The Big Problem With McDonald's New J Balvin Meal

McDonald's wasted no time getting a new celebrity meal on the menu after the popular Travis Scott meal disappeared. Starting October 5th, fans of Raggaeton recording artist J Balvin could show their love of the singer and McDonald's both by ordering his usual meal — a Big Mac (hold the pickle), fries with ketchup, and an Oreo McFlurry. McDonald's is even willing to give you your McFlurry for free if you order the J Blavin meal through the chain's app (via McDonald's). This latest celebrity meal may have taken customers by surprise, but McDonald's has obviously known about it for months, so we can trust they were prepared this time, right? Certainly, all of their restaurants fixed those famously broken ice cream machines so they can dispense all of the promised free McFlurries.

Well Twitter users were skeptical that the fast food chain would be able to pull this off. "J Balvin meal got a McFlurry but the ice cream machine is always down, like how that supposed to work," tweeted @grandaddiiii. User @Raunchola has been getting noticed for their tweet imagining Balvin's conversation with McDonald's executives when conceptualizing the meal: "McDonald's: Hey J Balvin, how about your own meal? J Balvin: Big Mac with no pickles, fries... McDonald's: We can do that! J Balvin:...and a McFlurry. McDonald's: *looks at broken ice cream machine* McDonald's: We can do that?"

As it turned out, not every McDonald's ice cream machine in America was up and running on the day Balvin's meal came out. TikTok user @melissa_mariche pulled up to a McDonald's drive-thru to get the J Balvin meal, and soon found out they couldn't make the McFlurry. The McDonald's employee admitted the ice cream machine was broken, and Melissa got the apple pie instead. Blavin's fans on TikTok are not the only ones having trouble ordering the combo. Vulture's review of McDonald's J Blavin meal ended up mostly being about how hard it was to order a McFlurry in New York City. The McDonald's app rejected the outlet's McFlurry order, and they couldn't find the treat by showing up in person to nearby McDonald's locations either. Finally, success was found through Uber Eats — and cost $21. Quite a difference from the $6.99 Vulture states the meal officially came to before tax, tip, and fees associated with using the service.

At this rate, McDonald's won't have to worry about selling out of ingredients like it did with the Travis Scott Cactus Jack meal. And if the J Balvin meal proves to be a hit — even while some customers are forced to eat pie — maybe McDonald's will finally invest in some ice cream machine repairs.