star trek happy meal

How Star Trek Created The Happy Meal

Star Trek: The Motion Picture causes weird bouts of nostalgia. Fans experience the film in different milieus. However, kids in the Winter of 1979 will remember that first film changing their fast food tastes. Before the late 70’s, kids eating at McDonald’s were forced to eat off the adult menu. Advertising genius Bob Bernstein thought it was weird, but went along with it. However, he noticed his kids enjoying specific cereals due to their boxes. Couple that with the insane Star Wars hysteria of the time, Bernstein drafted a plan. Working with McDonald’s marketing, the ad team recut the adult menu into a smaller offering designed for children. As a result, the Happy Meal was born.

The kids would get a burger, a small fry, cookies and a small drink with their Happy Meal . But, the big catch would be a branded toy. Star Wars was too big at this point to obtain a license. Plus, Burger Chef and eventually Burger King beat them to that. What was the right property to obtain, as Christmas 1979 loomed on the horizon?

When McDonalds decided to go national with the Happy Meal concept, they wanted to anchor the idea to a successful property. What was big, Sci-Fi oriented and landing in theaters shortly before Christmas? The answer was Star Trek: The Motion Picture . McDonalds figured that kids would see the movie, want to a eat a Happy Meal afterward and play with the accompanying toys. McDonalds agreed to all of this without seeing the final film.

Kids could live out their favorite scenes from the movie with a Starfleet game, plastic Star Trek rings, a bracelet, Double Glitter iron-on sheets and a toy communicator. All of these trinkets were good enough for V’Ger , but would they entice the kiddies? Well, McDonalds didn’t have to worry about the toys. However, some parents took issue with the graphic design of the boxes.

The first mass-released box given to small children featured a drawing of the film’s famous Transporter Room accident. This would be the first and last time that a Happy Meal featured a disintegration. Happy Meal movie tie-ins stayed strong until Batman Returns had some questionable Happy Meal toys. Enjoy your Star Trek day and try to find these old Happy Meal promos on eBay. Time well spent.

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Fast Food in Space: Remembering McDonalds’ Star Trek Meals (1979)

happymeal1

In December of 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered in movie theaters. The 40 million dollar+ film was heavily merchandised through toy companies such as Mego but also — surprisingly — via McDonalds.

In particular, the fast food restaurant introduced a Star Trek -themed Happy Meal with delightful art from illustrator Ron Villani, and featuring a number of games on the box for diners and pre-pubescent Trekkies to enjoy.

For instance, you could play “ connect the dots ” on one panel of the box, completing an image of the U.S.S. Enterprise on the “ viewer screen .”

happymeal3

Or, on another panel you could solve a maze, helping to “ guide the Enterprise through a meteor shower .”

The Star Trek Happy Meals also featured factoids about the Trek universe, and such aspects as the Klingons or the Federation.  Amusingly, the Federation was described as overseeing “ the universe ” and keeping peace there.

That’s a big job!

happymeal2

Some panels on the McDonalds Star Trek Happy Meals also recreated in comic-book format scenes from the movie, for example the destruction of the Klingons by the space ‘cloud,’ or a report by Starfleet outpost Epsilon 9 that the intruder was on a direct course for Earth.

The boxes also featured Klingon Code to break, and some bad jokes.

What do you call a sick Klingon?

An ailing alien!

Finally, The happy meals also came with a toy in each box: a small plastic, silver communicator

I was nine years old at the time of these Happy Meals and I remember begging my parents for them. I’m pretty sure my sister and I got at least one each, but we threw away the boxes (d’oh!). So short-sighted of us!

My favorite part of the whole campaign, however, was the TV commercials, in which a bumpy-headed Klingon served as pitchman.

You can watch those advertisements below, in celebration, perhaps, of the 50 th anniversary of Star Trek this year:

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McDonald's Wiki

Star Trek Happy Meal

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The Star Trek Happy Meal , also known as the Star Trek Meal , was the first ever movie tie-in Happy Meal from McDonald's, ranging from December 1979 through February 1980 . The tie-in was based on the movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture .

The meal came in five different box designs full of games and jokes, as well as a prize toy, which includes a walkie-talkie, a USS Enterprise ring, a set of temporary tattoos, and a miniature die-cut board game.

