Pokémon McDonalds promo ends early in Japan due to extreme demand and wasted food
Thousands of dollars worth of untouched food was reportedly discarded over the weekend
A Pokémon McDonald’s promotion that was supposed to last for three days in Japan was cancelled after just one day as thousands of people descended on restaurants across Japan.
The latest Pokémon McDonald’s promotion kicked off in Japan on Saturday, and was planned to last until Monday, August 11. However, due to “higher than expected sales”, the promotion was ended after just one day.
The popularity of the promotion has stemmed from a Pikachu card that can be found in the Happy Meals, which features a new printing of the character and a special McDonald’s stamp. The rarity of this card has caused its price to rise on the secondary market, and as a result thousands of people made their way to McDonald’s stores around Japan.
Reports then emerged that people were buying thousands of dollars worth of food, removing the Pokémon cards, and then leaving the uneaten food on the street to rot. This, combined with reports of boxes of the cards being illegally sold by McDonald’s employees, caused the promotion to be quickly shut down.
McDonald’s promotions typically feature reprinted versions of commonly available cards, in an effort to stop this exact type of demand from taking hold. For this release, however, that trend wasn’t followed.
This is far from the first time a special Pikachu card has caused issues. The Pokémon Company was forced to apologise in 2023 after scalpers appeared to spoil a planned collaboration with the Van Gogh museum, which saw a line of unique Pokémon x Van Gogh merchandise made available.
When the items first went on sale, social media videos showed huge crowds swarming the museum, snatching up items, with claims that many people had bragged about plans to resell the items for profit.
The special Pikachu promo card, “Pikachu with Grey Felt Hat”, was given to customers for free after purchasing any item, and quickly appeared for sale in large numbers on auction sites for over $600.
