“Hope this helps to stop some of the madness from the last round.”

McDonald’s launched a Happy Meal in Japan with exclusive Pokémon cards. However, scalpers produced tons of food waste after selling out the meals to get the merch. The brand responds with an anti-scalper policy for its next Happy Meal.

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What is McDonald’s Japan’s anti-scalper policy?

An X post in August by Dextero showed bags of untouched Happy Meals lined up outside of a store. Scalpers took the exclusive Pokémon cards, leaving the food to go to waste.

McDonald’s Japan has apologized after limited edition Pokemon Happy Meals containing exclusive cards sold out in less than 24 hours

People were buying the meals just to resell the cards on eBay, with some customers just throwing out their food pic.twitter.com/pdZrnWBD0Z

— Dexerto (@Dexerto) August 9, 2025

McDonald’s apologized for the chaos and food waste and implemented a new Happy Meal policy ahead of the Sanrio-themed launch.

Now, customers can only purchase three Happy Meals per group. The order must take place in-store or through a drive-thru. Happy Meal orders cannot be placed through the mobile app or ordered for delivery for the time being, according to Newsweek.

What do customers think of the policy?

Customers on the r/Japan subreddit react to the new policy, praising the fast food chain for taking action.

“Good, hope this helps to stop some of the madness from the last round. The amount of food wastage was incomprehensible,” one says.

“Should make it so that you have to prove you’ve eaten the food to get the toy,” another suggests.

However, others suggest that the new policy will inconvenience customers and be ineffective.

“This solves nothing.. absolutely nothing. It makes it horrible for normal people who can’t go to the store to get ONE. No scalpers were paying Uber fees to begin with. Happy meals were already capped, nobody cared and still bought piles of them,” a commenter says.

“In person isn’t gonna work as well as they are hoping since the scalpers are just going to go to multiple restaurants anyway. Plus, there’s the fact that they can just wait for a shift change to go back to the same place again,” another writes.

“This is dumb. I live next to a McDonald’s and usually order Happy Meals for the kids via the app as I am stepping out of my front door to pick it up the moment I arrive,” a third adds. “Now I need to not only stand in line but also explain carefully that if there is anything between the buns besides the patty and the slice of cheese, there will be a riot at home.”

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“People who cling to their maturity over their interests lead boring, miserable lives.”

When young adult @pyrarity asked if it was “okay” to still love plushies and Pokémon cards as an adult, social media answered loud and clear: with support, stories, and lots of plushie photos.

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“Is it okay to be over 18 and still love buying plushies, collecting Pokémon cards, and having extremely nerdy hobbies and interests?” they tweeted.

The replies came fast and affirming. Many told @pyrarity that not only was it okay, it was better. Being an adult means having the money and freedom to enjoy nerdy interests without needing approval. The tweet is currently sitting at 8.8 million views.

Fans posted pictures of shelves stacked with collectibles and bedrooms lined with stuffed animals, proudly owning what brings them joy.

“By the time you are 30, you are gonna be desperate to get back in touch with that inner child that so many people your age are desperate to grow out of,” @Hoodie_Milly replied. “People who cling to their maturity over their interests lead boring, miserable lives.”

The rise and rejection of cringe culture

However, there was a reason @pyrarity felt the need to ask. For Gen Z and Gen Alpha, the fear of being “cringe” often overshadows genuine self-expression. A Rolling Stone piece described how online culture weaponizes the label. From trying new hobbies to simply caring too much, anything that shows effort and enjoyment risks being ridiculed.

Ocean Vuong, a poet and professor at NYU, has seen this mindset firsthand in his students. “They say, ‘I want to be a good writer, but it’s a bit cringe,’” he shared in an interview with ABC News. “‘I don’t want to be perceived as trying and having an effortful attempt at my dreams.’ They are absolutely scared of judgment.”

According to Vuong, many young people hide their effort behind irony or detachment. They want to care—but only in private. 

“They perform cynicism because cynicism can be misread, as it often is, as intelligence,” Vuong said. “I think sincerity is something we deeply hunger for, particularly young people, but we are embarrassed when sincerity is in the room.”

Still, there’s pushback. Memes like “I am cringe, but I am free” have become rallying cries for young people reclaiming their joy. Vuong emphasized the importance of creating environments where trying isn’t mocked but celebrated. “You have to set the tone […] so that they can be sincere and earnest without being condemned or ridiculed for it.”

The replies to @pyrarity’s tweet proved that such spaces exist, and they’re growing. Adults of all ages flooded the thread with their own nerdy passions, offering not just validation, but community.

“Yep. I have some Pokémon Cards, my single star & double star Hunter Licenses, a bunch of Hello Kitty Stuff, a few stuffed animals & I’m nerdy about my hobbies and interests. It’s completely ok lol,” wrote @jessmcmxci.

@gilmxres tweeted, “I hate that everyone thinks your life is just supposed to be mundane and boring once you’re an adult. enjoy your nerdy hobbies and interests!! who cares!! we’re on a floating rock in space.”

@pyrarity followed up after the deluge of comments, saying, “hihi i can’t reply to everyone but thank you so much for not making me feel alone and makes me so happy to see ppl embrace themselves and their hobbies we really are all just a bunch of nerds.”

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