- McDonald's Japan learned a hard lesson from its Pokémon Happy Meal chaos in August.
- For its new Sanrio Happy Meal launch, the company capped the number of meals each customer can buy.
- It said it strictly prohibits the resale of the meals and does not tolerate food wastage.
It looks like McDonald's Japan is set on never repeating the Pokémon Happy Meal chaos.
The chain launched a Sanrio Happy Meal on Friday, featuring toys of Sanrio's "My Melody & Kuromi" characters. The Happy Meal also includes a Plarail toy and a picture book with Sanrio's "Cinnamoroll" character.
But the fast-food giant seemed to have learned its lesson from its Pokémon Happy Meal release in August.
On the weekend of August 9, Pokémon fans and resellers, eager to get their hands on limited edition McDonalds-Pokémon trading cards, formed snaking lines in stores. The Happy Meal launch unraveled into fights, massive food wastage, and scalpers cashing in.
For Friday's Sanrio Happy Meal launch, McDonald's added several guardrails "to prevent bulk purchases for resale purposes and food being left unattended," the company said in a news release.
Customers can only buy the meals in-store at McDonald's outlets, and not through mobile orders, drive-thru pickups, or delivery services.
The company also limited the maximum number of meals one group could buy to three meals. Multiple purchases by the same customer group are prohibited, the company said.
Last month, buyers told Business Insider that McDonald's had allowed them to place unlimited orders for the Pokémon meals, and some had purchased as many as 20.
The meal was priced at 500 yen, or about $3.50. Following the launch, Business Insider saw dozens of Pokémon card listings on Mercari, Japan's largest online resale marketplace, with some priced as high as 3,000 yen.
On Friday, after the Happy Meal sale started, at least two of the "My Melody & Kuromi" toys were listed on Mercari.
Friday's release added that McDonald's "does not tolerate the abandonment or disposal of food."
"We strictly prohibit the purchase or resale of Happy Meals, purchases for other profit-making purposes, and customers who do not abide by the above rules and etiquette," McDonald's said.
The Pokémon Happy Meal chaos was not the first time McDonald's promotions have gotten out of hand. Its BTS meals in 2021 and Hello Kitty plushies in Singapore in 2015 were wildly popular, leading to long queues and overcrowded stores.
Kieran Gibb, the founder of Monogic, a Hong Kong-based food and beverage marketing company, told Business Insider in August that the Pokémon Happy Meal chaos could leave "a sour taste" in the mouths of its Japanese consumer base, one that cares about social etiquette and reducing food waste.
McDonald's stock is up about 6% in the past year.
Representatives for McDonald's did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