  • 2 Hamburglar
  • 3 Uncle O'Grimacey

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Published Dec 22, 2016

TBT: Trek Video Communicator from TMP Happy Meal

star trek happy meal

McDonald’s is celebrating Star Trek ’s 50th anniversary by dipping into their archives to share a very cool TBT. It’s a video of the Star Trek Video Communicator that was included in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture -themed Happy Meal box that McDonald’s provided to young patrons – and Trek fans, of course, back in 1979.

As detailed by a Collector’s Trek guest blog that ran in 2012 here on StarTrek.com , “Each Communicator consisted of a plastic housing with one of five comic strips inside. Feed the strip through the communicator to watch the story unfold inside the small viewing port. 23rd century technology available… way back in 1979.”

Check out the full guest blog HERE .

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Memory Alpha

  • View history

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants. In 1979 McDonald's ran promotional ads that tied in the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture with their Star Trek Meal. The offer was valid at participating McDonald's and lasted until February 1980 (or until supplies lasted).

When the production of The Motion Picture ran into financial difficulties in February 1979, Paramount Vice-president of Marketing and Licensing , Dawn Steel , was charged with creating another revenue stream to help cover the ballooning production costs. She did so by organizing a merchandising and licensing fund drive, which climaxed in a highly imaginative presentation, held in the largest theater on the Paramount lot. A resounding success, the presentation was met with enthusiasm by the attending prospective licensee companies, which included McDonald's. Signed on together with beverage company Coca-Cola, The Motion Picture constituted one of the first times that a non-Disney motion picture production was involved in a tie-in merchandising campaign with products from the the food industry and subsequently, crudely drawn comic strips (as no other imagery was yet available) were featured on the containers of both companies, a legendary one featured on those of McDonald's, featuring Klingons eating hamburgers and drinking Coca-Cola. When Steel showed studio head Barry Diller concept commercials featuring Klingons gobbling up two of America's largest brand names, he laughed out loud. Steel had never seen Diller laugh, before or after. ( New York magazine, 29 May 1989, p. 45; Star Trek: The Complete Unauthorized History , pp. 108-109; The Keys to the Kingdom , 2000, Chapter 6)

Klingon endoring Happy Meals in 1980 McDonalds commercial

Happy Meals endorsed by a Klingon in a 1979-1980 McDonald's commercial

Often incorrectly credited as McDonalds's very first outing in their " Happy Meal " concept, which was introduced a few months after the presentation in June 1979, The Motion Picture was nevertheless their first movie themed one, starting its run in December 1979. McDonald's ran several thirty second television commercials, with narration done by Gary Owens ; promoting the Motion Picture Happy Meals, one of them presented by an actor dressed as a Klingon speaking in, what was supposed to be, Klingonese (at the time the language consisted only of a few exclamations, and it took until Star Trek III: The Search for Spock before the language was somewhat beefed out by linguist Marc Okrand ), with a voice-over "translator" endorsing the Happy Meal, consisting of a regular hamburger, fries, soft drink, a McDonaldland cookie sampler, and a Star Trek prize. Reportedly, McDonald's sunk $20 million dollar in the television ads to promote their 50 million Star Trek Happy Meal boxes. ( Playboy magazine, January 1980, p. 310) Some of these commercials can currently be found on the video sharing website YouTube .

Six different Happy Meal boxes were released (officially, the count is five, but there were two versions of the box featuring Spock ), each featuring movie-inspired artwork, puzzles, and a short comic strip , created by artist Ron Villani, depicting a key action scene in the film. Each box had two jokes, including, for example:

  • Q. What's most important when transporting "Bones"?
  • A. To get the real McCoy.

The prize included with the meal consisted of a black or gray plastic "video communicator" that, when assembled, could be used to scroll the comic strip that was included, "secret compartment" rings (molded with images of Kirk , Spock and the movie Starfleet insignia), iron-on sheets featuring movie-inspired graphics and characters, toy versions of the USS Enterprise , K't'inga -class cruiser, long range shuttle , drydock , air tram , orbital office complex , travel pod , and the Epsilon IX station , and the board game Star Trek: Starfleet .

  • 1.1 #1 – " Star Trek Stars"
  • 1.2 #2 – "A Pill Swallows the Enterprise "
  • 1.3 #3 – "Time. And Time. And Time Again."
  • 1.4 #4 – "Votec's Freedom"
  • 1.5 #5 – "Starlight, Starfright"
  • 2 Other info
  • 3 External links

Video communicator comics [ ]

Each installment was eight illustrated panels in length and concluded with " Thus ends another chapter in the saga of the U.S.S. Enterprise . " In each strip, the Enterprise is depicted in its pre-refit configuration.

