'Urban legend on the receipt': Mega MGC Coffee's summer drinks top 1 million sales in 2 weeks

Mega MGC Coffee said its six new summer menu items, launched on July 9, surpassed 1 million cumulative sales within two weeks of their debut.

The new items were built around a spooky summer concept called "Chilling MGC Summer Night." As part of an unconventional marketing push, the chain printed a "Neapolitan urban legend" message on kiosk receipts, prompting customers to photograph and share them on SNS platforms. One post on X, formerly Twitter, racked up 19,000 retweets and 4.9 million views. In-store digital display screens showing order numbers also broadcast eerie video clips as part of the campaign.

Riding that momentum, all six new summer items — spanning beverages and desserts — proved hits. The "Peach Fondant Yogurt Smoothie," made with a seasonal summer fruit, and the "Handsome Tomato Smoothie," developed with Chuncheon city as a regional partnership, emerged as the bestsellers. The new dessert item "Waang Hot Cheese Stick & Dip" also went viral after review videos showing the cheese stretching drew more than 1.9 million views.

"The storytelling behind the 'spooky summer' concept combined with customer-driven virality to create a real synergy," a Mega MGC Coffee official said.

Meanwhile, Mega MGC Coffee will relaunch its "MGC Seasoned Cup Chicken," which was a hit earlier this spring, targeting the traditional "bok" dog days of summer. The cup chicken features boneless thigh meat topped with a sweet and spicy sauce and rice cakes. Customers who buy it as a set with a summer season beverage will receive a 300-won discount. Sales will run in two rounds — Friday through Sunday for the Jungbok season, and Aug. 13 through Aug. 17 for the Malbok season.