Why Did One Among Us-Shaped McNugget Sell for $99,997?

A crewmate made of chicken, and a $99,997 final bid

In June 2021, a single Chicken McNugget sold on eBay for $99,997. The listing called it an Among Us-shaped nugget from McDonald's BTS Meal. Guinness World Records now lists it as the most expensive chicken nugget ever sold at online auction, about £70,709 or €82,190 at the conversion Guinness used. Deseret News reported that the auction closed at 7:38 p.m. on June 3. Guinness puts the sale on June 4.

The object was ordinary breaded chicken with an unusual outline. Its rounded body and two small stubs at the bottom looked like the crewmate, the bean-shaped astronaut from the video game Among Us. According to TheWrap, the seller promised to freeze the nugget and seal it airtight for shipping. Nobody was buying a meal. They were buying a shape, and the story that came with it.

Four official shapes, and this wasn't one of them

McNuggets aren't random blobs. McDonald's makes them in four standard shapes: the bell, the ball, the boot and the bone. In Canada the bone is called the bow-tie. Each piece is meant to land on one of those four outlines.

That's why this nugget stood out. A crewmate is not on the list, so this piece was a deviation from a tightly controlled design. Collectors of all kinds tend to prize the item that came out wrong, like the misprinted stamp or the miscut coin, because it's the one nobody planned to make. A fast-food nugget is the extreme case. The factory turns out enormous numbers of nearly identical pieces, so the rare one that doesn't match is easy to spot and easy to explain in a single photo.

Ninety-nine cents, two quiet days, then a jump

The timing mattered as much as the shape. McDonald's added the BTS Meal, a promotion tied to the K-pop group BTS, to its US menu on May 27, 2021. The nugget was listed on eBay the next day, May 28, with a starting price of $0.99.

At first nothing happened. Deseret News reported that the listing went without bids for a while. Two days later, someone bid $14,869.69. That single bid changed the auction from a joke at pocket-change prices to a five-figure contest, and it gave every later bidder a reference point.

Then the listing spread. While the price was still climbing, the official Among Us account on Twitter shared it and joked, "i don't know how to feel about it??? but also?? i want it," as PinkNews reported. By the close, TheWrap counted 184 bids in less than a week, from 99 cents to $99,997.

What actually drove the price

Nothing about the nugget itself justifies the number. It's perishable. No grading service certifies chicken, and its provenance rests mostly on the seller's account. Deseret wrote that it allegedly came from the BTS Meal. The value came from what surrounded it.

First, two big fan communities met in one object. Among Us was a huge game at the time, and the BTS Meal was a global event for the band's fans. PinkNews noted that the BTS origin surely added to the nugget's value. A crewmate-shaped nugget from any ordinary box would have been a curiosity. One from the BTS Meal was a souvenir of a particular moment.

Second, attention fed itself. When the game's own account posted about the listing, more people saw it, and the high bids kept it in the news. Bidding on something this absurd is partly about the bid itself: whoever wins owns the punchline and the headline that comes with it. That is likely why the price kept rising long after any practical use ran out.

Third, the auction had a clear stopping point. The final figure sits just under a round $100,000, the same "almost $100,000" that headlines repeated.

A nugget against the price of Coca-Cola in 1891

To put the number in perspective, compare it with an early chapter of a real business. According to The Coca-Cola Company's own history, Asa G. Candler didn't gain sole ownership of Coca-Cola until 1891, and it cost him a total of $2,300. Those were 1891 dollars, so the comparison is about scale, not inflation-adjusted value. By 1919, the Georgia Encyclopedia reports, the Candler interests sold the company to a group led by Ernest Woodruff for $25 million.

The contrast shows what a price measures. Candler paid for a formula and a brand that went on to earn money for more than a century. The nugget buyer paid for one week in 2021 when a meal promotion, a hit game and a strange piece of chicken all landed together. Watch the short video on this page for how the bidding unfolded. Both prices are real, but only one bought something that produces anything.

Questions people ask

How much did the Among Us chicken nugget sell for?

It sold on eBay for $99,997 in June 2021, after opening at 99 cents and drawing 184 bids in less than a week.

Is the Among Us McNugget a world record?

Yes. Guinness World Records lists it as the most expensive chicken nugget sold at online auction, at $99,997.

What shapes do Chicken McNuggets come in?

McDonald's makes McNuggets in four shapes: the bell, the ball, the boot and the bone, which is called the bow-tie in Canada. The Among Us crewmate is not one of them, which is why this piece stood out.

Sources

1. Most expensive chicken nugget sold at online auctionGuinness World Records · 2021-06-04
2. Among Us chicken nugget sold on eBayDeseret News · 2021-06-07
3. 'Among Us' Character-Shaped Chicken Nugget Sells for Nearly $100,000TheWrap · 2021-06-04
4. An 'Among Us' chicken nugget just sold on eBay for almost $100,000. Yes, reallyPinkNews · 2021-06-04
5. 10 Things You Probably Didn't Know About McDonald's Chicken McNuggetsMcDonald's Corporate · 2026-10-31
6. Chicken McNuggetsWikipedia · 2026-10-31
7. History of Coca-Cola: The Asa Candler eraThe Coca-Cola Company · 2026-10-31
8. Coca-Cola CompanyNew Georgia Encyclopedia · 2026-10-31

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