McDonald’s is doing a Happy Meal promotion with Pokémon to celebrate the companies 25th anniversary. Photos: By Harrison Belk.

McDonald’s is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Pokémon by running a promotion that turns it’s Happy Meal box into the face of Pikachu with a pack of four random trading cards. 

But adults driven by nostalgia, and perhaps the thought of making a profit on eBay, are going to extremes to purchase the meals. Employees at the McDonald’s located in the Vista filled a Happy Meal order that totaled over $700. 

“[A customer] came in and he got 150 happy meals. Just for the cards,” McDonald’s worker Quaniece Harvin said. 

There are 50 exclusive Pokémon cards in total, but some McDonald’s workers are struggling to keep up with the demand of the sought-after toys. 

“We get more (orders for) Happy Meals now than we ever used to get,”Harvin said. 

In the past, toys were available for purchase without the meal. McDonald’s had to start requiring people buy Happy Meals to receive the toy, due to the sheer demand. 

“A customer came in and bought 14 of them. He didn’t have to buy the Happy Meals then,” Harvin said. “But because we were getting out so many [orders], they had to start buying the Happy Meals to get the cards.” 

The high-volume orders puzzle some workers, who are curious about what happens to the food. 

“At least take it out to the homeless or something,” Harvin said. “That’s what I would do.”

This is hopefully driven by adults with no bad intentions, McDonald’s maintenance worker Nathaniel Shackleford said. 

“They might be buying for a kids sports team, you never know,” Shackleford said.

Some workers have a feeling that avid Pokémon fans are buying the meals just to resell the cards at a higher price online.

One post on eBay, highlighting one of the random cards available, is asking $15 for the card. That is close to $11 more than the price of a Happy Meal. 

“Some might think that it’s going to be valuable in later runs, so they put them aside,” Shackleford said. 

McDonald’s workers say that there will always be some customers that try to take advantage of the hype, but are glad attention is being brought to the issue. 

“It’s good that it caught the attention of humanity,” Shackleford said. 

The McDonald’s in Columbia and others have seen an increase in the number of Happy Meals ordered. 

The Pokémon 25th anniversary Happy Meal comes with a toy that features games, four trading cards and a stand for the cards.

The trading cards feature fan-favorite Pokémon from the series, many of which are starter Pokémon from the video games.