Most Successful McDonald’s Anime Collabs, Ranked

The collaborations between McDonald’s and anime have produced many amazing campaigns in the fast-food industry. McDonald’s is known for frequently collaborating with popular Japanese animation studios to release limited-edition toys, unique menu items, and even custom packaging for specific meal items.

Unlike many other fast-food chains, McDonald’s doesn’t rely solely on traditional advertising; it knows how to leverage preexisting anime fan bases. This results in increased sales, and at the same time, more marketing for the anime property itself. Let’s rank seven such collaborations based on how successful they were.

7 Yu-Gi-Oh! x Sanrio (2024)

Unlike many other campaigns, this one combined two massive franchises by packaging plush toys in the Happy Meals. The plush toys were the classic Sanrio mascots, such as Hello Kitty, dressed as iconic Yu-Gi-Oh characters.

This was a really successful campaign because it appealed to multiple fanbases at once. Young children were drawn to the cute designs, while older adults purchased the meals for the nostalgia of Yu-Gi-Oh. By launching in more than fifty countries (as per the official website), the sheer volume of sales secured its spot as a major success.

6 Dragon Ball Daima (2024–2025)

Released in select Asian markets, this regional promotion tied into the launch of the new Dragon Ball Daima anime itself. McDonald’s was offering exclusive trading cards and a new special menu with Japanese-style chicken burgers (which can be seen on the official website). This campaign was very specific.

McDonald’s released the items at the exact time the new show aired, and the restaurant capitalized on immediate public interest. Fans of the long-running series bought meals repeatedly to collect the full set of limited cards.

5 Jujutsu Kaisen Special Grade Sauce (2024)

Most campaigns focus on the toys, but this collaboration introduced a new food item instead. McDonald’s released a garlic soy mayonnaise dipping sauce for its Chicken McNuggets. The packets of the sauce were branded with Jujutsu Kaisen characters such as Sukuna, Gojo, Yuji, Nanami, etc (as per official website).

The unique new flavor gave regular customers who were not into the anime a reason to try the sauce, while at the same time, die-hard fans of the anime bought large quantities to collect all eight character designs printed on the packaging.

4 One Piece – The Grand Line Set (2026)

This is one of the latest collaborations McDonald’s has done with an anime. This campaign introduced a pirate-themed meal combo, along with digital rewards for the fans. Sales of this collaboration were restricted entirely to the Mobile Order and McDelivery functions within the software.

Furthermore, this collaboration was right in time for the second season 2 of the One Piece live-action adaptation. The purpose of this collaboration was simple: to increase online sales and promote the live-action itself.

3 UNO x Anime Collaboration (2026)

For this release, McDonald’s included custom decks of the card game UNO inside Happy Meals (as per the official website). Each deck featured artwork from a rotation of different popular anime, including My Hero Academia and SPY x FAMILY. This collaboration succeeded because, unlike collecting packets of Jujutsu Kaisen or digital rewards of One Piece, UNO cards have high practical value.

The usefulness of the cards, combined with the art of beloved characters, drove high demand and extended the lifespan of the collaboration rewards in households.

2 WcDonald’s Global Campaign (2024)

In anime, McDonald’s is often shown as WcDonald’s to avoid copyright issues to the point that it has become a meme in the community. In 2024, McDonald’s temporarily changed its real-world packaging to match this fictional brand (as per the official website).

The campaign included a new savory chili sauce and original animated shorts. It succeeded because it showed the self-awareness that McDonald’s had. Instead of partnering with one specific anime, the company acknowledged a widespread inside joke and partnered with Studio Pierrot, the studio behind anime hits such as Naruto, earning significant attention and heavy foot traffic from the broader fan community.

1 Pokémon TCG Promotions (Recurring)

McDonald’s frequently partners with the Pokémon franchise to include exclusive packs of trading cards in Happy Meals. This remains the most successful collaboration due to the sheer financial value of the cards themselves.

Pokémon is the highest-grossing media property in the world (as per Wikipedia), and its trading cards have an active secondary market all by themselves.

Rank	Collaboration	Year	Items
7	Yu-Gi-Oh! x Sanrio	2024	Mashup Plush Toys
6	Dragon Ball Daima	2024–2025	Trading Cards & Burgers
5	Jujutsu Kaisen	2024	Special Grade Dipping Sauce
4	One Piece	2026	Digital Rewards
3	UNO x Anime	2026	UNO Cards
2	WcDonald’s Global	2024	Packaging Takeover & Sauce
1	Pokémon TCG	Recurring	Exclusive Trading Cards

It is always interesting to observe McDonald’s being creative with its marketing, especially when it comes to anime. By not limiting itself to standard advertising and favoring distinct, culturally relevant merchandise and targeted menu items, McDonald’s has managed to maintain a strong consumer demand.

As far as just fast-food goes, McDonald’s has a considerable amount of competition around the world, but collaborations with anime ensure that they maintain a niche that attracts more customers.

What was your favorite collaboration? Let us know in the comments.