'Unhappy Meal': McDonald's Japan sorry for Pokemon debacle
The fast-food chain ran a campaign giving away limited-edition Pokemon cards with "Happy Meals". Launched Friday, the stunt soon went awry with some people flocking to buy meals in bulk to resell the attached cards at a higher price on e-commerce sites.
A McDonald's outlet in Tokyo. AFP PHOTO / Yoshikazu TSUNO
McDonald's Japan has apologised after a campaign giving away limited-edition Pokemon cards with "Happy Meals" triggered long queues and social media outrage about food waste.
Cards with the "little monsters" are extremely popular among children but also adult superfans and collectors, with billions printed and some selling for millions of dollars.
There have even been cases of shops that sell the cards – which represent monsters and their attributes – being broken into and physical fights breaking out in low-crime Japan.
Launched Friday, the McDonald's stunt soon went awry with some people flocking to buy meals in bulk to resell the attached cards at a higher price on e-commerce sites.
Social media was awash with complaints about long queues at McDonald's outlets, with unverified pictures of plastic bags full of uneaten burgers and fries.
Some dubbed it the "Unhappy Meals" campaign.
"I couldn't buy a Happy Meal for my daughter because of these people", one user posted on X.
"I'm sure there are adult Pokemon fans who genuinely want the cards, but these resellers are truly embarrassing," another wrote.
"They go to great lengths to collect them and then throw away food ... for how much profit?"
Similar problems have hit other McDonald's campaigns, including past collaborations with manga series such as "Chiikawa".
Announcing the latest campaign, the firm stressed that each person could buy a maximum of five meals.
In a statement Monday (Aug 11), McDonald's conceded there were some instances of "resale-driven mass purchases by customers" that led to "our food being thrown away or discarded".
It added that it was looking to "introduce a stricter cap" on future Happy Meals purchases.
"Any attempts to buy more than permitted, repeatedly stand in the line, and behave intimidatingly toward our staff" will be met with a rejection, the firm said.
The US fast food giant also vowed to ask e-commerce sites to take more effective measures against unscrupulous resale.
