McDonald's new Happy Meals will sport BTS characters
BTS is serving up more than a tour – the K-pop supergroup's BT21 characters are coming to new Happy Meals.
The new BT21 Happy Meals will become available starting July 14 at participating McDonald's restaurants. Each meal will have one of ten BT21 toys.
A seven-member South Korean boy band, BTS made its debut in 2013. The group created its BT21 characters back in 2017 with the help of intellectual property maker Line Friends, which has also created toys and merchandise including Mighteez, characters created with another K-pop boy group ATEEZ, and with brands including Sesame Street.
Each BT21 character reflects aspects of the performers' personalities. For instance, main vocalist Jungkook's BT21 character Cooky is loyal and "always full of heart and boundless stamina," according to the BT21 website.
The Happy Meal box also has a QR code that can be scanned for an "interactive digital experience that transports them into BT21's musical universe," according to a description McDonald's shared with USA TODAY.
McDonald's and BTS have a Happy Meal history
It's the third McDonald's-BTS collaboration. Back in September 2025, the fast-food chain offered TinyTAN Happy Meals, with miniature characters resembling the BTS members. In 2021, McDonald's offered a BTS Meal in 2021, which came with South Korean-inspired dipping sauces.
These latest Happy Meals come as the band readies for its performance during halftime of the FIFA World Cup final July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Also performing: Madonna, Shakira and Justin Bieber.
What are the BT21 toys that will be in McDonald's Happy Meals?
Each member of BTS has a Happy Meal toy representing their BT21 character on an individual spaceship (they explore the galaxy). An eighth character, Van, which represents the BTS fan base or army, gets a toy, too. A ninth toy has all of the characters on a ship. The 10th toy is a poster with stickers.
Each toy has a ring clip so you can "hook Tata to your purse, put Chimmy on your keyring, or take the whole group of universtars with you on your backpack," according to McDonald's Menu Spotter.
Here's the group members' names and their corresponding character names:
- RM – Koya
- Jin – RJ
- Suga – Shooky
- J-Hope – Mang
- Jimin – Chimmy
- V – Tata
- Jungkook – Cooky
- Army (or BTS fan base) – Van
BT21 toys regularly sell out and fans have created a global community including meetups.
The new Happy Meal toys follow the March 2026 arrival of BTS's fifth studio album "ARIRANG," and the group's first tour since the members finished their mandatory South Korean military service. The BTS tour, which kicked off May 2 in El Paso, Texas, with stops throughout North America, followed by dates in Europe. The tour returns to the U.S. beginning Aug. 1.
The group's March 21 concert from Seoul was streamed live on Netflix and is available to watch on demand, as is the feature-length "BTS: The Return" documentary.
Mike Snider is a national trending news reporter for USA TODAY. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: McDonald's new Happy Meals will sport BTS characters
Reporting by Mike Snider, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 5:46 PM.