McDonald’s Collaboration with BTS
McDonald's "The BTS Meal" is receiving positive responses from consumers. It debuted in the United States and other countries on May 26 and in South Korea on May 27. However, the fast food giant did not release the meal in China and Japan, the two biggest hamburger markets in Asia, drawing attention to its background.
The BTS meal will be sold until June 30. McDonald’s originally planned to launch the meal in 49 countries on six continents, starting with the United States, Canada and Brazil. Thailand was added in the end. So the meal will hit a total of 50 countries. In other words, McDonald's will sell the meal in half of the 102 countries it has entered.
The BTS meal consists of 9 to 10 pieces of chicken McNuggets, French fries, Coke and two new dipping sauces – sweet chili and Cajun flavors.
It marked the first time that McDonald's has released a meal in collaboration with celebrities at stores around the world. In September 2020, the company released a meal in collaboration with hip-hop singer Travis Scott but sold it in the United States only. McDonald's staffs around the world sell the BTS meal wearing T-shirts decorated with Korean consonant alphabets of the BTS.
In light of the Korean boy band’s worldwide popularity, it is unusual that McDonald's has not released the BTS meal in China and Japan.
The BTS has been in the doghouse with China due to a remark by one of its members on the Korean War in October 2020. At the time, RM, the group’s leader, said after receiving a prize in an annual event of the Korea Society, a nonprofit U.S.-Korea friendship organization, “This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Korean War. We will always remember the history of pain that our two nations share together and sacrifices of countless men and women."
With regard to the remark, some Chinese netizens criticized that the BTS did not respect China's sacrifices. In a related development, a BTS segment was taken off from a special edition of the U.S. sitcom "Friends" aired in China. Some critics say that Chinese authorities removed the BTS segment from the show.
In Japan, the Korean boy band has been a target of those who hate Korea and the Koreans. In 2018, the group’s scheduled performance on TV Asahi in Japan was abruptly canceled. Japanese far-right media took issue with Jimin’s appearance on a show wearing a T-shirt to commemorate Korea’s Liberation Day and the fact that RM left a tweet on his SNS channel in celebration of Liberation Day. Jimin's T-shirt was printed with a picture of Korean people shouting hurray for liberation and the atomic bombs falling on Japan. "There is no future for a nation that has forgotten history," RM tweeted. “I am grateful to Korean independence movement fighters. Hurrah for Korea!"
However, the BTS proved its immense popularity in Japan. The digital single "Butter" topped the weekly digital singles and streaming rankings of Japan's Oricon Chart scheduled to be released on May 31. Japan's McDonald's Twitter is flooded with requests to sell the BTS meal. "I go to McDonald's often, but I feel bad because there is no BTS meal," Japanese fans said. "Why don't you sell the BTS meal? If you collaborate with the BTS, sales will soar."
"The BTS meal has been launched in countries where local McDonald’s operations requested the global headquarters to allow them to sell it," a McDonald's official said. "The release of the BTS meal is an option and McDonald’s in China and Japan voluntarily gave up. We didn't expect such surprising responses in Japan and France. The global headquarters will decide whether to add sales countries or extend sales periods."