What does Singaporean and Filipinos have in common when they go inside a McDonald's store? Answer: they both want the Hello Kitty stuffed toy and the plastic Minion toy, respectively, more than the burger.
Over the weekend, Singapore and Metro Manila residents braved dangerous weather and queued for hours to lay their hands on a special toys offered by the U.S. fast food giant McDonald's.
Singaporeans were swept up in a craze for the mouthless Japanese cat that peaked this week in the city-state. The frenzy began at the end of May, when McDonald's began selling the toys in outfits inspired by fairy tales, such as "The Ugly Duckling". The six Hello Kitty toys were released in phases, at S$4.60 ($3.63) each with a meal, or S$10 on their own.
But it was the final offering, the "Singing Bone" toy - a black Hello Kitty with a white skeleton and pink bow, based on a German tale - that set the hearts of Kitty lovers in Singapore pounding.
Hundreds lined up to get first crack at the midnight launch of the toy on Thursday (27 June 2013), with police called in to control shouting and queue-jumping, but stocks ran out in a day.
In the Philippines, demands for the yellow creatures of the animated hit "Despicable Me" is slowly building up after interest has been boosted by the upcoming release of the second movie. McDonald's built on these interests by offering plastic Minion toys as part of its Happy Meals. However, several branches in Manila have ran out of Minions and fans had to travel to farther locations to complete the set.
Social media played its part when it featured a video of Minions speaking in what sounds like Filipino. The 48-second video, which was posted by Trivia Mania received more than 10,000 and elicited more than 600 comments as of 28 June 2013. The video which was also shared more than 9,000 times, showed a group of minions trying to replace a lightbulb, and netizens swear they uttered Filipino words like "narito na" and "ikot."
It appears that McDonalds finally found the niche it can use to get ahead of its rivals and stay relevant to the lives of modern day cartoon character collectors.
Over the weekend, Singapore and Metro Manila residents braved dangerous weather and queued for hours to lay their hands on a special toys offered by the U.S. fast food giant McDonald's.
But it was the final offering, the "Singing Bone" toy - a black Hello Kitty with a white skeleton and pink bow, based on a German tale - that set the hearts of Kitty lovers in Singapore pounding.
Hundreds lined up to get first crack at the midnight launch of the toy on Thursday (27 June 2013), with police called in to control shouting and queue-jumping, but stocks ran out in a day.
In the Philippines, demands for the yellow creatures of the animated hit "Despicable Me" is slowly building up after interest has been boosted by the upcoming release of the second movie. McDonald's built on these interests by offering plastic Minion toys as part of its Happy Meals. However, several branches in Manila have ran out of Minions and fans had to travel to farther locations to complete the set.
Social media played its part when it featured a video of Minions speaking in what sounds like Filipino. The 48-second video, which was posted by Trivia Mania received more than 10,000 and elicited more than 600 comments as of 28 June 2013. The video which was also shared more than 9,000 times, showed a group of minions trying to replace a lightbulb, and netizens swear they uttered Filipino words like "narito na" and "ikot."
It appears that McDonalds finally found the niche it can use to get ahead of its rivals and stay relevant to the lives of modern day cartoon character collectors.
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