#1 – " Star Trek Stars" [ ]

This comic was a brief introduction to the Enterprise , its crew, and its mission. The Enterprise is described as the " command ship of the Federation ". Decker and Ilia are aboard, and the ship is en route to stop an alien force speeding toward Earth, likely V'Ger .

#2 – "A Pill Swallows the Enterprise " [ ]

Mcdonalds pill

The Enterprise is trapped

Captain Kirk is awakened from sleep and informed that the Enterprise has been enveloped in a capsule. Spock is at a loss to explain it, and the construct is impervious to phasers . Suddenly, the crew see a "heavy Delphus meteor " approaching. Concluding that a "retro blast" would be ineffective, the crew braces for impact. The meteor is stopped by the capsule, which then dematerializes, and Spock concludes that they have a good friend out there.

#3 – "Time. And Time. And Time Again." [ ]

Mcdonalds yankees

Uhura visits the Bronx

Kirk and Spock prepare to beam Uhura down to the planet Turages. The equipment malfunctions, and she materializes in 172 billion BC, confronted by a gigantic beast. She then appears in a rectangular construct drifting near a star in the year 21,000, using her communicator to send the message that she is "three solar systems ahead". Spock discovers that the transporter has been sabotaged. Uhura appears on home plate in Yankee Stadium in the year 1940, holding a bat, and surmising that the Klingons must be behind her predicament. She is then beamed back to the transporter pad of the Enterprise , along with her bat, with Spock quipping that "it was just a matter of time."

#4 – "Votec's Freedom" [ ]

Kirk and Spock beam down and meet Votec. He recalls how he fought in a war against the Nozda, and stayed behind to allow his people to escape. He was captured, and determined never to tell where his people were. Spock says that he can break Votec's chains with his new "ultra laser ", and Votec plans to rejoin his people.

#5 – "Starlight, Starfright" [ ]

On a viewscreen , Kirk shows McCoy subplanet 897-JOJ. McCoy is then abducted by transporter and is informed that a Doctor is needed for experiments. Spock offer that the Argontrons are afraid of darkness, so the Enterprise arranges for darkness and rescues McCoy with a shuttlecraft.

Other info [ ]

A derelict McDonald's (or possibly another recognizable chain) turned into a blacksmith shop was mentioned to be featured in Star Trek: First Contact , according to the script.

External links [ ]

  • McDonald's at Wikipedia
  • McDonald's Star Trek Meal – website featuring the boxes and prizes that came with the Star Trek meal
  • Original advertisement  at YouTube
  • How Star Trek Created The Happy Meal at Fandom.com
  • 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
  • 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

McDonald's Happy Meals from the Old Star Trek Movies

1979 saw the revival of the Star Trek franchise with Star Trek: The Motion Picture . McDonald's was part of the marketing blitz. It tried to draw in kids by offering Happy Meals inspired by the movie and its fresh take on Star Trek . The box included a connect-the-dots game, corny jokes, and puzzles.

McDonald's commercials pushed this Happy Meal option. One of them used a Klingon as a pitchman. The narrator offers a translation, but the character is not actually speaking Klingon--just gibberish. He's assuming that no child who was watching would know the difference.

You can see more photos of the Star Trek Happy Meal and another commercial in the series at Flashbak.

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Star Wars Blue Milk and the wildest movie tie-in products

A lot of the consumables don't look too appetizing.

Nathanael Fakes

Star Wars Blue Milk and Minions Twinkie.

Do you want some scrumptious Star Wars Blue Milk on that cereal? No problem.

Consumers love movie tie-in products. They've been around for a while now, and nothing is really that surprising. Everything from dessert to fast food to breakfast items has had the film treatment when it comes to promotion.

This article will explore some of the more off-the-wall items we've seen from past to present. Some may be familiar to you, others not so much.

Regardless, you'll find some of these interesting, if not delicious. Or ( bla! ) nasty.

Star Wars Blue Milk

Lucasfilm released a press release with details about upcoming merchandise. And on April 17, you can get your very own Star Wars TruMoo Blue Milk by Dairy Farmers of AmericaTruMoo.It's a vanilla-flavored milk that's supposed to be “delicious.”

The packaging includes an illustrated image of Luke and Darth battling it with their lightsabers. IGN reports that the blue milk was found on the Outer Rim on the planet Tatooine. And, sometimes, there was green milk, too.

