One of the main complaints about the McDonald's collector's cups is that customers keep getting the same ones. This is especially frustrating for customers who want a specific one or all six designs. One TikToker went so far as to bribe the McDonald's workers to give her the Hello Kitty cup.
TikToker Leighton (@leighton742) thinks she has another way of securing the cup you want. She shared her method in a video viewed 3 million times.
“Of all the McDonald’s cups, are you looking for a certain one?” she asks, gesturing to her stack of all the collectible cups on her table. “I'm gonna show you how to tell what one is what without opening the bag so you can swap it out for another one.”
She points to a number at the bottom of the wrapping. “There’s a number right there, on the bottom of the bag,” she says. “Each cup has its own number.”
What are the 6 codes?
The content creator shared the codes for all six designs.
- Ty Beanie Babies: 55069724
- McDonald’s: 55017624
- Shrek: 55059324
- Coca Cola: 55029924
- Hello Kitty: 55038324
- Hot Wheels & Barbie: 55049324
The hack
“So, the trick is how I got them is: you need to go in and say, ‘Hi. I’m looking for a specific cup. I only need a couple more,’” Leighton instructs.
She says being polite to the workers and asking them if she can check the codes has worked for her. "Look at the code, put it back. Be careful cause a lot of the codes are off by a number. So, be careful that you’re not getting a duplicate, but good luck,” she concludes.
Leighton shared how she came across this hack.
"When my boyfriend and I got 3 different cups, I was wondering if there was a way to tell apart the packages- and there was! I then googled it and saw on X someone posted all the cups with their codes," she told the Daily Dot via TikTok direct message.
She says because of this trick, she hasn't unintentionally received any duplicates.
"I luckily didn't have any duplicates when I first went - and after learning the trick only got a duplicate if I wanted one! (Hello Kitty x Snoopy)," she said.
She said she remains mindful of the workers' time. "I'm very extroverted - not afraid to ask things, so easy for me. I made sure to do it when they were not busy, and if it seemed like too much of a hassle, I would say, 'nevermind,'" she added.
@leighton742 Hope this helps someone #mcdonalds #collectorcup #hellokitty #shrek
♬ original sound - Leighton
The Daily Dot reached out to McDonald’s via press email.
Some viewers put Leighton's trick to the test.
“It worked! Yay!” one said.
“They wouldn’t let me swap mine out yesterday,” another said.
So it seems the success rate of requesting different cups varies. It all boils down to which location you go to and which worker you get.
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