Belgian McDonald’s mixes Yu-Gi-Oh! and Hello Kitty in latest Happy Meal offering
Keroppi dressed as Kuriboh is inspired, no notes.
If you find yourself in Belgium before the second week of April, you can swing by McDonald’s for a Happy Meal and one of 10 toys featuring Hello Kitty characters cosplaying as Summon Monsters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game and anime.
Spotted online last week by Kotaku, this somewhat perplexing crossover delivers plush toys to children (and zealous adult collectors) in the form of Sanrio’s Hello Kitty & Friends - this includes the eponymous Kitty, Keroppi, Badtz-Maru and Pompompurin, among others - wearing the the clothing or skin of iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters. Kitty White is dressed as Dark Magician, Cinnamoroll earns the covetous Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Pompompurin donning Exodia the Forbidden One’s gear is legitimately funny.
If you’re somehow not familiar with Hello Kitty, Sanrio sent the 1974 creation worldwide via toys, animation, clothing and all manner of merchandise that was first marketed toward tween girls but soon found an audience amongst all generations. By contrast, Yu-Gi-Oh! was explicitly angled towards younger boys, as its 1996 manga debuted in Shonen Jump before becoming a hit anime and related TCG that remains popular today.
The official McDonald’s website hints at an interactive element using this new toy line that isn’t exactly clear: “And don’t forget: with the digital experience, you make them come to life. Right in front of your eyes.” The fast food chain’s accompanying commercial spot, ripped to YouTube by independent accounts, doesn’t clear up anything. I doubt you’ll be able to scan the plushies onto a hologram duel battlefield like those well-dressed kids, though.
Here’s a full list of the available toys:
- Hello Kitty - Dark Magician
- Cinnamoroll - Blue-Eyes White Dragon
- My Melody - Dark Magician Girl
- Badtz-maru - Red-Eyes Black Dragon
- Tuxedosam - Obelisk the Tormentor
- Kuromi - Slifer the Sky Dragon
- Chococat - The Winged Dragon of Ra
- Pompompurin - Exodia the Forbidden One
- Pochacco - Time Wizard
- Keroppi - Kuriboh
Those of you outside of Belgium can secure our own weird IP mash-up toys on reselling platforms such as eBay, but only if you’re willing to cough up anywhere between $35 and $150 per box - that’s for a single toy that likely smells of fry oil and beef tallow. There’s a lot of questions about this promotional event, not the least of which is ‘why only Belgium?’.
McDonald’s Hello Kitty x Yu-Gi-Oh! Happy Meal promotion runs through April 9th, or until scalpers clean out their stock (remember the Van Gogh Pikachu card debacle?).