Scalping isn’t new, someone buys up all the stock of a product and sells it to customers at an inflated price. It has been happening since the beginning of time, and even during a pandemic people didn't stop but changed their hustles. But now in a sad turn of events, the scammers are coming for your happy meals, no really. As if making it hard to buy a PS5 wasn’t enough, they’ve started stealing joy from children.

Why such a demand for McDonald's Happy Meals? Well, this year is the 25th anniversary of Pokemon, so McDonald’s is celebrating with a promotion where if you buy a Happy Meal, you get a collectible Pokemon card. Sounds fun, right?

Who knows, maybe the promotion will inspire people to play Pokemon Go again, like it's 2017, when life was simpler, and when we could go outside together. We're not saying it will, but as fans of the franchise since we can remember, we know we're not entitled to such joys.

But who are we kidding, of course, that didn't happen. Instead, all the greedy little scalpers have descended on McDonald’s en masse to buy up every Happy Meal they can. Not for the food, but just to get their hands on the cards. People are buying ten, twenty, sometimes fifty happy meals at a time, taking the cards, tossing the food, then selling the cards on eBay for hundreds of dollars. Or keeping them all to themselves, you have to consider the rationale here and the market for "promotional cards" being, potential over saturated.

As you can probably guess, we hate scalpers. Selling cards for hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars? Come on, guys. And to the people buying these overpriced products, we urge you to put the card down and walk away. Do not give these greedy goblins, who are openly ripping you off, a single dime of your money. Just go to McDonald's a buy one yourself, that is if you can get your hands on one.

We're not the only ones who think it’s an issue, hell, here’s a screenshot Twitter that showcases how the rest of the community is feeling:

The 25th anniversary of Pokemon is something we can't let scalpers ruin, so if you want to celebrate the franchise, without waiting in line at your local McDonald's drive-thru, might we suggest, purchasing a copy of Pokemon Sword or Shield on the Switch, (if you haven't already) or take a walk with Pokemon Go. Or stream one of the seasons ( or all of them ) on your platform of choice. But please, don’t feed the scalpers!

Enjoy some tweets, memes, and reactions roasting our new public enemy number one, Happy Meal Scalpers.