Deleted Pokémon Post Reveals McDonald's 2027 Promo Cards

The Pokémon Company published a news post announcing the McDonald’s Happy Meal promotion for late 2026 and early 2027, then deleted it. The post contained the wrong promo cards. Every card in the erroneous list carries the set code M27, which stands for McDonald’s 2027. This year’s Happy Meal set uses M26.

The deleted post most likely showed next year’s McDonald’s Pokémon cards a full year ahead of schedule.

What the Deleted Post Showed

The cards in the list have not been released in English yet. One of them, a Squirtle, has not been released in Japan. The M27 set code is the clearest signal here: these cards belong to the collaboration that would follow the one launching next month.

McDonald’s own social media accounts posted a promotional image for the current promotion, and it showed different cards than the list The Pokémon Company shared. Multiple news outlets picked up the incorrect list and ran with it before the post came down, so if you saw a card roster floating around that doesn’t match McDonald’s own image, that’s why.

As of writing, The Pokémon Company has not issued a correction press release or web page.

The Actual 2026 Promotion

The promotion arriving next month is the one we covered when the dates and card details were confirmed. It launches November 10, 2026 in the US.

Here’s what the M26 promotion includes:

• 15 promo cards, with two cards included in each Pokémon Happy Meal
• Each card comes in the cardboard sleeve that doubles as the plastic mini Happy Meal toy’s packaging
• 15 different Pokémon toys
• Special Umbreon, Pikachu, or Torchic boxes for the meals, toys, and prizes, instead of one generic Pikachu box

The M26 cards will not carry the Pokémon 30th logo. The official promo images, with McDonald’s set numbering and the unique foil patterns these cards get each year, have not been revealed yet.

What This Means for Collectors

If the M27 reading is right, there’s now an early look at part of next year’s McDonald’s lineup, including a Squirtle that hasn’t appeared anywhere in the world yet.

For now, the thing with an actual date attached is the M26 promotion on November 10. We’ll cover the official M26 card images, numbering, and foil patterns once The Pokémon Company or McDonald’s reveals them properly.

If you’d rather skip the Happy Meal line entirely, you can browse McDonald’s Pokémon promo card singles and pick up the exact cards you want.