McDonald's turns K-pop fandom into a menu showdown
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McDonald's is teaming up with Netflix on two new meals for adults. Photos: Courtesy of McDonald's
McDonald's is turning K-pop fandom into a full-on food fight — complete with shake-your-own fries.
The big picture: The fast-food giant's latest collab with Netflix shows how aggressively it's leaning into entertainment, global flavors and fandom culture to drive traffic — and turn menu drops into cultural moments.
- Past adult Happy Meal drops — from the viral Cactus Plant Flea Market boxes to holiday Grinch meals — have driven record sales, resale frenzies and even ingredient shortages.
Driving the news: Starting March 31, McDonald's is launching two dueling adult meals inspired by Netflix's "KPop Demon Hunters,"along with flavors from restaurants in South Korea and collectible photocards that unlock exclusive content in the app.
Dig in: The menu leans into each side of the movie's rivalry:
- Saja Boys Breakfast Meal: a spicy breakfast sandwich, hash browns and a drink.
- HUNTR/X meal: nuggets, a drink and two limited-edition sauces — plus a Korean-inspired twist on fries.
- Derpy McFlurry: vanilla soft serve with popping pearls and berry sauce.
Zoom in: McDonald's is spotlighting Ramyeon McShaker Fries — a shakeable, umami-packed upgrade to its classic fries.
- The fries will only be available as part of the meal, McDonald's told Axios.
- While McShaker fries have appeared before in the U.S., this marks the first nationwide rollout of the ramyeon flavor after earlier debuts in markets like Canada and Hong Kong.
The bottom line: Not every limited-time drop is just hype. The Grinch holiday promotion — which featured pickle-flavored fries — delivered the highest single sales day in company history and briefly made McDonald's the world's largest seller of socks.
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