McDonald’s Japan adds “free smiles” to delivery menu in celebration of McDelivery Day

Next time someone rides a tiny scooter through a typhoon to bring you a filet-o-fish, don’t forget to request your free smile too!

Well, it’s that most wonderful time of the year again! Of course I’m talking about McDelivery Day in Japan which falls on 26 July. As you’ve probably gathered, this day is in honor of McDonald’s delivery service that transports a minimum 1,500 yen (US$13.50) order to your door for an added 300 yen surcharge.

To mark the occasion, McDonald’s Japan will add “free smiles” to their delivery menu. Some of you may not be familiar with the McDonald’s free smile depending on what part of the world you’re reading this. On the McDonald’s menu, among all the shakes and burgers, there is listed “smile” with a price of zero next to it.

This means that customers may demand smiles from their service staff thus ensuring a disingenuous one in return. The whole thing smacks of a human rights issue but no one seems to have the cajones (Spanish for lots of free time and money) to take McDonald’s to the Hague over it.

But now even McDonald’s delivery staff can be emotionally extorted with “smile ¥0” added to any delivery menu printed after the 26th.

One exception, however, is the UberEats service offered in select parts of Tokyo in which an Uber driver will carry your fast food fix wherever you want it. Unlike McDelivery, there is no minimum order, but the delivery fee is a little higher at 380 yen ($3.40), and since they aren’t McDonald’s staff, asking an Uber driver for a free smile raises your overall risk of getting smacked in the face.

That doesn’t mean UberEats is left out of McDelivery Day entirely! Goodness no! The first 500 people who places an UberEats order on 26 July will receive a picnic mat with their delivery.

Really though, I kid about equating the free smile to a crime against humanity. It’s actually a sweet little gesture returning to the true spirit of McDelivery Day as the prophet Grimace intended. Honestly, the whole holiday has gotten way too commercial recently.

Source: McDonald’s Japan, ASCII Gourmet, Otaku.com
Top Image: SoraNews24
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