McDonald’s Japan halts Pokemon card giveaway after crowds and reseller activity overwhelmed stores, left piles of uneaten Happy Meals discarded outside restaurants, and prompted police to be called. What the company had designed as a three-day promotion intended to delight children instead became a global scramble for Pokémon TCG products.
According to McDonald’s Japan’s official notice posted on August 9, 2025, the company halted distribution “at many stores due to higher-than-expected sales” and apologized to customers who were disappointed by the early end of the giveaway. The notice reiterated that the cards were a limited distribution tied to Happy Meals and asked people “to refrain from contacting stores regarding stock availability.”
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The company had originally announced on August 4, 2025, that the Happy Meal campaign would begin August 8, with a special card distribution scheduled for August 9–11, and that each qualifying Happy Meal would include two Pokémon cards, an original Pikachu illustration, plus one random card from five variants.
Local and international outlets described scenes of chaos at restaurants when the cards landed. Reporters posted photos of long queues, mobile orders were used to get around store limits, and many meals were left untouched after resellers took out the cards. The South China Morning Post and Nintendo Wire said police were called to mediate disputes at some sites, and Nintendo Wire noted auction-site listings for the exclusive cards began to appear almost immediately. Kotaku depicted viral images of discarded food and said that public anger focused more on the waste.
Much of the frenzy was traced to the Pikachu card included in the packs. Unlike McDonald’s, which reuses existing art, this release featured an original illustration of Pikachu sitting down to a fast-food meal. The Pokémon Trading Card Game has seen price spikes and frequent sellouts in the past year, and scalpers have learned to exploit limited releases. Collectors have blamed both aggressive resale markets and uneven supply, with several reports noting critics saying The Pokémon Company International has not done enough to relieve shortages.
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The backlash has not been just frustration over supply. Multiple accounts said some social-media responses included xenophobic accusations against alleged foreign resellers, which only intensified the controversy. Journalists emphasized that the most harm was felt by children and families who left disappointed after stores exhausted their limited stock.
McDonald’s Japan’s weekend statement framed the early end as a result of unexpectedly high demand, while also reminding customers of the weekend purchase cap it had stated earlier. However, critics argued that uneven enforcement of those limits was a major operational failure that allowed resellers to profit and left ordinary customers empty-handed.
The episode shows how a small marketing strategy can be taken out of proportion when collectibles are both scarce and valuable. Retailers and brand partners face a recurring challenge to design promotions that reward genuine fans while deterring commercial hoarding. For now, McDonald’s Japan has stepped back from this particular release. Whether the lesson will prompt tighter on-site enforcement, changes to ordering systems, or coordination with The Pokémon Company to redesign future drops is unknown. In the meantime, both parents and collectors are left to wonder when and how companies will prevent limited promotions from falling into scenes of waste and frustration.
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