The 2026 World Cup might be generating excitement on the pitch, but a Son Heung-min collectible is stirring up a frenzy off of it.
A limited edition of McDonald’s reusable cup featuring the South Korea captain has become one of the most coveted items among Korean football aficionados, with several resellers asking more than 100,000 won ($65) for the item, which is 10 times more than the price of the meal set it originally came with.
The craze follows the global popularity of the World Cup meal sets sold by the global franchise during the ongoing football event. In Korea, the promotion that was launched on June 11 at more than 400 McDonald’s stores offered customers an 8,900-won Big Mac meal set with one randomly selected collectible cup.
Most of the limited-edition cups sold out within five days, according to industry sources.
The collectible series features a mix of football legends and current stars, including David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho, Lamine Yamal and Christian Pulisic, who are the headliners of the global McDonald's FIFA World Cup 26 campaign.
Despite its soaring popularity, the Son Heung-min cup is not available in Korea.
The first batch of cups released in Korea featured Yamal, Ronaldinho, Henry and Beckham, but not Son. While McDonald's has been silent, industry observers speculate the exclusion of Son could be linked to licensing and endorsement arrangements.
Son is currently the face of several Korean food and beverage companies, including Mega MGC Coffee, Domino’s Pizza, Lotte Wellfood’s signature World Cone ice cream and HiteJinro’s Terra beer.
The limited availability has only fueled demand for the Son cup.
On Karrot, the go-to app for buying and selling secondhand items, the item has been listed at between 55,000 won and 110,000 won, with many sellers asking around 80,000 won to 90,000 won. Some posts also show that fans are looking for travelers or overseas residents willing to purchase and ship the cup to Korea.
junheee@heraldcorp.com
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