Some things are too good to be true — like those buckets of chicken nuggets we reported were hitting McDonald's Japan outposts this winter. Media outlet Joyscribe was the first to report the deal on August 6, stating that it was a collaboration between McDonald's and J-pop group NGT48. They stated the promotion would begin on December 1.

McDonald's Japan

U.S.-based food site Foodbeast then picked it up, recognizing that the 48-piece chicken nugget deal had happened once before, in 2015. And that's where everything went downhill: McDonald's Japan had never confirmed the NGT48 buckets were happening again, but a handful of sites — including ours — continued to report the news as if it were fact. Here's a list of other major outlets that fell prey to the fake news: Daily Mail, The Daily Meal, Nerdist, OK! Magazine, and AOL, among others.

Truth be told, we're not sure where wires were originally crossed. Maybe Joyscribe got the information for the Fortune story that ran the news in 2015. Or it's possible they were blinded by wishful thinking. Regardless, Delish apologizes for not checking in with McDonald's sooner to decipher whether there was any truth to the nuggets' return.

In a statement given to Delish on August 24, McDonald's indeed confirmed that McDonald's Japan is not currently running this promotion, and that it was a limited-time offer in 2015.

Considering all the chatter surrounding this now, uh, our professional advice is for McDonald's to sell a 48-piece chicken nugget bucket once again. Give the people what they want, you know?

Con Poulos

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Sarah Weinberg Deputy Editor Sarah Weinberg is the deputy editor at Delish and has covered food, travel, home, and lifestyle for a number of publications, including Food Network Magazine and Country Living.

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