The BTS meal had significant online presence in Indonesia. For example on June 9th, 2021, Facebook user Bayu Obet Danarto^[6] uploaded a photo of food couriers from various food delivery service companies such as Go-Food and Grab Food waiting in a long line at an Indonesian McDonald's, presumably for the BTS meal. The photo received 162 reactions and 483 shares (shown below, left). On the same day, Facebook Page Agenda SOLO^[7] uploaded a photo one of McDonald's being guarded by TNI (Indonesian Force Army) and Indonesian police due to many food couriers ordering the BTS Meal. The photo received more than 1,000 reactions and 68 shares (shown below, right).

Due to mass ordering via food courier amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, there was concern that the BTS meal may inadvertently lead to a spread in COVID-19. Indonesian publication Detik^[14] published an article saying police asked McDonald's to temporary stop selling the BTS Meal for safety concerns. Some McDonald's restaurants in Indonesia were been sealed^[15][16][17] by the government in many regions (shown below left and right for example).

Many Indonesian users created fan art and memes about the BTS Meal. For example, on June 9th, 2021, Instagram user @arifwhy^[13] uploaded a parody of the BTS Meal by changing the design of its package and adding Indonesian singer Nassar Sungkar. The image received more than 33,000 likes in one day (shown below, left). The next day, Indonesian label record Trinity Optima Production^[10] uploaded to Instagram a similar parody adding Indonesian band UNGU. The image received more than 1,500 likes in 9 hours (shown below, center). On June 10th, 2021, Indonesian webcomic Si Juki^[8] uploaded a comic of the main character named Juki with military clothes standing among food couriers ordering the BTS Meal. The image more than 1,700 reactions and 180 shares in one hour (shown below, right).

On June 9th, 2021, Facebook user Krisna Kancoet^[11] uploaded a BTS Meal parody that added Indonesian political party PDIP. The image received more than 1,000 reactions and 3,000 shares in one day (shown below, left). On the same day, Facebook user Margi Suryo Ady Jaya^[12] uploaded a similar parody that added the WhatsApp logo. The image received 332 reactions and 652 shares (shown below, right).

Search Interest

External References