McDonald’s Japan teases new collaboration with Pokémon
The official social media account for McDonald’s Japan has posted a teaser image that strongly suggests an upcoming collaboration with the Pokémon franchise.
The post, made on Monday, July 14th, featured the simple comment, “…Oya!?” or “…Oh!?”, alongside a graphic showing the silhouettes of three Pokémon.
This type of teaser campaign is a common marketing strategy in Japan, designed to build excitement and encourage discussion among fans before a full announcement.
Collaborations between McDonald’s and Pokémon are a long-standing and immensely popular tradition in Japan, most often taking the form of exclusive toys bundled with the children’s “Happy Meal” menu.
McDonald’s Japan is currently offering a summer-themed Hello Kitty Happy Meal, but with no currently announced successor to this set, fans on social media immediately began speculating that the Pokémon teaser is for the next Happy Set promotion.
The silhouettes in the image are clearly identifiable as three specific Pokémon.
They include the franchise mascot Pikachu and the ever-popular Eevee, two characters frequently featured in promotional material.
The third silhouette is that of Mega Lucario, which has generated significant discussion among fans.
Mega Evolution is a gameplay mechanic first introduced in the Pokémon X and Y games, where certain Pokémon can temporarily achieve a more powerful form in battle.
The inclusion of Mega Lucario, a form that is expected to return in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, has led fans to speculate about the potential theme of the upcoming collaboration.
Some fans have expressed hope that the promotion could be tied to the current Pokémon arcade game in Japan, “Pokémon Frienda”.
“Pokémon Frienda” is a popular amusement machine where players engage in 3-on-3 battles and collect physical tags, making a toy tie-in a logical fit.
It could also be related to the launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, however, as the game is not set to be released until October 2025, this seems less likely as what can be expected to be a summer collab will probably come too early for the pre-launch promotional arc for the game.
Further details are expected to be released by McDonald’s Japan over the course of the coming weeks.
Source: Official X Account
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