When Happy sets are not so happy

Recently, I learned a valuable lesson about promotions in Japan. If it involves Pokémon, expect chaos.

McDonald's was running a short promotion where every Happy Set came with two limited-edition Pokémon trading cards. I thought it would be pretty standard...buy a meal, make the kids smile, and they could add the unique cards to their collection. 

These quickly became a hot commodity.

It became clear pretty quickly that not everyone was in it for that purpose. Media reports showed that people were buying Happy Sets in bulk, not for the food but for the cards, and SNS quickly filled with photos of untouched burgers and fries thrown away. When I regularly see articles in the media about how many people are struggling with the jumps in costs of living here, the blatant food waste just to try and make a profit off the cards felt so gross.

McDonald's ran out of cards on the very first day of what was meant to be a three-day promotion. They've already gone ahead and issued a public apology, saying that the incident went against their values of providing a fun dining experience for children and families, and they also stressed that they don't tolerate buying Happy Sets for resale or wasting food.

To be fair, McDonald's tried to limit the damage. They capped purchases at five meals per person and coordinated with Mercari to fight the online resale of the cards. Even so, listings began appearing at inflated prices pretty quickly.

If you're an expat in Japan, consider this a tip. If the freebie is Pokémon-related, go early.