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Pokémon and McDonald’s: A Card Frenzy That Shook Japan


It All Started with Happy Meals

Japan is once again in the middle of a pop culture frenzy—and this time, the stage is McDonald’s.

The trigger? Happy Meals. You know, the kid-friendly set with a burger, fries, a drink, and a toy, familiar even overseas.

Earlier this month, McDonald’s Japan launched a special collaboration with Pokémon, offering toys based on five different Pokémon characters.

But it wasn’t just the toys that caused a stir. From August 9 to 11, each Happy Meal came with two Pokémon cards: one original Pikachu card, plus one random card from the five-card set. And that’s when things spiraled out of control.

Gone on Day One

What seemed like a fun promotion quickly turned into a nationwide frenzy.

Lines formed immediately, with people buying multiple sets at once. Many stores sold out of the cards on the first day, and they instantly appeared on resale apps like Mercari. Prices weren’t just a few thousand yen—they skyrocketed to tens of thousands, and some sellers were already offering the complete five-card sets just hours after the campaign began.

The chaos didn’t stay in Japan. Cards appeared on eBay in the U.S. and other overseas sites, spreading the frenzy internationally.

Parents hoping to give the cards to their kids couldn’t get their hands on them. Collectors and resellers were monopolizing the cards, and the large-scale buying even caused food waste, adding another layer of criticism.

McDonald’s Slow Response

A Happy Meal campaign sign flipped after the promotion ended earlier than expected , August 21.


By August 15, the cards had already disappeared from most stores due to high demand. McDonald’s then implemented purchase limits of three sets per group per transaction and urged resale sites to restrict sales.

The Happy Meal toys continued, but the situation also disrupted the campaign schedule: the second phase, originally planned to run until August 21, ended early, and the third phase—scheduled to begin on August 22—was canceled entirely.

And the impact didn’t stop there. The frenzy spilled over into later promotions as well: the special cards that were to be offered in collaboration with the popular manga One Piece, originally set to begin on August 29, were called off before launch.

In the end, McDonald’s was forced to reconsider how it approaches collaboration campaigns altogether.

Criticism for Resellers and the Company

As usual, resellers were criticized as “money-hungry opportunists.” But there was also a strong sense that McDonald’s should have seen this coming, and the company’s slow reaction drew its own backlash.

Resale Problems in Japan and Around the World

Of course, this isn’t Japan’s first brush with resale chaos. From concert ticket scalpers to the Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order frenzy, these issues keep coming up.

And it’s not just Japan. Around the world, reselling is a hot topic—concert tickets, collectible items, even celebrity autographs sometimes become resale-driven controversies.

Is Reselling Really “Bad,” or Just Part of the Game?

The question keeps coming back: is reselling really “bad”? Buying low and selling high is basic commerce, right? Or does it unfairly distort supply and demand?

Is it a matter of manners and self-restraint, a failure of companies to stock enough, or the fault of buyers exploiting loopholes?

And because this was a kid-focused promotion, the fact that children missed out made the issue feel even bigger.

The Never-Ending Craze for Limited Goods

This chaos, and the cancellation of planned campaigns, is certainly dramatic—but one thing is clear: the love for limited-edition goods (think collectible toys, “LABUBU” style campaigns, and more) and the resale frenzy that follows is not going away anytime soon.

So what do you think? Is reselling something unfair that should be stopped—or is it just part of the game?

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