Resellers cause chaos again as McDonald’s Japan’s Pokémon TCG promo ends in less than 24 hours
McDonald’s Japan has been forced to issue an apology after ending a Pokémon card giveaway early due to rampant reseller activity.
The promotion, which was met with immediate and overwhelming demand, was designed to coincide with the release of special “Pokémon” Happy Meals.
The company announced that, due to “higher-than-expected sales,” the exclusive cards have sold out at most stores across the country, prematurely ending a campaign that was originally scheduled to last three days in less than 24 hours.
The current Happy Meal menu at McDonald’s Japan offers a limited-edition Pokémon-themed toy with each purchase.
Originally, between August 9th and 11th, they were also set to include exclusive Pokémon trading cards, which included a special promo Pikachu card that many suspected would be the target of resellers.
It appears that once again, McDonald’s Japan either severely underestimated demand or did not enforce stringent enough measures to prevent reselling activity, as the promotion ended on its very first day and will not return for the remaining two days.
In a statement posted on its official website, McDonald’s Japan expressed its regrets, saying:
“We regret to inform you that the distribution of Pokémon cards to customers who purchased the Pokémon Happy Meal, which was scheduled for three days only from August 9th to August 11th, has ended at many stores due to higher-than-expected sales.”
The statement 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.”
The rapid sell-out follows a similar pattern to past promotions, such as the Chiikawa Happy Meal earlier this year, where high demand from collectors and scalpers led to items being sold much faster than anticipated.
In a proactive move to manage customer inquiries and prevent potential frustration, McDonald’s also requested that customers “refrain from contacting stores with inquiries regarding stock.”
Similar to the earlier Chiikawa Happy Meal promotion, there appears to have been a large level of reselling and organized purchasing with the sole aim of getting as many Pokémon cards as possible.
One social media user reported that it took 2 hours to be served and that the majority of other customers in their restaurant were Chinese resellers placing multiple mobile orders to bypass the limit of 5 orders per person.
Images on social media show a large number of orders abandoned in McDonald’s restaurants, with the food and toys left behind after the Pokémon cards have been removed.
In some areas, the unwanted food and toys have also been dumped on the street.
One McDonald’s restaurant had to involve the police after a group, identified on social media as a Chinese family, demanded a refund.
The group initially claimed they had lost the Pokémon cards that came with their Happy Meals, however, they subsequently alleged that they had not been given any Pokémon cards at all.
Another man, identified on social media as Chinese, was seen editing screenshots of the McDonald’s app pickup screen whilst in store, attempting to alter the order number to allow the collection of items he had not purchased.
This act has lead to widespread outrage that someone would commit what appears to be a crime over Pokémon cards.
The exclusive packs of Pokémon cards, which each contain 1 Pikachu card and 1 of 5 other possible cards, are now showing up for sale on marketplace websites in Japan.
Collaborations like these are often highly anticipated by fans, but with resellers now actively targeting the majority of such events, it’s clear that more needs to be done at a corporate level to implement restrictions at all stages of the ordering process.
McDonald’s current method of leaving the enforcement of restrictions to individual stores and staff members, many of whom are under incredible stress to fulfil customer orders, does not appear to be sufficient enough, with many calling for the chain to cease these types of promotions until they can properly manage the demand.
For many fans and collectors, the Pokémon card promotion was a highly anticipated event, and its swift conclusion will be disappointing to many who were unable to visit a McDonald’s restaurant in time to take advantage of the promotion.
Source: Official Website
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