Japan's McDonald's Pokémon Happy Meal collaboration, featuring exclusive cards and toys, sparked an absolute frenzy from day one. The "Pokémon cards" bundled with the kids' meals became prime targets for hoarders and scalpers, leading to massive amounts of food being discarded and widespread public outrage.
Today (August 19), Kansai TV aired an interview with a "university student scalper" who raked in ¥100,000 from the event. On camera, he brazenly declared, "This was a divine event! They should do it again! I don't think I did anything wrong." He seemed completely unfazed by the public backlash.
The student, a 20-year-old sophomore from Kyushu, typically makes around ¥200,000 a month by reselling sneakers and clothes. When he heard about the Pokémon card event, he immediately rallied his friends to join the hunt. Together, they snagged 70-80 Happy Meals, then flipped the cards for 4-6 times their original value, with some even selling overseas, easily pocketing more than ¥100,000.
When asked about McDonald's "limit of 5 sets per person" rule, he scoffed, "They didn't enforce it at all; we just queued up repeatedly. It's McDonald's fault for not managing it, not mine." However, he pushed back against criticism of food waste, retorting, "My friends and I ate all the meals that day; it was a luxurious breakfast, I guess. We definitely didn't throw anything away. That was probably foreign scalpers in Tokyo or the big cities, haha!"
He even expressed how fantastic these events are and hoped McDonald's would quickly launch another popular collaboration. For them, it's a "divine event" and another chance to make some cash.
Student A remained completely unbothered by external criticism. He stated, "I think this is just a joy of life. Those who criticize scalpers should spend their time queuing up themselves. It's weird to complain about not getting something when you don't put in the effort, right?" He insisted he hadn't broken any laws or inconvenienced any customers. If people managed to buy large quantities through system loopholes, he argued, that was their own cleverness.
▼ Interview clip
Naturally, these comments sparked a wave of discontent among Japanese netizens, who couldn't understand why someone would wear "scalper" as a badge of honor.
Others felt that a student making ¥100,000 was small fry, arguing that the real problem lay with unscrupulous individuals who bought in massive quantities and discarded food, calling them the true source of chaos in such events.
While public dissatisfaction with scalpers is clearly high, this interviewed student seems to believe, "I also put in the effort to queue, and I didn't throw away food, I just sold it." He even suggests others should join in. Ultimately, it's up to McDonald's to find a solution to curb this scalping frenzy...