This nationwide rollout introduces authentic Korean-inspired flavors and specialty ingredients, such as Ramyeon McShaker Fries and popping pearls, to mainstream mass-market foodservice at an unprecedented scale.
McDonald’s and Netflix are launching a co-branded campaign around the Academy Award-winning animated film KPop Demon Hunters, introducing two limited-time adult meals and a new McFlurry flavor at U.S. locations starting March 31, 2026. The campaign also introduces Korean-inspired flavors drawn from McDonald’s South Korea menus to U.S. restaurants for the first time as part of the partnership.
According to McDonald’s announcement, the collaboration features two rival meal sets — one for each fictional K-pop group in the film — along with collectible photocards that unlock exclusive digital content through the McDonald’s App until April 26.
McDonald’s operates approximately 13,500 U.S. restaurants, with 95% franchisee-owned.
Two Meals, Two Sides, One Film
The campaign is built around the film’s central rivalry between two K-pop groups: HUNTR/X and the Saja Boys. Each group gets its own dedicated meal, and consumers are invited to declare a side.
The Saja Boys Breakfast Meal includes a Spicy Saja McMuffin with Egg — a Sausage McMuffin topped with a Spicy Saja Sauce inspired by a character called Gwi-Ma — alongside Hash Browns and a small soft drink.
The HUNTR/X Meal includes 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, a medium soft drink, and three new limited-time items: Ramyeon McShaker Fries seasoned with soy, garlic, sesame, and spice in a shake bag; Hunter Sauce, a sweet chili condiment; and Demon Sauce, a bold purple mustard with heat and tang.
The Ramyeon McShaker Fries are the most ingredient-significant launch in this campaign. According to McDonald’s announcement, the seasoning is directly inspired by South Korean flavors and draws on the ramyeon noodle dish as its cultural reference point.
Alongside both meals, McDonald’s is also releasing the Derpy McFlurry — a new permanent McFlurry flavor blending vanilla soft serve with berry popping pearls and wild berry sauce.
“Authentic Ways to Unite Our Iconic Worlds”
Alyssa Buetikofer, Chief Marketing and Customer Experience Officer at McDonald’s, framed the campaign around fandom alignment. “Everything we do at McDonald’s is for the fans, and no one can relate to that more than Netflix and KPop Demon Hunters. Big things happen when you bring two massive fandoms together, and this partnership was a natural fit. We found authentic ways to unite our iconic worlds — inviting HUNTR/X and Saja Boys fans into the rivalry in ways that feel true to the film and unmistakably McDonald’s,” Buetikofer stated in the press release.
Marian Lee, Chief Marketing Officer at Netflix, connected the food directly to the film’s Korean cultural roots.
“With McDonald’s, we were able to turn the rivalry between The Saja Boys and HUNTR/X into something fans can actually experience, drawing inspiration from Korean culture and food traditions that sit at the heart of the film,” Lee stated.
The dual executive framing is notable. Both CMOs are positioning this as cultural authenticity work, not generic IP licensing. The Ramyeon McShaker Fries and Korean sauce profiles are offered as evidence of that intent.
Korean Flavors Hitting U.S. QSR at Scale: What This Signals
The KPop Demon Hunters campaign is a marketing story, but the ingredient architecture beneath it is a CPG supply chain story worth examining closely.
Korean flavor profiles are crossing into mainstream U.S. QSR. Soy, garlic, sesame, and gochujang-adjacent spice blends have been growing in specialty and fast-casual for years. McDonald’s bringing a Korean-inspired seasoning packet to its World Famous Fries at 13,500 U.S. locations marks a significant scale milestone for these flavor profiles in mass-market foodservice. For bulk importers of sesame, soy-based seasoning ingredients, and Korean spice blends, this is a direct demand signal at the wholesale level.
Sauce innovation is accelerating as a product differentiation tool. The HUNTR/X Meal introduces two distinct sauces — one sweet chili, one purple mustard — as named, character-branded condiments. For co-packers and private label sauce manufacturers, the growing use of custom LTO sauces as campaign-specific product launches represents a distinct manufacturing opportunity requiring flexible, short-run sauce production capabilities.
IP-to-food partnerships are generating new ingredient categories. The popping pearl component in the Derpy McFlurry — berry bursting pearls — is a specialty ingredient format growing in popularity across bubble tea and dessert applications. For ingredient importers and co-manufacturers supplying specialty textural elements to frozen dessert and beverage manufacturers, McDonald’s inclusion of this format at national scale validates the ingredient’s mainstream commercial viability.
Collectible packaging is becoming a co-manufacturing requirement. Every meal in this campaign includes a photocard pack with a QR-coded access card. For packaging manufacturers and co-packers supporting QSR promotional programs, the demand for campaign-specific collectible inserts — produced at scale, on a short timeline — continues to grow.
FAQs
What is the McDonald’s KPop Demon Hunters collaboration? A limited-time partnership between McDonald’s and Netflix tied to the Academy Award-winning animated film KPop Demon Hunters, featuring two adult meals, new sauces, a new McFlurry, and collectible photocards with digital content access.
When does the campaign launch? Both meals and all new items are available at participating U.S. McDonald’s locations starting March 31, 2026.
What are the two meals? The Saja Boys Breakfast Meal features a Spicy Saja McMuffin with Egg, Hash Browns, and a small soft drink. The HUNTR/X Meal features 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, a medium soft drink, Ramyeon McShaker Fries, Hunter Sauce, and Demon Sauce.
What is the Derpy McFlurry? A new McFlurry flavor featuring vanilla soft serve, berry popping pearls, and wild berry sauce, available as a standalone item alongside the campaign.
How do the photocards work? Each meal includes a collectible photocard and a Derpy access card. Fans can scan the QR code and enter the unique code on the McDonald’s App by April 26 to unlock exclusive content and a reveal of the fan vote winner.
About Source86
The McDonald’s and Netflix KPop Demon Hunters campaign highlights the growing demand for Korean-inspired seasoning ingredients — soy, sesame, garlic, and chili blends — as well as specialty sauce formulations and novelty inclusions like popping pearls, now reaching mass-market QSR scale at over 13,500 U.S. locations. At Source86, we connect food manufacturers, co-packers, and private label operators with trusted bulk and wholesale suppliers of Asian flavor ingredients, specialty spice blends, custom sauce components, and novelty dessert inclusions that power innovation across the QSR and retail-ready food categories.
Whether your R&D team is developing a new Korean-inspired seasoning line, sourcing bulk sesame or soy-based flavoring ingredients for co-packing, or building a private label sauce or McFlurry-style dessert format, Source86 is your bridge to the right manufacturing and supply chain partners. Contact Source86 today to start your sourcing search.
