SG artist goes viral for packaging BTS McDonald's meal into sneakers

Singaporean artist Josiah Chua has repurposed McDonald’s BTS Meal packaging into a saucy pair of purple custom sneakers. Chua shared the shots of his creation on Instagram, and even created a pocket to have your nuggets warm on the go.

Chua told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that this was not an official partnership, but solely (pun intended) a custom one of a kind design he came up with. Sharing his process further, Chua said that he has been deconstructing materials and upcycling some fashion pieces for awhile and had some left over sneaker soles.

“I decided to repurpose the packaging from the BTS meals that my friend and I had consumed and make repurpose them into a pair of sneakers with the sneaker soles I already had. It was a spontaneous in the moment decision,” he added.

While Chua has worked with several brands to shoot campaigns and create content, he hasn’t yet officially done a design collaboration. A quick check by MARKETING-INTERACTIVE showed some of Chua’s work with brands such as G Shock, Nike and Asics.

“I will be really interested to do that though,” he told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. Amplifying his Instagram post further, Chua also posted behind the scenes TikTok shots of him working on the pair of sneakers.

According to media reports, while Chua hasn’t caught the attention of McDonald’s or BTS, he said other platforms have shown love such as Harper's BAZAAR magazine, HYPEBEAST Korea, Taiwanese magazine overdope.com, and most recently HolidaySmart HK, among others.

Meanwhile, last week MARKETING-INTERACTIVE found that various items from the BTS meal are currently being sold on Carousell, with listed items including the BTS meal packaging, the sauces that came with the meal, and the entire meal itself. The prices for the items ranged from SG$6 to SG$100,000. 

A spokesperson from McDonald's Singapore told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that the fast food joint does not encourage customers to purchase the BTS meal for resale. "Our intention is for the BTS Meal to be enjoyed by as many customers as possible," the spokesperson added. 

A spokesperson from Carousell also spoke to MARKETING-INTERACTIVE with regards to the issue. "While we are an open marketplace and understand the appeal of reselling exclusive merchandise, we do not encourage scalping or profiteering," the spokesperson said. Pre-empting such a situation, Carousell also warned its users last month asking them not to overprice their listings.

After the launch, Carousell also shared another post on its Instagram page to reiterate its stance, with the caption reading "Don't sell so ex pls... let’s be fair to all fellow ARMYs".

Photo courtesy: Josiah Chua's Instagram profile (photos by @jaydenation)

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