Why This Country Changed Its McDonald's Happy Meal Rules

McDonald's has a massive presence around the world, with approximately 3,000 of its restaurants located in Japan. Things can be widely different at an international chain of restaurants, compared with the Golden Arches experience in the U.S. For instance, Japan's McDonald's launched a burger bun made using rice and soy sauce earlier this year. And now, the country's restaurants have implemented yet another change that breaks from the norm, placing limitations on the purchase of Happy Meals (or Happy Sets as they are known in Japan). The new restrictions come on the heels of a Pokémon Happy Sets promotion that went seriously awry.

On August 9, McDonald's released Happy Sets containing Pokémon toys and trading cards. Customers flooded Japanese McDonald's locations to get their hands on the cards, ordering the kids' meals in large quantities and throwing the food away. Sidewalks outside McDonald's restaurants were littered with discarded Happy Sets, and fights reportedly erupted over the promotional cards. Some people even resold their Happy Sets scalper style, while others collected profits by listing the collectible cards online.

While adult buyers scrambled to lay hold of the meals and the prizes they contained, many of the intended consumers the promotional campaign was aimed at — children — were unable to get Happy Sets. Because of the chaos, McDonald's ultimately canceled the campaign.

Weeks after the Pokémon promotion was launched, a new Happy Sets campaign began at Japan's McDonald's outlets, this time featuring characters from the Sanrio company, the creator behind Hello Kitty and other popular figures. Mickey D's learned its lesson from the August mayhem, and limitations were implemented regarding the sale of the Sanrio Happy Sets, with McDonald's stating that it would assess how sales would further proceed based on the events surrounding the campaign's launch.

Per a statement from McDonald's, under the new restrictions, only three Happy Set purchases would be allowed from one customer group in a single transaction. Consumers were also prohibited from requesting specific toys with their purchases or making exchanges for different toys. The meals would only be sold in restaurants — mobile and delivery orders would not be permitted (other foods and drinks, like McDonald's best-selling item, french fries, can still be ordered online and for delivery). McDonald's additionally made reference to the August incidents, stating: "McDonald's does not tolerate the abandonment or disposal of food. We strictly prohibit the purchase of Happy Meals for the purpose of resale [ ... ] or for any other profit-making purposes, and we also prohibit customers who do not abide by the rules and etiquette above."

In all, four Sanrio Happy Sets are being released in two installments, with the initial launch having occurred on September 12 and the second launch happening on September 26. The meals contain "Plarail" and "My Melody & Kuromi" toys, as well as a "Let's Play with Cinnamoroll!" picture book and a "Moon Universe Nanchara Kotetsu-kun" quiz and game book. A limited edition McFlurry flavor, My Melody & Kuromi Blueberry Yogurt, was also launched as part of the campaign, which commemorates the 50^th anniversary of My Melody and the 20^th anniversary of Kuromi.