The BTS Meal of Mcdonalds: Take it or Leave It

I have been a fangirl of many boy and girl groups for a long time. Hello, Twice! So, I understand the hype about the new Mcdonald’s BTS Meal. The fast-food chain officially launched the meal last June 18.

What I DON’T understand is the hate surrounding it. How can a nugget and fries meal be so offensive to people?

The BTS meal remains simple enough. It consists of 10-pieces Chicken McNuggets with limited-edition sauces cajun and sweet chili, medium-sized Coke, and medium-fries. However, what made it special is the packaging of these food items. This, of course, features the BTS logo and their iconic purple color. 

BTS collaborated with Mcdonalds for the BTS Meal as a treat for their fans during their comeback.

Fans considered the packaging itself (the paper bag, the plastic soda cup, the nugget box, and the fries container) as official merchandise. A lot of them even started framing them and cleaning them after consuming their contents. Although this may seem extreme to many, this actually became a pretty common thing for fandoms.

Many fans consider the BTS Meal as official merchandise; here’s a simple reason why:

Unfortunately, many fans aren’t wealthy enough to buy their idols’ albums and official merchandise, even though they are avid supporters. For most ARMYs, the BTS Meal was a more affordable avenue to support their idols. In fact, I know a few friends of mine who couldn’t really afford BTS Merch. So, the packaging of the BTS Meal was their first official item for their BTS collection. 

Moreover, it gave many profit opportunities for FoodPanda, Grab, and Lalamove riders who were so happy with the influx of online orders. So, I really don’t get why so many people are using the BTS Meal for clout. In social media, we see tons of people posting pictures of the BTS packaging crumpled, thrown in a trash bin, and torn to shreds. 

They post pictures of the BTS Meal with captions like “Pagkain lang habol ko” or “Tinapon ko lang akin, ano ba meron.” Some even include homophobic slurs such as “BTS biot.” Seriously? Don’t ride on the bandwagon of things that make people happy. This is such a toxic trait among Filipinos. Furthermore, using “BIOT” as an insult? It’s 2021 already. 

LET. PEOPLE. ENJOY. THINGS.

If you’re not a fan and you just want to try the cajun sauce, then great. Go ahead and buy the BTS Meal. No one’s stopping you. But don’t deliberately post it on social media, showing that you threw the packaging in the trash.  

The real trash here is our mindset, not the packaging. So make sure you throw it away.