A McDonald's promotion in Japan offered exclusive Pokémon trading cards with Happy Meals, creating chaos as superfans and scalpers purchased meals for resale. The promotion, running from August 9 to 11, led to food waste and congestion in stores as many customers abandoned food after buying multiple meals. McDonald's announced it would impose stricter purchase limits and does not tolerate reselling meals or food disposal, confirming the campaign's negative outcomes. Reports highlighted surreal scenes with Happy Meals dumped outside outlets and left in bike baskets, illustrating the promotion's unintended consequences.
Kiko Ochoa-Beovides and Madison Hodges told Business Insider they snapped up around 20 Happy Meals to collect the toy sets and Pokémon cards, often ditching the food.
McDonald's confirmed that the campaign had resulted in customers buying large quantities of the meals for resale, which led to congestion in stores and food waste.
McDonald's does not tolerate the purchase of Happy Meals for the purpose of resale, or the abandonment or disposal of food, adding that it would impose stricter purchase limits in the future.
Soon after the promo launched on August 9, social media feeds were filled with surreal scenes: bags of Happy Meals abandoned in stores, piled outside outlets, or stuffed into bike baskets.
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