It looks like Pokemon are returning to McDonald’s Happy Meals in the UK this summer, as hinted at by a recent image leak. The popularity of the beloved monster-catching franchise has allowed Pokemon to invade several fast food chains around the world. From Japanese McDonald’s to Chinese KFC on Chinese New Year — it seems that Pokemon are always ready to order something to take away.
Since the debut of Pokemon Red and Blue, less than a year has passed that Pokémon has not become part of one or more joint products. Brand deals such as food and clothing were plentiful for Pokémon during its initial success. Eventually, however, Pokémon grew to the point where it could use its trademark for products such as nail polish, cologne, and X-ray machines. However, the most common promotions throughout Pokemon history have usually included fast food and snacks, however many recognizable titans such as Burger King, Nabisco, Wendy’s, Baskin-Robbins and McDonald’s have featured Pokemon at some point. Oddly enough, Pokémon still had some strange intersections with food marketing, despite no shortage of promotional deals in this area of the product.
Link: The Strangest Crossovers and Pokemon Collaborations in the history of the series
An anonymous McDonald’s source leaked an image indicating the return of Pokemon to British networks. As revealed in the Nintendo Life report (via TheGamer), the image shows a promotional image of Pikachu teasing that Pokemon are “coming to Happy Meal soon.” An anonymous source also told Nintendo Life that the promotion will be exclusive to the UK and will begin this summer, on August 3, 2022. If this leak turns out to be legitimate, it’s likely that these images will soon appear on Happy Meal boxes to promote the event.
Although any leak should be treated with a degree of skepticism, Pokémon has collaborated with McDonald’s several times in the past. Last year, McDonald’s and Pokémon held a worldwide promotion dedicated to the 25th anniversary of Pokémon, giving away free Pokémon cards with each Kids Happy Meal in participating regions. Unfortunately for those who wanted Pokemon cards, speculators ruined a McDonald’s promotion by grabbing cards designed to celebrate this event. The details of how Pokemon will be featured in this newest hypothetical promotion are currently unknown, but if the limited number of promotional items is a factor, we hope McDonald’s will learn from the past and take sufficient measures to counter any potential scalping.
The potential return of Pokemon to McDonald’s Happy Meals will add another step to its long advertising belt. Let’s hope that McDonald’s will have better control over the promotion if it really takes place, and Pokemon fans will be able to enjoy everything that awaits them.
