There, in plain sight on the boxes of BTS TinyTAN Happy Meal toys, exists a number code. In an otherwise identical red or purple cardboard vessel, the single digit code reveals which BTS Chibi member is inside. There is no sticker seal, only a simple latch to open. What’s the point?
Other McDonald’s collaborations and releases are in see-through marine life choking plastic bags, or boxes clearly differentiated displaying what it says on the tin.
Here, perhaps in a game of strife trying to emulate the mad rush of blind boxes and gachapon pulls, is their attempt to feed into this lack of beef tallow. Jung Kook? J-hope? Who’s inside? Only being able to count will reveal that mystery.
If you don’t have a close relationship with your local Maccas outlet, because you hate yourself every time you’re across that threshold, then yes, it’s like any other blind box short term release. You only get whatever TinyTAN the people behind the counter are grabbing in the few seconds they have to meet their metrics and KPIs.
The print is too small for casual staff to read against the ticking of the clock before they disappear into the kitchen, away from the looks of people waiting at the counter who don’t want to use the touchscreen kiosk to order.
If you can count, there is no surprise. The aim isn’t to get people frothing at the mouth demanding the minimum wage worker hustle and swap out the blind box before the fries go limp, cold and grease up the arteries. It’s to make it out as if these same looking boxes provide some kind of mystery or anticipation. Will this be the overpriced, nutrient bereft kid’s meal that tips you into the pre-diabetic and high cholesterol zone or not?
And they forgot the apple slices.
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Written on Sunday, 28 September 2025