ATE The Collab: How Food Became Pop Culture’s Hottest Merch Drop

Someone once asked me what BTS merchandise I own. I didn’t even need to mentally scan my room — no light sticks, no concert tees, no collector photo cards. And then, slightly embarrassed but also weirdly proud, I admitted the truth: a BTS McDonald’s takeaway envolope. Flattened and carefully stored under my bed. And here’s the thing, it still counts.

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Because over the past few years, pop culture has quietly redefined what "merch" even means. Today, devotion isn't just worn or displayed — it’s eaten, sipped, unwrapped and Instagrammed. From K-pop meals and cinema sodas to F1 chocolates and anime burgers, the line between what we consume and what we consume culturally has completely disappeared.

The Drix x Marty Supreme Moment: When Cinema Became a Flavour

Which brings us to one of the most visually arrest­ing collaborations of the year: Drix x Marty Supreme. Drix, India’s next-generation functional soda brand, has teamed up with Timothée Chalamet’s Marty Supreme, the film that has gone beyond the screen to become a full-blown pop-culture event, in collaboration with PVR INOX Pictures. The film has a viral, heavily aesthetic-led, high-energy, and instantly recognisable,  bold colour palette, frenetic mood and unforgettable leading man, in his most stylised, have made it a cultural fixation.

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At the centre of this partnership is Drix Orange Crush, whose unapologetically bold orange identity mirrors the film’s visual language. The collaboration taps into a shared colour story and kinetic energy, allowing the brand to integrate seamlessly into the movie’s ecosystem,across cinemas, experiential touchpoints and curated brand moments.

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From Fast Food to Fan Artefacts

If this feels familiar, it’s because we’ve been heading here for a while. The modern blueprint for food-as-merch was arguably set by BTS x McDonald’s. Purple themed packaging, Korean-inspired sauces, TinyTAN collectibles and global queues turned a fast-food order into a cultural keepsake. Fans across the world saved boxes, framed bags and treated sauce packets like souvenirs.

BTS didn’t stop there. Their collaborations with Coca-Cola, Häagen-Dazs and Baskin Robbins further cemented food as a natural extension of fandom, especially when paired with character-led merchandising and storytelling. Then came SEVENTEEN x bibigo, where ramyun packets became collectible items, each featuring members on the packaging. What was once pantry food became shelf-worthy memorabilia. Fans weren’t just eating ramen; they were participating in the Hallyu wave.

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Take Stray Kids x Pepero, a collaboration that has been quietly dominating Indian stores and snack drawer. The limited-edition packaging has turned a simple biscuit stick into a collector’s item. NewJeans x Coca-Cola took a slightly different route—less merch-heavy, more lifestyle-coded. Through Coke Studio and Coke Zero campaigns, the group blurred music, nostalgia and everyday consumption, turning a soft drink into a cool-girl accessory.

When Screens Spill Into Snacks

Film and TV franchises have also realised that the fastest way into fandom isn’t through apparel, it’s through their stomach. Netflix’s Stranger Things entered houses not just via streaming screens but through Kinder Joy eggs, complete with limited-edition Funko-style figurines of Eleven, Dustin, Max and the Demogorgon. Some toys even revealed hidden letters under UV light, turning chocolate into a puzzle, a collectible and a nostalgic hit all at once. Fans in India are still waiting for this drop.

But Kinder Joy's biggest drop has to be the Harry Potter themed eggs, hiding wizarding-world memorabilia inside chocolate shells. Suddenly, dessert became a fandom lottery and fans went feral.

Motorsport, Anime and the Rise of Edible Icons

The scope of these collaborations now extends far beyond music and movies. This year, KitKat unveiled its first-ever Formula 1 chocolate car, marking its global partnership with F1. A smooth milk chocolate shell, creamy filling and cereal crunch—all shaped like a racing car. It is a motorsport trophy you could eat.

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Anime franchises have found similar success. Burger King x Naruto and other anime-led partnerships turn fast food into fandom hotspots, while Oreo’s pop-culture drops, including collaborations with Supreme, have blurred snack culture and streetwear.

So Why Does Food Work So Well?

Because food is more accessible to everyone. Not everyone can afford concert tickets or designer merch, but almost everyone can participate in a limited-edition meal. And because food is social, a memory that can be shared, photographed, reviewed and remembered. In an era where cultural relevance is currency, food collaborations allow brands and franchises to enter everyday life.

India Is Ready for Its Food-as-Fandom Era

What makes the Drix x Marty Supreme or all the Squid Games collaboration especially exciting is how confidently Indian brands are now stepping into this global conversation. As pop culture continues to collapse into our daily routines, food is emerging as the ultimate entry point, where taste meets trend. So yes, I still have that BTS McDonald’s box. And no, I’m not getting rid of it.

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