BTS fans and McDonald's in Singapore donate 14,500 Happy Meals, instead of letting food go to waste

In their quest to collect the BTS TinyTan blind box figurines accompanying every purchase of a McDonald's Happy Meal, fans in Singapore were careful to not waste food.

A grand total of 14,500 chicken nugget meals have been donated to the Ronald McDonald House Charities Singapore and Food Bank Singapore, the fast-food chain announced on Thursday (Nov 20).

McDonald's Singapore had introduced the "Donate My Happy Meal Food" option for their collaboration with TinyTan — characters inspired by the seven members of the K-pop supergroup: RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook.

From Sept 25 to Nov 12, two collections each containing seven toys were sequentially released — meaning that BTS fans, who are known as Armys, wanting to collect different toy designs had to purchase multiple meals.

But concerns about food wastage were addressed by the donation option, which let buyers receive the figurine without the Happy Meal being prepared.

McDonald's said on Thursday that the donated meals have been shared as food vouchers with the charities, and distributed to beneficiaries including Pertapis, Red Cross Home for the Disabled, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home and Woodlands Social Centre.

 

 

 

 

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According to the McDonald's Singapore website, the initiative is not permanent and was limited to the TinyTan Happy Meals.

"Your feedback will help us decide if it’s something we can continue or expand in the future," it stated.

Earlier this year, McDonald's Japan drew criticism for its Happy Meal collaborations with Chiikawa and Pokemon that saw numerous reports of uneaten food being discarded as customers bought the meals in bulk to obtain the exclusive toys and cards.

It ended sales of the Pokemon Happy Meal after just one day, stating that it "does not tolerate the purchase of Happy Meals for resale or the abandonment or disposal of food," reported CNN.

For its subsequent Happy Meal collaboration with Sanrio in September, McDonald's Japan implemented a purchase limit of three Happy Meals.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com