A Marketing Student's (and ARMY'S) Analysis of the BTS x McDonald's 2021 collaboration

Good morning/afternoon/evening, you beautiful people!

 It has been over a year since I found out about BTS' and McDonald's collab, a collaboration between the biggest boy band and the biggest restaurant franchise!  They released their meal collaboration and I still cannot get over my disappointment. As I began to study Marketing this year, I started to re-evaluate their collab. So I realized that I will never get over my disappointment until I write about it, so here I am!

Disclaimer: I am not bashing BTS or McDonald's, I am merely stating my own opinion. I am not speaking on behalf of anyone other than myself. I am not writing as a black youth, a South African or on ARMY'S behalf. I am all of these things but today I am writing as Ruthy, the marketing student, so from my professional view point. I am also writing as an individual fan of BTS. 

First of all, I was very surprised that McDonald's did not have some sort of customer survey. I really thought that they would want to know what ARMY would have liked to see in their collab with BTS. I was really expecting McDonald's to release a customer survey via their Instagram page or their website. This was the first thing that I found to be odd, in my opinion. 

There were so many beautiful illustrations on Instagram that had been drawn by talented ARMYS and I really expected McDonald's to take those ideas into consideration when putting their packaging together. They did not take how ARMY felt and wanted to see into enough thought. I then realized that ARMY was not their target market. As a marketing student I feel that their collaboration was too safe. Anyone who was going to McDonald's, could have ordered the meal out of pure curiosity. 

Considering the fact that McDonald's is a global franchise, I assumed that the meal would be more accessible but it wasn't. ARMY are a diverse group of people who are all over the world.  I was disappointed that the magnitude of BTS' fandom and McDonald's clientele was not taken into enough consideration. This, in my opinion was a huge project considering the stats and magnitude of both entities but it felt rushed and choppy.  I would have appreciated it, if they had come together and spoken to their continental and national partners, even down to provincial managers to try and ensure that they could make this collab as accessible and widespread as possible. 

I was really disappointed with what felt like their lack of effort. McDonald's is renowned for their children's toys, sweet memories that I carry with me 'til this day. I know that many of you also carry fond memories of a certain toy that McDonald's released, mostly in collaboration with a movie or cartoon. So, why was the same effort not put in here? Yes, many of us are not 10 and under but I would totally take a BTS mannequin any day! Preferably made with sustainable material such as bio-based plastic, biocomposite plastic or biodegradable plastic. I would have loved a mannequin of each member, where you pull, press or turn a knob and it says, ' saranghae, borahae or we don't need permission to dance!' I really was looking forward to seeing this, yes as 20-year-old consumer I really wanted to see this from McDonald's.

Speaking of sustainability, I feel that McDonald's is heavily lacking in this department, despite trying to portray that they are an environmentally conscious brand. I don't hate McDonald's at all but considering all the damage that they are doing to Mother Earth in the Amazon. I felt that this would have been a brilliant opportunity to promote true sustainability. Especially because this is something that BTS mentions often, sustainability. I really feel that they did not bring this message home . They have a lot of work to do because longevity in any industry now requires care for Mother Earth.  

As an African, I am not exposed to much Asian food, except for Indian food. I really was expecting to see a meal that was more Korean cuisine based, but again this is a risk because it will not appeal to everyone. One of the reasons, I Iike BTS is because they are Korean, I feel that, that is what makes them stronger and stand out. I love seeing them in their traditional attire, singing, speaking and performing in their native tongue. So as a fan, I was really expecting to see more of Korea  🇰🇷.  It felt too bland, too safe and it hurt my feelings because I did not feel catered to by McDonald's.  

Food is really personal and it is an opportunity to get to know someone better. I would have loved to know what each member would order at McDonald's. We, as ARMY know that J-hope LOVES Spirite but would he order it with his McDonald's meal? I would have come to McDonald's at least seven times just experience what each member would order. It would feel intimate and special. It would been amazing for the members to incorporate some of their favorite Korean dishes. BTS are Korean musicians and I expected them to bring something authentically Korean to the collaboration. I really wanted to finally taste kimchi or something that they truly love and would love to share with us, ARMY.

Now I really love watching behind the scenes content and I really would have loved to see how this collaboration came about. Whose idea was it, how was it conducted, especially during covid? I felt that, that was a perfect opportunity for McDonald's to showcase how ethical and clean their operations, logistics and their company is or rather can become. It would have been a great promotional opportunity as well. I have no idea who McDonald's CEO or COO is and I feel that sometimes meeting the person in charge makes a company feel more personable. Many of us love watching Korean mukbangs and I would have absolutely loved to see BTS sit and eat while talking about how they are doing in life. Or their first memory of going to McDonald's, what they liked most about the creative collaboration process, etc. I mean does McDonald's even have an official YouTube channel? I don't know! 

All-in all the collaboration felt rushed and lacked enough thought, passion and risk. At least that's my opinion 🤷.  Now that I have finally gotten all this off my chest, I can finally move on because it was honestly haunting me. I feel that this was a misused opportunity and I feel that McDonald's did not utilize this collaboration properly and BTS did don't have enough creative power and input.

 

I am going to stop here because honestly if I were to point out every single thing that I was unhappy with or would have loved to see we would here forever! 

Thank you all so much for reading my opinion/ work.

How do you feel?

All my love

Ruthy 💜