One Piece Burger Tie-In

A couple days ago, I started hearing about the One Piece-McDonald's campaign on the radio, and one of the webcomic artists I follow posted about it on Twitter. Usually, I've given up on anything involving Mickey-D because the food just isn't that good, and they'd doubled the prices of their $1 menu (100 yen) to $2 without making the servings bigger. But, I was at a Konbini Wednesday night, and I picked up a copy of Shonen Jump to look it over. The coupon inside for a free Mac burger looked pretty nice. The burger itself seemed promising, and the magazine was only 270 yen. It's been over a year since I last read Jump, and I eventually decided, "Well, if it's for the blog..."



Inside the magazine, advertising Jump's 50th anniversary, and showing an example of the burger.



More of a close-up, with the coupon.



I didn't know when I'd have access to the scanner, and I was hoping McDonald's would let me keep the coupon after using it (put an "invalid" stamp on it or something), but just to be on the safe side, I took a photo.



There are various restrictions on using the coupon, including not before 10:30 AM or something, and it's only good until the 9th. So, because there's a big free jazz festival in Kagoshima this weekend, and I'm busy with work on Friday, I decided to run up to Amu Plaza (the nearest Mickey's is close to 2 miles away from my English school, now that the one in Tenmonkan closed) after my 12 PM lesson on Thursday. I was incredibly busy for the rest of the day, and didn't want to take the time to walk there. Instead, I spent the 170 yen on the streetcar, which runs from right in front of the school to right in front of Amu Plaza. I didn't really want to just grab a free burger and leave, so I ordered a small coffee and fries to go with it, which came to another 250 yen. The clerk kept the coupon, which was a disappointment, but she set it next to another one on the counter, meaning that at least one other person had gotten a free burger on Thursday.



It's just their pathetic $1 menu burger, with a dab of ketchup and mustard, and one sorry-looking pickle slice trying to hide out of embarrassment. Figure that it's now part of their $2 menu, I saved $2 on a $1 burger, but spent $2.50 on Jump, $1.70 on the train, and $2.50 on the fries and coffee. Yes, I knew better as I did this, but it's for the blog. Anyway, I did want to read Jump, and the fries were good. And, no, no, Japan does not have enforceable truth in advertising laws.