One of the most influential K-Dramas: Squid Game, quickly became Netflixâs most watched program when it was released in 2021. The show tells the story of 456 debt-ridden people who play children’s games to win a huge cash prize. But if they lose, they die.
The history made by this TV series is partly due to its countless awards; it was nominated for 14 Emmy Awards and won six, making it the first non-English language program to win the honour; it was also widely renowned for leaving a powerful impression on viewers: the tense music, the green tracksuits, the red staff suitsâŠ
With less than a month left until the Squid Game season two airs, many companies have introduced campaigns to hook audiences. For example, when the Squid Game came to Australia, how many people were shocked by the event in Sydney? But if youâre as much of a Maccas fan as me, the most exciting campaign for you might be this exclusive one from McDonalds Australia!
McDonaldâs Squid Game Set in Australia
McDonald’s Australia is now launching a limited-time Squid Game set menu! This meal is available from December 11, 2024, to January 7, 2025, including a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets Meal (Medium or Large), Korean BBQ Sauce, and a Dalgona dandy (with four shapes: circle, triangle, star, and the special âMâ shape), and the greatest part: you get the chance to win a cash price or green tracksuit!
The packaging of this meal actually shocked me! Look at the creepy iconic short-haired girl! This is also the first time I realised how similar this girl’s colour scheme is to the McDonald’s logo! Yellow and red colour combination with bangs and short hair.
On the other side of the package, it has thet classic line â돎ê¶í êœìŽ íŒìì”ëë€ (The Eternal Flower is in Bloom)â printed, a Korean children’s game, which also features in the show. It also features the classic graphics of Squid Game: circles, triangles, and squares respectively. There’s also the main character’s identifying information: Seong Gi-hun, player 456, which I think can also be interpreted as the number of participants or the amount of the bonus for Seong Gi-hun-45.6 billion.
The top of the box has the most interesting part of this setâthe Dalgona (honeycomb) candy!
Dalgona (Honeycomb) Candy Challenge
One of the most memorable and nerve-wracking challenges from Squid Game is the dalgona cookie game. Taking place in the third episode of season one, this challenge features a simple yet deadly game involving a dalgona cookie, a traditional Korean candy made from melted sugar and baking soda.
The protagonist, Seong Gi-hun, receives this note from his childhood friend, Cho Sang-woo, who has learned about the game in advance. The note helps Gi-hun choose the simplest shape (the circle) for the challenge, giving him a strategic advantage. This detail of receiving prior information about the games becomes a recurring theme and points to the underlying strategies and betrayals among the players.
The rules on the show: Each participant is given a Dalgona cookie with a shape pressed into itâranging from simple circles and triangles to more complex shapes like stars and umbrellas. The objective is to carefully carve out the shape using only a needle.
McDonald’s Squid Game Challenge and Prizes
Now, after purchasing the Squid Game meal, you can scan the QR code on the package to access the game! Be warned, here will be very intense music, and I recommend being prepared ahead of time! I’ll talk more about how to carve out the shapes later.
How to Play Maccas Squid Game:
- Candy Shapes: The candy comes with one of four shapes embossed on it: a circle, triangle, star, or a special McDonaldâs âMâ.
- Task: Using a small pin or needle, participants must carefully carve out the shape from the candy. The challenge is to do this without cracking or breaking the shape or the surrounding candy.
Maccas Squid Game Prizes:
- Tracksuit prize: Successfully extracting any shape without breaking it enters participants into a draw to win an exclusive Maccaâs & Squid Game green player tracksuit.
2. Cash prize: If a participant successfully extracts the McDonaldâs âMâ shape specifically, they are entered into a draw to win $100,000. This is the grand prize and highlights the difficulty of perfectly carving out the more intricate âMâ shape.
(The only way to get a chance to win cash is to get the M Shape, and in my opinion, the M isnât terribly rare, I have had it in four separate purchases)
How to carve out the shape quickly in Candy Challenge?
In the TV series, the participants used lighters to warm the needle or just licking the candy directly, in an effort to try to get to the full cookie more quickly. Both of these methods worked very well in the TV show, but I still decided to use a more advanced cheating method, as I really wanted to win! I hope I won’t have nightmares about being punished.
I used advanced tools, the carving knife is highly recommended! Because it works very well at carving sugar cookies! These cookies are very brittle and if you use a carving knife you may lose the game by crumbling! I can also responsibly say that licking cookies might not work very well, as my friend tried to let her dog lick the cookies, but it didn’t work at all!
Will it be the next Szechuan hot sauce?
In 1998, McDonaldâs introduced Szechuan sauce as a promotion for Disneyâs Mulan. The sauce was inspired by traditional Chinese flavours, offering a sweet, tangy, and slightly spicy taste. It disappeared after the promotion ended and was largely forgotten until the animated series Rick and Morty referenced it in 2017.
In the Rick and Morty episode, Rick ranted about his love for the discontinued Szechuan sauce, sparking a frenzy among fans. The demand for a comeback grew so intense that McDonaldâs brought it back for one day in 2017. The limited supply caused chaos, with long lines, frustrated customers, and packets being resold online for hundreds of dollars.
Due to overwhelming demand, McDonaldâs re-released the sauce in 2018 with a larger supply, finally satisfying fans and cementing Szechuan sauceâs status as a pop culture phenomenon. So, could the Korean BBQ sauce become the next Szechuan sauce?
As a fan of Korean street food, Iâm really excited about this sauce, and I want to rate this sauce fairly, so I invited my Korean friends to rate it together. We thought it would be the same kind of sauce as you have with Korean fried chicken, but we were all very disappointed! We all agreed that this BBQ sauce doesn’t actually display the characteristics of Korean sauces; although you can taste salty, spicy, and a little bit of smoke, but the spicy is different to that of authentic Korean sauce! If we were to choose between sweet & sour sauce and Korean BBQ sauce: all of us would vote for the classic sweet & sour sauce.
However, for those who are tired of eating the same old McDonald’s dips, you might enjoy this Korean BBQ sauce to switch things up!
All up, the Squid Game set is really worth trying. In addition to the limited edition Korean BBQ sauces, there are also candy cookies that look exactly like those depicted in the show! It was not only fun but also very tasty! I suspect McDonald’s got the authentic recipe for the cookies!
