McDonald’s apologizes after Pokemon card promotion ends early

McDonald’s has apologized to customers for being unable to meet demand for a limited-time Pokemon Happy Meal that included exclusive cards.

The promotion, which had been scheduled to run for three days between August 9 and August 11, was confirmed to have “ended at many stores” less than 24 hours after going on sale due to “higher-than-expected sales,” according to the fast food giant.

Each Happy Meal purchased during the availability period included one pack of Pokemon cards containing a guaranteed promotional Pikachu card and a second random card from a pool of five.

The chain’s statement, translated from Japanese, continued, “We sincerely apologize for not being able to meet the expectations of our customers who were looking forward to the product due to the early end of distribution. Please refrain from contacting stores regarding stock availability.”

McDonald’s Japan collab goes “horribly wrong”

On X/Twitter, numerous videos and pictures circulated showing the massive surge in foot traffic to the burger chain. At one location, hundreds of people were pictured lining up outside the restaurant.

Likewise, numerous images of large McDonald’s orders – packs aren’t purchasable directly and only available with food orders – being abandoned in the streets popped up.

“A McDonald’s bag with food still inside was thrown away. It’s likely someone bought a ton of Happy Meals for the Pokemon toys and threw the food away without eating it,” one post claimed.

The reason for all the fuss? Pokemon has never not been popular, but the hobby is currently going through a boom, especially the Trading Card Game. Getting hold of new sets regardless of location has become increasingly difficult due to rampant scalping and reselling, and promos are no different.

As of writing, individual copies of the Pikachu chase card have already started appearing on eBay for massively inflated prices. Sold listings go from anywhere between $15-20, considerably more than the price of a Happy Meal in the U.S.

It’s currently unknown if McDonald’s and The Pokemon Company have any plans to release the so-called “Burger Pikachu” card in English with a similar promotion.