Minions Twinkies

The cross-promotion for Illumination's Minions and Hostess Twinkies was clever. After all, the delicious snack cakes look like Minions. That said, according to Deal News, they were just plain Twinkies with nothing special about them except the wrapper. Although, they're probably full of gibberish.

Star Trek Happy Meal from McDonald's 

The 1979 Happy Meal for Star Trek consisted of a ring with a secret compartment, a cardboard game, a bracelet communicator, and many fun illustrations.

Deal News reports that this was the first-ever movie/food tie-in promotion. Thus, it kicked off the entire concept and genre of having this type of promotional item with food purchases. Thanks, McDonald's.

Hi-C Ecto Cooler

Ghost Busters is back in theaters, so there's no better time to reflect on the Hi-C Ecto Cooler associated with The Real Ghostbusters cartoon. The to-die-for drink was green and contained “all-natural flavors.” It included Slimer on the front, and his tongue was hanging out.

Prince of Thieves cereal

If you were a fan of Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, you could have breakfast with the marksman with this cereal, which debuted with the film in 1991. The cereal looks a bit bland, but it came with a movie poster (score!). We're not sure if this was a bullseye with consumers, but it was definitely a tie-in relic from the past that had to be included. Just what the hell were they thinking making chunky arrow cereal shapes?

David Benioff and D.B. Weiss next to logo for Star Wars

Kevin Billings · 1 day ago

Star Wars Skywalker Saga posters with the subtitle "may the 4th be with you"

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Star Wars: Episode 1 Pizza Hut, KFC, and Taco Bell toys

That's right — you had three restaurants to choose from to get your Star Wars Episode One toys — for only .99 cents! There were Yoda, C-3PO, and others. All came with a delicious pizza, taco, or chicken. Pizza Hut also had some awesome Star Wars boxes that came with their pizzas at this time, which surely collectors kept with the grease stains and all.

The Darth Vader Burger

Star Wars also saw the rise of the Darth Vader Burger at Quick in 2012 for The Phantom Menace 3D release. The burger consisted of a dyed black bun, two patties, and cheese. It was not the most delicious-looking thing out there, but hey, what else would you expect from the Dark Side?

Keep in mind that many other product tie-ins with edible food have emerged over the decades. This is our shortlist for now, but there's much more to discover—and more to come. I hope you're hungry.

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Arch Rivals: Unboxing the History of the McDonald's Happy Meal

By jake rossen | apr 17, 2020.

The McDonald's Happy Meal has a murky history.

Bob Bernstein was getting annoyed with his son. It was the mid-1970s, and Bernstein, an advertising executive based in Kansas City, watched as 10-year-old Steve applied the same ritualistic approach to his breakfast. Each morning, Steve would pour himself a bowl of cereal then sit at the table staring at the cereal box. He read the front, the back, and the sides, over and over again.

When his father asked him about this seemingly peculiar routine, Steve explained that “It’s just something to do.”

Bernstein realized Steve was no outlier. Unlike adults, who prefer to socialize and chat, kids liked looking at something while they ate. He kept this lesson in mind when McDonald’s tasked him with developing a child-friendly meal package that would hopefully entice younger consumers into eating at the restaurant more often.

By 1979, Bernstein’s Happy Meal was being rolled out nationally, and would go to become an indelible part of the fast food franchise’s business model. Tucked into a cardboard box full of illustrations, games, and puzzles was a complete meal, plus a toy.

But Bernstein’s claim of sole Happy Meal authorship has been hotly debated over the decades. In fact, no fewer than four entities, including one Guatemalan franchisee and one pioneering burger joint, have made a convincing argument that they, not Bernstein, were responsible for this contribution to popular and gastronomic culture.

In the early 1970s, McDonald’s didn’t have an organized outreach program for marketing to children. While the fictional McDonaldland and characters like Mayor McCheese and Grimace appeared in commercials, the actual menu wasn’t particularly kid-friendly. Parents and employees were to forced to watch helplessly as younger customers gave slapdash orders, cobbling together a meal from the menu. It exasperated adults, who wanted to get in and out more quickly, as well as restaurant franchisees, who felt the company could be doing more to attract kids.

McDonald's wasn't always marketing directly to kids. That changed in the 1970s.

The company asked Cleveland, Ohio, advertising expert Joe Johnston to research the problem; he came up with the idea of a sack that had activities on the packaging. But a bigger influence for McDonald’s was one of their biggest fast-food competitors, Burger Chef. In 1973, the burger chain introduced its Fun Meal, a cardboard box with games, riddles, and comic strips that housed a burger, fries, a sugary treat, and a soda. There was also frequently a toy or small vinyl record inside. In 1978, Burger Chef had even scored big with a license for a Star Wars Fun Meal, possibly the first example of a major movie tie-in with a fast food kid’s item.

