Huge new campaign has us catching ’em all, all summer long. 

Today, McDonald’s Japan revealed the first two releases from its massive “Pokémon Summer McDonald’s” collaboration, which is being held to celebrate two major milestones: the fast-food chain’s 55th anniversary in Japan and Pokémon’s 30th anniversary.

The joint promotion, dubbed “Pokémon Summer Mac”, is described as McDonald’s Japan’s biggest-ever collaboration with a single partner, and it consists of four special releases spread across the month of July.

▼ ポケモン夏マック = “Pokémon Natsu Mac” (“Pokémon Summer Mac”)

While the image above had everyone in suspense in the lead-up to the big reveal, two of the four limited-edition offerings were finally revealed today, to the delight of Pokémon fans.

The first reveal came with the unveiling of the “Toku ni Narudo” (“トクにナルド”) surprise, which turned out to be the chain’s 15-piece Chicken McNuggets, in a limited-edition Pokémon box. The design features illustrations of the original three starter Pokémon, Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle, on each side, with Pikachu taking pride of place on the top of the package.

▼ The perfect starter to a meal.

That’s not the only surprise, as “Toku ni Narudo” (a play on the Japanese pronunciation of McDonald’s and the word “toku”, meaning “a good deal”) is actually a special discount deal that gives you a 15-piece box of Chicken McNuggets with three dipping sauces for 490 yen (US$3.27), a saving of 250 yen compared to the usual price of 740 yen.

Alongside the standard barbecue and mustard sauces, McDonald’s will be introducing two new limited-time flavours: Cheese Curry Sauce and Umashio Garlic Sauce, which can be ordered with the set or purchased separately for 50 yen each.

▼ Cheese Curry Sauce

▼ Umashio Garlic Sauce


While the Pokémon packaging is only available while stocks last, the discounted deal will run from 15 July until 11 August, with actor Masato Sakai in the role of “Mr Tokuninarudo” to help promote the campaign.

▼ Mr Tokuninarudo flies through the sky with the help of chicken nugget balloons.

The second reveal introduced us to the Summer Chance Bag, which will be sold through a lottery system via the official McDonald’s Japan app. Priced at 3,900 yen, the bag includes three original Pokémon goods and up to 3,910 yen worth of McDonald’s food vouchers, so the goods are essentially a free bonus.

The main item in the bag is a “Jumping Pikachu Potato Timer”, which sees Pikachu pop out from a pack of fries when the timer goes off. Adding to the charm is the melody, which mimics the sound of the alarm that rings out when fries are ready in-store.

The set also includes a colour-changing cup and a zip pouch, both featuring Pikachu and the original starter trio of Bulbasaur, Charmander and Squirtle.

▼ Customers will receive one of these three designs, chosen at random.

▼ The included pouch will be randomly chosen from these three designs.

The food vouchers, totalling 3,910 yen, are where you make your money back from the cost of the bag.

The vouchers award you with a variety of free menu items, covering popular choices like the Big Mac, Teriyaki McBurger, Bacon Lettuce Burger, Filet-O-Fish, large fries, Chicken McNuggets, and drinks.

▼ Free five-piece nuggets.

▼ A free Big Mac.

▼ And a free serving of large fries.

There’s also a chance to receive a 500 yen voucher known as a “Golden McDonald’s Card”, included in one out of every 10 bags.

Applications for the Summer Chance Bag lottery opened on 10 July at 2:00 p.m. through the McDonald’s Japan app and will close on 20 July at 11:59 p.m. Successful applicants can purchase the bag at their selected store from 27 July to 2 August, and each person is limited to one bag.

As part of the celebrations, McDonald’s Japan will also be partnering with Pokémon GO for the first time in around six years. From 20 July to 1 September, all McDonald’s locations across Japan will temporarily appear as PokéStops in the mobile game, coinciding with Pokémon GO’s 10th anniversary.

As for the remaining two mystery items in the “Pokémon Summer Mac” campaign, the special collaboration burger will be unveiled on 16 July, followed by the Pokémon Happy Meal on 31 July. Given the chaos that surrounded McDonald’s previous Pokémon Happy Meal promotion, which saw resellers buying meals in bulk for the exclusive trading cards and dumping the unwanted food outside restaurants, here’s hoping the chain has some plans in store to prevent that from happening again.

Source, images: McDonald’s Japan (1, 2, 3)
Top image: McDonald’s Japan
Insert images: McDonald’s Japan (1, 2, 3)
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