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Since the postponement of the McDonald's BTS meal launch from May 27 to June 21, local ARMY (fans of Kpop boy band BTS) could only watch wistfully as their counterparts in other parts of the world showed off their purple loot.

But Singapore’s time eventually came.

From 11am on June 21, 2021, the BTS meal was launched exclusively via delivery platforms, namely McDelivery, Grab, and Foodpanda.

Those who have been waiting eagerly by their delivery apps may have experienced some difficulty getting their orders through.

We also checked out the situation on the ground while most of you were waiting at home for your delivery order.

Calm before the storm

At around 10:45am, nothing appeared to be out of the ordinary at the McDonald's outlet at Bishan Junction 8.

A reasonable number of food delivery motorbikes were parked outside the mall. Although June 21 marks the first day when dine-in for two is permitted, the McDonald's outlet was not particularly crowded on this Monday morning.

More than one sign was put up to remind customers that the BTS meal is not available in-stores, which helped deter any queues from forming.

About 5 minutes before the clock struck 11am, I noticed from outside the food delivery window that the staff were already packing the orders in the recognisable purple packaging.

Shortly after, Lim, a GrabFood delivery rider, approached the window to strike up a conversation about the BTS set meal with the staff.

Although he was expecting to pick up a BTS meal order, his phone chimed to alert him to collect an order from Korean fast food chain 4Fingers instead.

Unfazed, Lim said "it's okay" that he doesn't get it the first time around as there will be more to come. He kindly recommended that I should wait at the nearest mall exit where the delivery riders are typically parked as that's where most of them wait for orders.

It was a little past 11am when I encountered Wilson, another GrabFood delivery rider who was waiting by his motorcycle. He shared that he was "open to any order" and was "aware that today's going to be crazy but it turns out to be very quiet".

Perhaps we had spoken too soon. In less a minute, Wilson informed us that he had just received his first order of the day and it was indeed the BTS meal. As Wilson left to collect his order, more riders pulled into the driveway of the mall.

Longer waiting time

As Wilson left to collect his order, more riders pulled up but most of them were unwilling to chat as they had to pick up orders.

Lim popped outside the mall again to tip me off that there are riders waiting outside McDonald's.

We found Gary, a foodpanda rider, who was waiting for 10 minutes at that time and had heard from another rider that the situation at "Ang Mo Kio [was] even worse".

He said he expected to wait longer than the typical "5 to 7 minutes" for an average McDonald's order pick-up because of this launch.

We also managed to catch Khairi, another foodpanda rider, who had started his shift at 9am but had just arrived at Junction 8 to pick up his first McDonald's order.

He had driven by the "Ang Mo Kio outlet" earlier and said there was "already a long queue" of riders at 11am. We later heard through the grapevine that that outlet was "notorious" for delayed orders due to a technical error that prevents them from receiving some orders even when the riders have received alerts.

He had been waiting for this order for almost 30 minutes. On average, he can complete two food deliveries within 30 minutes, he said.

Ironically, Khairi shared that "this morning, [he] totally forgot[ten]" that today was the launch of the BTS meal and only realised when he heard some riders chatting about it.

He said that he is grateful for the "chance to earn more" during this launch period as he "knows there'll be a lot of orders".

However, he added single orders would not be worth the trip and that stacked orders would be more worth his time.

Under the SDA's watchful eye

Lim had warned me to maintain safe distancing as the accumulation of riders waiting outside McDonald's had attracted the attention of Safe Distancing Ambassadors (SDA).

True enough, I spotted a woman sporting the iconic red shirt reminding the food delivery riders to stand further apart from one another.

I followed her and found two other SDAs and asked them if they were there to because they anticipated the crowd due to the BTS meal set launch.

They said that they were assigned to this mall and had noticed the crowding of food delivery riders outside McDonald's. However, they were not sure if it was specifically because of the BTS meal launch.

Preparation

By around 11:30am, I chatted to a manager who was working at the outlet. She confirmed that they are very busy today but they have expected the popularity and have "already prepared for that" and for "the whole promotion" cycle.

When asked if there were limited sets available per day, she said there isn't and that they will continue selling with "the stock that [they] have".

She was hesitant (or perhaps too busy) to speak more and redirected us to McDonald's PR team.

In response, the McDonald's spokesperson did not address our queries, which were:

1. How did the McDonald's team prepare for the BTS set launch? (Eg.increasing manpower per shift)
2. How has the response been so far and if McDonald's had anticipated it?
3. Is there a limited number of sets available each day per outlet or will it be available throughout the day outside of the breakfast period (7am to 11am)?
4. Will McDonald's entertain any special requests to separate the BTS packing and food?
5. Will McDonald's open the BTS set meal to dine-in and take away at some point after the first few weeks of the launch?

Instead, the McDonald's spokesperson referred us to a statement that confirmed the following:

• The BTS set is available via delivery "while stocks last";
• No advanced orders or self pick-up from restaurants will be permitted;
• Each McDelivery transaction is capped at S$80 (or a maximum of eight BTS meals).

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Top images by Karen Lui.