I have a theory about a phenomenon that’s hitting McDonald’s outlets across the U.S.: The whole thing is being warped all out of shape and proportion by the abiding boredom and cabin fever caused by continuing COVID-19 lifestyle restrictions. But, then again, I was never bitten by the Pokémon bug…
The McDonald’s Pokémon Happy Meal Box. Tons of food and packaging
are going out in the trash for every deck of playing cards sold…
Will someone please tell me what’s the deal about the Pokémon cartoon character that makes it so popular, even with adults? And please don’t tell me it’s because the little guy is cute. I’ve always thought the videogame-based phenomenon died a natural death a few years after its 1996 Japanese TV premiere, when Nintendo moved beyond it – and the equally popular Mario Brothers thing. Apparently, both Poké and Mario are still just as popular as they ever were, and are still making Ninto truckloads of cash. Serves me right for not having any grandchildren…
Anyway, a generation has grown up with Pokémon in all its permutations and there’s an ongoing, self-perpetuating rage for its merchandise and ephemera that McDonald’s is currently trying to capitalize on with a limited-time release of Poké-themed Happy Meals celebrating the character’s and the game’s 25th birthday.
What’s the McDeal?
Seems that current special Poké Happy meals contain potentially valuable (to collectors) playing cards. And adult collectors/investors are buying up all the meals in bulk, just for the cards. One thing: these people must already be gazillionaires if they can afford to engage in such silliness at the same time as almost unprecedented millions of people are out of work and, basically struggling to just survive.
The whole thing pivots on this: If you go out to a toy or gaming store to buy a deck of supposedly randomly selected Pokémon playing cards (and there are hundreds of individual cards on the market), it’ll cost you about $10. But the whole Happy Meal, complete with food and cards, goes for only about half that. And that, of course is a bonanza for ‘investors’.
What’s happening?
As if you couldn’t guess, crazed adult collectors are swarming McDonald’s restos, in some cases buying up ALL the Happy Meals available for a given day at once, just for the cards. Taking that one step further, some McD’s outlets are simply selling the cards – in the extreme, by the case – without the food to adult collectors who, because they have nothing else to do during their COVID-19 stand-downs, are indulging in Pokémon craziness.
How lucrative can Pokémon card collecting be? We’re told that some of the most ‘desirable’, rare cards, in mint condition, have gone for over $100,000 each on eBay or in specialty auctions. Among the most popular, but not the most rare cards of the more than 700 different ones now ‘in the wild’ are what they call ‘holos’ or ‘foils’, that have plastic decorations like you’ll find on the latest-edition Canadian bank notes, which reflect light in different colours or kaleidoscopic patters. And collectors are hoping to find one or two, or more of those – which can go for $10,000 or more apiece on e-Bay – per case of Poké cards.
The result?
The result of this madness is a whole list of things I don’t like; some of which I absolutely abhor:
First: Kids all over the civilized world are going bananas because the adults are hording the cards.
Second: Their parents – already stressed out coping with the pandemic – are going even crazier dealing with their berzerk kids.
Third: In many cases, McDonald’s outlets are insisting that customers buy the whole Happy Meal, not just the cards. And that’s reportedly resulting in dozens or even hundreds of Happy Meal boxes, food, wrappings and other components going directly into the trash. Okay. McDonald’s has come under fire many times over the healthfulness of its Happy Meals, but it’s still an unforgivable sin to throw away all that food!
Fourth: In a world where littering of disposable wrappings and other items has become an epidemic of its own that’s threatening to bury us and permanently screwing up our oceans and cover our land masses with garbage dumps, generating all that container/wrapper post-consumer junk, is literally unsupportable.
Fifth: It’s been reported that tempers are running short at some McD’s locations over the Happy Meal and/or Card ‘shortages’, and I, for one, would be very upset if this stressed-out situation erupted in violence, vandalizing or worse. It’s not out of the question: remember when customers came to blows when Popeye’s new Chicken Sandwiches sold out in the middle of the first day when they first came out?
McDonald’s, listen up:
Be the adults in the room on this! Limit sales of Happy Meals to, say, 3 per ‘family’ per day. And/or insist that ‘parents’ prove they have enough kids to eat that many Happy Meals. No multiple sales to adults not accompanied by kids. Make sure that cards are distributed evenly across your customer base. Make sure no McKid goes Meal- or card-less.
Gaze into your crystal ball and see how this nonsense could explode into something much uglier or bigger than it already has. You’ve gotten more than your share of promotional value out of the whole stunt already. Call a halt to the craziness and excesses now, before the campaign’s legacy turns dark and destructive…
~ Maggie J.