According to CEO Chris Kempczinski, since the Famous Orders platform partnership with BTS launched in May, adding Sweet Chili and Cajun dipping sauces for Chicken McNuggets to the menu, along with merch for the K-pop band, the specialty menu items broke sales records with BTS fans around the world.
It cost $9.68 when purchased by this Insider reporter in New York City in the medium size, while Insider's Erin McDowell reported that the meal cost $12.29 from her local McDonald's in the large size. For many fans, though, the packaging of the meal itself is the main collectible item.
Upon its release, the BTS-inspired packaging that the meal was served in was listed for resale on several e-commerce platforms, including Carousell. The promotion was discontinued on June 20, 2021.
McDonald's is relaunching its collaboration with BTS this September, introducing a new TinyTAN Happy Meal that will be available in nearly 70 countries worldwide.
Behind the Sauce: Making of Film | The BTS Meal | McDonald’s
How long did the Travis Scott meal last?
The meal consisted of a modified Quarter Pounder with Cheese, medium french fries, a large Sprite beverage, and a barbecue dipping sauce. The meal was available from September 8, 2020 to October 4, 2020 exclusively to McDonald's locations in the United States.
9, everyone can order The Saweetie Meal, which features a Big Mac®, 4-piece Chicken McNuggets®, medium World Famous Fries®, a medium Sprite®, Tangy BBQ Sauce and “Saweetie 'N Sour” sauce – the same Sweet 'N Sour sauce you know and love, re-named in honor of the new meal.
McDonald's sells 1.2 million BTS nugget meals. McDonald's Korea sold more than 1.2 million BTS Meals since they were introduced on May 27. That number of sales for a single set meal “is unprecedented,” according to McDonald's Korea in a statement Wednesday.
The BTS meal alone brought in $98MM in incremental sales, and saw unprecedented penetration growth with youth and multicultural segments (BTS: +14% for 18-24, +69% for ACM). Fans turned packaging into momentos. They even resold McNuggets on eBay.
“Astroworld” rapper Travis Scott has partnered with McDonald's to create the Travis Scott Meal, a $6 combo including a Sprite, fries with BBQ sauce and a Quarter Pounder with bacon, lettuce and cheese, Scott's own McDonald's order.
The J Balvin Meal features a Big Mac sandwich, medium World Famous Fries with ketchup, and an OREO® McFlurry, and will be available at participating restaurants from October 5 to November 1.
Was the Travis Scott meal successful at McDonald's?
The "Travis Scott Meal" was so successful that some locations ran out of Quarter Pounder ingredients, something that had not happened when meatpacking plants shuttered earlier in the pandemic. Scott's line of merchandise swiftly sold out. Analysts applauded the deal, which helped McDonald's reach Gen Z customers.
McDonald's previously partnered with the popular group in 2021 for the BTS Meal: 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, Sweet Chili and Cajun dipping sauces, inspired by McDonald's South Korea, medium fries and a medium drink.
The Travis Scott meal includes the fresh beef Quarter Pounder®* with Cheese, sizzling bacon, and crisp lettuce; medium World Famous Fries® with BBQ Sauce to dip, and a Sprite®. Now, for $6, you can eat just like Travis. It's Lit!
Scott made it to Forbes' 30 under 30 list, where the magazine called him a “brand whisperer,” and he admitted to making $20 million from the McDonald's deal — $5 million from the original endorsement, and $15 million in merchandise sales.
Kai Cenat, a big streamer on Twitch has collaborated with McDonalds and has called it the Kai Cenat Meal. The Chicken Big Mac has the special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, two chicken patties, and the iconic sesame bun.
The BTS meal acted more as a great marketing strategy for McDonald's than anything else. With the solid global fanbase BTS has accumulated over the past few years, there was no doubt that the BTS meal was going to sell like hot cakes — which it did.
The collaboration was the third collaboration for McDonald's. The BTS Meal was first released on May 26, 2021, in select countries, including: the United States, Austria, The Bahamas, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Paraguay, the Philippines, and Sint Maarten.
There were numerous options that fans suggested, including BTS' mini-figures called TinyTAN, or their LINE FRIENDS characters, BT21. McDonald's had already created Happy Meal toys featuring BT21 in 2023, but they were only available in select Asian countries.
McDonald's x BTS TinyTAN Happy Meal is coming soon and McD's is coming for all of our wallets with the toys this year! Yes, this is in the US... and about 60 other countries too starting on September 3rd.
BTS has more than 60 million followers on Instagram. Their YouTube channel, by their fandom ARMY, has around 74 million subscribers. And their Twitter account boasts of 42 million followers. This makes the total number of BTS fans in the world to be around 90 million.
