Interest
McDonald's Now Fully On Board the Yo-kai Watch Bandwagon
posted on by Eric Stimson
Call it a sign of the times, or a case of cats defeating mice, but next year's McDonald's calendars in Japan will feature Jibanyan and the other yo-kai (demons) of the mega-popular anime and game franchise Yo-kai Watch in place of the Pokémon that have dominated McDonald's calendars since 2007.
As the above commercial illustrates, the calendar also comes with a special DVD of quizzes and information about the upcoming film Yo-kai Watch the Movie: The Secret is Created, Nyan!, as well as a sheet of stickers to mark dates on the calendar with. It goes on sale November 7 for 400 yen (about $3.50) with the purchase of a McDonald's item.
The watch and medal set
November 7 will also see the launch of a lottery at McDonald's for Yo-kai Watch items. With a purchase of 1,000 yen ($8.75) or more, customers will receive a "Web Lottery Card" with a serial number. The serial number lets them enter an online lottery for a deluxe Yo-kai Watch and Yo-kai Medal set (for 500 winners), a set of three original clear files (for 10,000 winners) or McDonald's coupons (for 2.4 million winners). The lottery lasts until December 26.
Earlier, on October 29, McDonald's redesigned one of its restaurants in Odaiba, Tokyo to mimic "Mogmog Burger," a burger chain in Yo-kai Watch, decorating it with Yo-kai Watch posters and Jibanyan's footprints.
The enormous popularity of Yo-kai Watch has led to McDonald's Happy Meals before, as well as long queues snaking out of restaurants serving said meals. A recent survey of kids aged three to 12 by Video Research Ltd. shows that the Yo-kai Watch yo-kai are now the second most popular characters in Japan, beating out Mickey Mouse while conceding the top spot to the evergreen Doraemon.
[Via Entabe, Hachima Kikou, Anime! Anime! and Cinema Today]
