This year marks Pokemon's monumental 25th anniversary, complete with a wealth of celebrations fitting for the highest grossing media franchise of all time. While The Pokemon Company has has brought fans new music and a virtual concert with Post Malone, many Pokemon-related announcements, and a wealth of new merchandise, fans might remember that McDonald's Happy Meals were at the center of attention earlier this year.
McDonald's Happy Meals containing Pokemon cards recently hit the United States in February for Pokemon's 25th anniversary. The promotion added fuel to the Pokemon TCG-flamed fire that was already ablaze thanks to scalpers buying and selling Pokemon cards for thousands of dollars, and saw scalpers purchase the meals in droves, selling the Pokemon cards for insane prices. Now, it seems that McDonald's restaurants in the UK will be limiting the toy sales to combat scalpers.
Last month, it was announced that Pokemon 25th anniversary Happy Meals would be making their way to McDonald's in the UK on May 19th. Now, as reported by Nintendo Life, an internal memo for McDonald's in the UK affirms that customers will only be allowed to purchase one additional Pokemon toy after their initial Happy meal purchase.
Interestingly, the memo only seems to put a limit on our many toys customers can purchase individually, and not on how many Happy Meals customers can purchase. Some McDonald's restaurants sold customers as many toys as they liked in the US, and this may lead to a similar situation, which saw many American fans purchasing loads of Happy Meals strictly for the Pokemon cards, only to throw out the food in the end. Of course, while some fans were able to hand out the extra food to those in need, certain US cities have laws against handing out food independently, which led to a waste of the extra Happy Meal food in some cases.
At the moment, it isn't confirmed whether UK McDonald's restaurants will be receiving the same Pokemon cards seen in the US, though the internal memo is certainly telling that McDonald's expects excitement around the Happy Meal toys. Of course, UK fans are hoping to see Pokemon cards as well, especially since McDonald's recently pledged to remove plastic toys from its Happy Meals in an effort to go green.
Other 25th anniversary celebrations for Pokemon this year have included the reveal of new games like Pokemon Brilliant Diamond, Shining Pearl, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus, as well as other digital and in-game events. Although Pokemon Day has come and gone, it's likely that The Pokemon Company isn't done celebrating the anniversary just yet.
Source: Nintendo Life