BTS frenzy is shutting down McDonald’s locations amid COVID fears
One of the most powerful fandoms, the BTS ARMY, strikes again.
Multiple McDonald’s franchise locations in Indonesia have been temporarily shut down due to the over-ordering of the BTS McDonald’s meal. The collaboration meal between the K-Pop sensation and the fast-food chain hit locations May 26. However, the BTS ARMY has created an influx of orders, leading to the temporary closure of multiple Semarang McDonald’s locations.
“We temporarily closed four of six McDonald’s stores here in Semarang for a couple of days,” Fajar Purwoto, the Indonesian city’s public order agency head, told AFP. “I don’t want Semarang to be in the COVID-19 red zone again.”
As COVID-19 restrictions start to ease for most of the world, Indonesian public officials are still on high alert, given it was one of the Asian countries hit hardest by the pandemic.
Due to the pandemic, many customers were ordering via delivery services. However, the locations were still holding a few too many people given the health and safety guidelines.
Indonesia might be closing locations due to the influx of orders, but the country isn’t the only one to see a spark in sales due to the BTS meal. After the meal was released, the United States branches saw an increase of sales by 12%, Insider reported.
The BTS collaboration meal is on its way to outperform the Travis Scott collaboration meal. The meal includes a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, medium Coke and two new dipping sauces — chili and Cajun — inspired by recipes from McDonald’s in South Korea. Not only are fans taking over McDonald’s locations, but they’re also buying and reselling the dipping sauces and packaging on eBay, Baller Alert reported.
