Limited edition. These two words make people go crazy and go to extreme lengths to get their hands on these items.
Free. That is another word that can get people in a frenzy.
What do you get when you combine both concepts?
McDonald’s, the world-famous fast-food chain, found out first-hand about this.
It offered free McGriddles-themed hoodies yesterday (3 August 2023) at its Kallang outlet.
Here is what happened.
McDonald’s Offered Free McGriddles Hoodies on 3 August 2023
Many businesses use limited edition items to lure customers to spend money with them.
McDonald’s is no different.
It had previously advertised on social media that it would offer a McGriddles Griddle Hoodie for the first few lucky individuals who purchase the Breakfast McGriddles 2x Value Meal at their Kallang outlet.
The hoodie was only to be dished out starting at 7 am on 3 August 2023.
Queues for the Hoodies Were Reminiscent of Queues for Taylor Swift’s Concert Tickets
As the hoodie was only available on one day and for the lucky first batch of people at only one outlet, queues at the Kallang outlet were expected.
The need to queue in person was also because McDonald’s only offered the free hoodie to those who purchased the set meal in person.
Orders from Mobile Order Pay, McDelivery, GrabFood, Foodpanda, Dessert Kiosk, McCafé, and Drive-Thru platforms were not eligible for the freebie.
Fans of the hoodie or the burger started to arrive as early as 6.22 am on 3 August 2023 to queue for the hoodie.
A TikTok user took to the short-video platform to share how she queued from 6.30 am to get a chance to receive the hoodie.
There were reportedly over 300 people in line by then, though only 200 pieces of hoodie were available for grabs.
Don’t these queues remind you of the pains people took to get their hands on Taylor Swift tickets at SingPost outlets across the island?
Of course, scalpers can smell a good deal when there is a limited supply of goods.
Since the hoodies were released, several Carousell scalpers started to list the hoodie for sale.
A quick search on the app showed that the starting prices of some of the hoodie listings were about $100.
There were even some listings asking for an outrageous $500.
We wonder if these sellers would accept lowball offers.