AKMU, G-Dragon, Yoo Hae-jin front Korea's fall fast-food burger wars
Lotteria, Burger King, and McDonald's each tapped a different celebrity for their autumn menus, dropping new burgers within days of each other.
Three chains, three celebrities, one week
Korea's fast-food chains leaned hard on celebrity power for fall. Lotteria, Burger King, and McDonald's announced new lineups and new faces within days of each other.
Lotteria signed AKMU as the model for its September menu. The campaign centered on the Ria Bulgogi Red — launched on the 3rd — which stacks a bulgogi patty, spicy sauce, and shoestring potatoes. A double-patty version, the Ria Bulgogi Double Red, is also available. Buy both and you get AKMU limited-edition stickers. The duo released their 4th album this year and heads to Australia for performances starting the 18th.
Truffle season at Burger King
Burger King went with actor Yoo Hae-jin, who has the film Assassin(s) coming up. Its fall campaign wrapped around a five-item Truffle Mushroom Whopper lineup dropped on the 16th: the Truffle Mushroom Whopper, Hot Truffle Mushroom Whopper, Maison Truffle Cheese Burger, Deep Truffle Fry, and Truffle Mushroom Pie Royal.
The campaign name, 뉴-해진 트머와, fuses Yoo Hae-jin's name with "NEW" — a pun that only works if you already know who he is (which, in Korea, everyone does).
G-Dragon x McDonald's: ICON × ICON
McDonald's grabbed the biggest name: G-Dragon, currently on BIGBANG's 20th-anniversary world tour. That's 33 shows across 19 cities, kicking off in Goyang after the group dropped new single BiiiG. The chain launched the Mac Crispy Gochujang Butter and Mac Spicy Gochujang Butter on the 17th. Both run on a gochujang butter sauce developed by Korean McDonald's and finished with Colby Jack cheese. The campaign is branded ICON × ICON, linking the two burgers directly to G-Dragon's status.
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