All part of the chain’s Japan-exclusive 50th anniversary celebrations.

It’s been 50 years since the Golden Arches first arrived in Japan, making its grand debut on the first floor of the Ginza Mitsukoshi department store in Tokyo’s upmarket Ginza district back in 1971.

Since then, the chain has grown and evolved in Japan to include exclusive offerings like Fukubukuro Lucky Bags, which are usually sold around New Year’s Day. With this year being the chain’s 50th anniversary, McDonald’s has decided to spoil us with an extra lucky bag in the middle of summer, dubbed the “Big Smile Bag“, priced at 3,000 yen (US$27.14).

We were lucky to come across these bags at our local branch, so we decided to pick one up to see if it was worth the relatively high price tag. Upon opening he bag, we found:

▼ A handheld French fries fan…

▼ …a zippered pouch…

▼ …a chill towel…

▼  …and free coupons (equivalent to 3,160 yen).

With the bag costing 3,000 yen, the coupon booklet already gave us our money back, plus some, which meant the goods inside the bag were all free gifts. Plus, there was also the tote bag everything came in, which was one of our favourite things in the haul due to it having this cute rare character printed on one side.

This cute gent is Speedee, the first-ever mascot for the chain, which was created way back in 1940, when brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald opened their first burger restaurant in California called the ‘Speedee Service System‘.

▼ Speedee was replaced by Ronald McDonald in 1967 and the ‘Speedee Service System’ was renamed ‘McDonald’s’.

All the items in this 50th anniversary lucky bag had a great retro feel to them, including the French fry fan, which stole the heart of our boss Yoshio, who immediately became hooked on its cooling powers.

▼ “If only it came with the aroma of French fries…”

According to McDonald’s Japan, the Big Smile Bag is a limited-edition item that customers could purchase via a lottery system from 23-30 June. We were pretty lucky to stumble across them being sold at the Musashi-Kosugi Tokyu Square branch, as our other reporters were unable to find them at their local branches, so keep your eyes peeled for them if you’d like to grab one.

And don’t forget to keep an eye out for the retro McDonald’s Graniph tees as well!

Photos © SoraNews24
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