McDonald’s Japan Has Stopped the Happy Meal Promotion Due to Waste

• The promotion featuring Pokémon cards led to massive waste already.
• The McDonald’s company opted for chaos and decided to stop the promotion early.
• Specialty items triggered lines and conflicts in stores.

McDonald’s Japan announced that the promotion distributing Pokémon cards in Happy Meals ended less than 24 hours after it started. The reason was significant waste generated by the promotion and chaos in stores, which arose due to specialty purchases.

The promotion, which started on Friday and was supposed to last until Monday, offered customers who purchased a Happy Meal for around 500 yen (about $2.50) a special card featuring Pikachu and one of five other Pokémon cards. However, reports revealed that many stores had closed their distribution by Friday.

In its statement, the company noted that "sales exceeded expectations" and opted out due to unforeseen customer demand. Social media indicated that specialty items became a reason for waste: people were trying to buy a limit on five per person, using multiple accounts.

As a result, purchases left unnecessary packaging in the streets and in stores. In some stores, conflicts between buyers and specialty items led to police interventions. In Japan, where the culture of waste disposal is prevalent, this triggered outrage in the community.

Some Pokémon cards began appearing on resale sites at significantly higher prices, with some of them being listed for thousands of yen. The company promised to implement measures to prevent similar issues in the future, including setting severe limits on the quantity of items that can be purchased by one customer.

Tags: Ecology