Whereas the fictional teams of Netflix’s shock hit “KPop Demon Hunters” have dominated Okay-pop discourse in 2025, subsequent yr will see the style’s hottest band return to streamers, stereos and levels internationally. BTS, the record-setting boy band fashioned in 2010, will probably be again for the primary time since 2022, as its members have accomplished their necessary South Korean army service.
To assist construct — and profit from — buzz across the return of BTS, McDonald’s not too long ago labored with company IW Group to convey part of BTS fandom to life in Los Angeles. From Sept. 26-28, greater than 3,000 followers attended the TinyTAN Completely satisfied Meal Magic Meet-Up. TinyTAN characters are animated variations of BTS band members which have appeared as toys, in video content material and, earlier in September, as Completely satisfied Meal collectible figurines.
The cultural play, which the model’s company reported attracted followers of all ages, is a method that McDonald’s is attempting to forge stronger connections to shoppers who’re anticipated to proceed to face financial headwinds into 2026. The chain’s U.S. comparable gross sales grew 2.4% in Q3 2025, a rise it attributed partly to a $40 million incremental advertising spend round its worth menu.
“This activation was not nearly meals; it was about belonging. Followers might work together, create, and share magical moments in particular person, embodying the creativity, optimism, and connection that outline the TinyTAN expertise,” mentioned Betsy Lotspeich, McDonald’s advertising supervisor for campaigns, in emailed feedback.
The TinyTAN Completely satisfied Meal toys and Magic Meet-Up constructed on the success of McDonald’s 2021 collaboration with BTS, as a part of its common Well-known Orders platform, that included in-app content material, a merch line and nationwide TV promoting. That preliminary effort lifted app installs, day by day common app customers and netted hundreds of thousands of impressions for McDonald’s. To re-engage the group’s followers — the self-described BTS Military — McDonald’s enlisted IW Group to amplify the TinyTAN partnership and faucet into renewed curiosity round BTS as its hiatus involves an finish.
The Magic Meet-Up expertise took about 45 minutes to discover and included picture opps, claw machines, a dance expertise, a mini model of a McDonald’s that become an audio-visual disco, a mocktail bar and, after all, McDonald’s meals. Whereas the BTS meal engaged shoppers digitally and in eating places, the meet-up was supposed to be a completely sensory, interactive celebration.
“What higher than to create a possibility for all of the followers to get collectively, who have not seen one another in about three years, to come back collectively and expertise and have a good time their fandom,” mentioned IW Group Chief Innovation Officer Telly Wong.
Measuring fandom
As with all cultural play, McDonald’s advertising round BTS required an genuine contact to foster connections with followers and shoppers. The IW Group staff included a number of members of the BTS Military and Okay-pop followers normally, together with some people who labored on the 2021 BTS marketing campaign and had inspired McDonald’s to imitate an album roll out when releasing the BTS meal. The necessity for authenticity is particularly true close to Okay-pop fandom, the place international fan bases exert their energy on-line and in shops.
“What actually differentiates [the fandom] is the vastness of the neighborhood on-line, but in addition how they’re able to translate their affect on-line and produce it into actual life experiences,” Wong mentioned. “When the BTS Military will get behind one thing, you truly see the influence in the actual world. It is not simply social chatter.”
To measure that influence, McDonald’s and IW Group give attention to conventional key efficiency indicators (KPIs), together with attendance, engagement, social attain, earned media and model sentiment, in addition to real-time suggestions concerning the fan expertise round social chatter, user-generated content material and post-event sentiment.
“On the TinyTAN Magic Meet-Up, the lengthy traces, numerous visitors and broad vary of ages confirmed we reached each devoted followers and on a regular basis prospects,” mentioned Lotspeich. “We proceed to watch how followers create and interact after the occasion, which exhibits the lasting influence of those shared moments.”
Inclusivity continues
Whereas McDonald’s work with IW Group has centered on the company’s roots within the Asian American and Pacific Islander house and fan-driven communities round anime and Okay-pop, the meet-up in September grew to become a mass-market activation that helped the model attain a fandom that has grown past simply Asian shoppers.
“That is the one pivot that we see from our facet, being a multicultural company: the silos are breaking down a bit of bit, when it is smart,” Wong mentioned. “They perceive that this introduced a broader viewers than only one explicit section and that is a wonderful thing about working with McDonald’s. They actually perceive tradition.”
McDonald’s cultural advertising work with multicultural businesses continues, even because the chain has modified priorities round range, fairness and inclusion, a transfer that brings the corporate in step with a bigger pullback in DEI throughout the company panorama. Working with businesses like IW Group ensures that such efforts are rooted in actual insights — not exterior commentary, in line with Lotspeich.
“We spotlight creativity, fandom, and self-expression — the common human experiences that transcend limitations,” she mentioned. “Our objective is to create areas the place everybody feels welcome on the desk.”
