Summary
- McDonald's in Japan is releasing a new line of Pokemon Happy Meal toys, including Pikachu-themed items and traditional Japanese festival-inspired toys.
- This collaboration between McDonald's and Pokemon is not new, as they have been working together since 1998 with various promotions and toys.
- The popularity of Pokemon in Japan makes these McDonald's Happy Meal toys a fitting way to end the summer, although it's unclear if they will be available in other countries.
McDonald’s is offering up a new line of Pokemon Happy Meal toys, but only in Japan. The popular fast-food restaurant chain is no stranger to video game tie-ins, including Happy Meal toys to promote this year’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie or special Overwatch 2 skins that come with a particular meal. This relationship goes both ways too, as the beloved McDonald’s mascot Grimace recently starred in his own Game Boy Advance-style platformer as part of his birthday celebration event earlier this year.
Speaking of Nintendo handhelds and the games that made them famous, McDonald’s has also held special tie-in events for Pokemon ever since the original Red and Blue were released back in 1998. Most of these events involved McDonald’s children’s Happy Meal toys, which included Pokemon-themed toys or promotional Pokemon trading cards. The most recent Pokemon and McDonald’s collaboration was announced in late July and features cards inspired by Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. So far, these cards have only been confirmed for Germany and Austria, with a US start date still yet to be determined.
This isn’t the only Pokemon event going on at McDonald’s, as a new wave of Happy Meal Toys inspired by traditional Japanese festivals is set to arrive in Japan later this month. According to SoraNews 24, McDonald’s will release these Pokemon toys from August 11 to August 12. The Pokemon Natsumatsuri Happy Set consists of the Festival Pikachu Taiko, which includes an illustration of Pikachu in traditional Japanese festival attire and makes different sounds based on where the drum is hit, and the Poke Ball Chochin, a Japanese-style lantern that glows in the dark and opens to reveal a secret compartment and stickers.
These two toys aren’t the only prizes being offered in McDonald’s latest Pokemon Happy Meal tie-in either, as the first round also includes miniature yo-yo-fishing and ring toss games. A second wave of toys is set to launch between August 18 and August 24, and it will consist of a Pikachu Target Shooting squirt gun set, a Pikachu-themed uchiwa fan, and a pair of pinball and disc-fishing games that mirror the activities available at a summer Japanese festival. A third round of Pokemon Happy Meal toys is said to come on August 25, but further details are still scarce at the moment.
Given how popular the Pokemon franchise still is in its native Japan, these latest McDonald’s Happy Meal toys look like a fitting way to end out the summer - though it isn’t clear if any of them will appear elsewhere around the world. While they might not be able to get their hands on these special McDonald’s toys, Pokemon fans in the US and abroad still have a great deal of exciting content to look forward to - as was revealed during this week's Pokemon Presents livestream.
Source: SoraNews 24