BTS meal closes Indonesian McDonald’s amid Covid-19 fears

McDonald’s in Indonesia was the site of a BTS-inspired frenzy that forced them to close at least 13 stores for fears of a Covid-19 outbreak. The world-famous Korean Pop band partnered with the world-famous American burger joint to make a BTS meal deal that had rabid K-Pop fans swarming the restaurants.

After yesterday’s release of the BTS meal deal, 5 McDonald’s restaurants were closed in Jakarta and 4 of the 6 branches in Semarang were closed, along with shops in several other cities. The popularity of BTS, known for their extremely loyal and engaged fans, overwhelmed the shops with crowds rushing to purchase the meal deal named for them. Online food delivery drivers swarmed to the restaurant locations to pick up the BTS meal day for hungry fans at home.

The BTS meal deal has been available at McDonald’s in scores of countries worldwide since May but just launched yesterday in Indonesia. The meal set includes chicken nuggets, french fries, and a drink.

Local officials in Jakarta did not officially comment but the media reported on 5 stores closed in the capital city. In Semarang, the city’s public order agency head confirmed the closure of 4 McDonald’s saying that they do not want eager BTS fans to cause their city end up with a Covid-19 outbreak and pushed back to the red zone status they had previously.

Indonesia has been one of the countries in Southeast Asia most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Recent daily figures topping 7,000 Covid-19 infections a day have been combated with efforts to vaccinate at least 700,000 people a day. More than 40 million vaccines have been administered in the country so far.

BTS has become a history-making K-Pop boy band since their debut in 2013 with millions of followers worldwide. Their last single Butter hit number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 singles chart last week, the fourth single the band has released that hit the top spot.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post