McDonald’s and Netflix announced Tuesday that the KPop Demon Hunters collaboration fans have been waiting for is real, and it launches on March 31.
The campaign is called “Battle for the Fans,” it involves two rival adult meals, a new McFlurry flavor, and a collectible photocard system that lets fans settle the film’s central rivalry by April 26. Here is what is in all of it.
What Is KPop Demon Hunters?
KPop Demon Hunters premiered on Netflix in June 2025 and became, quickly and then overwhelmingly, one of the biggest entertainment stories of the year.
The animated musical from directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans — produced by Sony Pictures Animation, follows K-pop trio HUNTR/X: Rumi, Mira, and Zoey, who spend their days selling out stadiums and their nights fighting demons in secret.
Their antagonists are the Saja Boys, a rival K-pop boy band whose members are demons in disguise, led by the charismatic Jinu.
By the time the 2026 awards season was over, the film had won two Academy Awards, Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Golden,” the latter making history as the first K-pop song ever to win an Oscar or a Grammy.
It also became Netflix’s most-watched film of all time with over 325 million views, and its soundtrack became the first in history to place four songs simultaneously in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
Director Maggie Kang accepted the Oscar for Best Animated Feature with the words “This is for Korea and Koreans everywhere.” A sequel is in development with both original directors returning, planned for 2029.
All of which is context for why McDonald’s wanted in, and why this collaboration was going to be a significant moment for fans the second it was announced.
The HUNTR/X Meal
The HUNTR/X Meal is the all-day option, available at lunch and dinner, and is built around the film’s demon-hunting girl group.
It includes 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, a medium soft drink, and the most talked-about new menu item in the collaboration, Ramyeon McShaker Fries.
The Ramyeon McShaker Fries take McDonald’s World Famous Fries and package them in a McShaker bag with a separate seasoning inspired by South Korean flavors, soy sauce, garlic, sesame, and chili.
The seasoning is a nod to the real ramyeon dish, and to HUNTR/X’s in-film snack preferences. Fans shake the bag to coat the fries, which is both the point and the fun.
The meal comes with two dipping sauces. Hunter Sauce is a sweet chili blend with garlic and pepper, described as reflecting HUNTR/X’s “fierce, yet fun-loving” energy.
Demon Sauce is a bold, purple mustard sauce with heat and tang; the purple color is a direct reference to the demon patterns in the film. Both sauces are rooted in the McDonald’s South Korea menu, the same Cajun and Sweet Chili sauces that powered the BTS Meal back in 2021, here updated and rebranded.
McDonald’s Senior Marketing Director Guillaume Huin confirmed on X that the Cajun recipe was specifically modified to achieve the purple color.
The Saja Boys Breakfast Meal
The Saja Boys, as befitting a group of demons who wake up early and look inexplicably good doing it, get the breakfast slot.
The Saja Boys Breakfast Meal is available during breakfast hours only, typically until 10:30 or 11AM local time, and includes a Spicy Saja McMuffin, hash browns, and a small soft drink.
The Spicy Saja McMuffin is a Sausage McMuffin with Egg topped with a peppery Spicy Saja Sauce, described as being “inspired by the fire of Gwi-Ma,” the film’s demon villain played by Byung-hun Lee.
The small soft drink is a quiet reference to “Soda Pop,” one of the film’s soundtrack hits. Every detail, as Netflix CMO Marian Lee noted in the campaign press release, “was designed to feel like it could have come straight out of a scene in the movie.”
The Derpy McFlurry
In a move that wisely acknowledges the large number of fans who refuse to pick a side, McDonald’s is also launching the Derpy McFlurry, available à la carte, separate from both meals, at any time.
Named after Derpy Tiger, the film’s beloved supernatural blue tiger character, the McFlurry blends creamy vanilla soft serve with berry popping pearls and a wild berry sauce.
It is framed as the item “both sides can agree on,” which is probably the right instinct. Derpy Tiger has one of the most devoted fan followings in the film’s universe, and a McFlurry bearing his name is likely to move regardless of which meal camp someone is in.
The Collectibles
Every meal, both the HUNTR/X and Saja Boys options, comes with a collectible card pack.
Inside each pack is one exclusive photocard, representing either HUNTR/X or the Saja Boys, drawn from a set of eight total designs at varying rarity levels.
It is explicitly designed around the K-pop photocard collecting culture that has been a central driver of the film’s fandom since its release.
The second item in each pack is a Derpy access card. Fans who scan the QR code on the access card and enter the unique code in the McDonald’s app by April 26 will unlock exclusive content, and a special reveal that settles the question the film left fans debating, which group actually wins the Battle for the Fans.
What Are The Brands Saying?
“Everything we do at McDonald’s is for the fans, and no one can relate to that more than Netflix and KPop Demon Hunters,” McDonald’s CMO Alyssa Buetikofer said in the announcement. “Big things happen when you bring two massive fandoms together.”
Netflix CMO Marian Lee added that the collaboration was built to go beyond surface-level branding.
“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.”
The KPop Demon Hunters meals launch at participating U.S. McDonald’s locations on March 31. The Derpy access card window runs through April 26.
