Overview

• McDonald’s Japan has paused distribution of Pokémon-themed cards and toys in its Happy Sets and issued a formal apology for the disruption and food waste caused by bulk buyers.
• Resellers purchased large volumes of Happy Sets, discarded the meals and resold the collectible cards online at inflated prices, leaving many families without the promotional items.
• The company plans to exclude identified scalpers from its mobile app, set limits on Happy Set purchases per customer and suspend online ordering in affected stores.
• McDonald’s Japan has contacted Japanese flea-market and resale platforms to urge stricter measures against hoarding and unauthorized resale of promotional merch.
• The chain acknowledged underestimating demand and said the wasteful behaviour ran counter to its philosophy, prompting a review of in-store operations and digital safeguards.