The Fun Meal definitely pre-dates Bernstein’s assertion that he came up with the Happy Meal in 1975 or 1976, which was when he had been assigned the task by McDonald’s St. Louis regional advertising manager Dick Brams. In fact, Paul Schrage, the senior vice president of McDonald’s, was aware of the Fun Meal and so was Brams. It was Brams who directed Bernstein to come up with a way for McDonald’s to offer a menu option just for kids.

Whether Bernstein knew about the Fun Meal or simply used his son’s cereal box habits to inform his choices is unclear: In 2019, Bernstein told the Chicago Tribune that he had already been working on a design for a kid-friendly menu item when Brams contacted him. What we do know is that Bernstein developed a pre-sorted kid’s meal that was served in a cardboard box featuring puzzles, jokes, and games. (Bernstein trademarked the Happy Meal name, though he later transferred it to McDonald’s for $1.)

After two years of market testing in cities like Kansas City, Phoenix, and Denver in 1977 and 1978, McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal to the rest of America in 1979. Each box, which had a circus wagon theme, came with a hamburger or cheeseburger, fries, cookies, and a soft drink. Inside the $1.15 box was a “special prize” that was one of several novelty items. Kids could find a McDoodler stencil, a McWrist wallet, an ID bracelet, a puzzle lock, a spinning top, or a McDonaldland character eraser. Later that year, the company entered into its first Happy Meal licensing agreement, issuing a Happy Meal tie-in for the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Happy Meals have been a perpetual presence at McDonald’s ever since.

To Bernstein’s chagrin, Brams’s death in 1988 brought with it reports that Brams was the “father” of the Happy Meal. In fact, Bernstein had been given a bronze Happy Meal in acknowledgment of his efforts the previous year. He gently disputed the claim, saying that Brams became involved with the Happy Meal only after it had been conceptualized. Certainly, the two could have differing viewpoints on how much each brought to the assignment of creating a marketing strategy for kids.

But any combination of Brams and Bernstein leaves out one crucial contribution in the Happy Meal timeline: the work of Yolanda Fernandez de Cofiño, a onetime Guatemalan McDonald’s operator and now president of McDonald’s Guatemala, and the individual McDonald’s credits for being the originator of the Happy Meal.

Yolanda's husband, José María Cofiño, founded the first McDonald’s in Guatemala in 1974. Yolanda noticed that customers, particularly younger ones, didn’t have a full understanding of how McDonald’s labeled their food. A kid might order a Big Mac not knowing it was a substantial burger.

To solve the problem, Yolanda created Ronald’s Menu in 1977. It was a way of designating a fun food order for children and consisted of a burger, fries, soda, and a sundae. Yolanda added a toy or novelty item that she had purchased at a local market. However, Yolanda’s idea didn’t include an illustrated box; Ronald’s Menu was served on a tray.

Yolanda claimed she presented the idea of the kid’s menu during a McDonald’s marketing conference in Chicago in 1977, the same year the company began market-testing Bernstein’s Happy Meal in select cities. In 1982, the company gave her a silver Ronald McDonald statue for developing the Happy Meal as well as raising the brand’s profile among children.

It seems as though McDonald’s was faced with a key problem—marketing to kids—and that several people had a similar approach as to how best to address it. While Yolanda conceived of offering a toy with a meal, it was Bernstein who was conceptualized the McDonald’s Happy Meal packaging, and it was Brams who stayed busy securing toy deals for the Happy Meal in the years to come.

Happy Meals have become part of popular culture.

Naturally, Burger Chef had a different interpretation. In 1979, shortly before the Happy Meal was scheduled to roll out nationally, the company sued McDonald’s for $5.5 million for infringing on their Fun Meal idea. The lawsuit fizzled out, however, and the ailing Burger Chef franchise was eventually absorbed by Hardee’s in 1982.

By 2017, McDonald’s was selling an average of 3.2 million Happy Meals daily, which have been stuffed over the years with everything from Transformers to Teenie Beanie Babies , which were greeted with high consumer demand in 1996. Collectors covet original Happy Meal toys and particularly the boxes, which were frequently thrown away and consequently became valuable when found intact.

Who was responsible for those boxes? History has a few answers. In all likelihood, McDonald’s took note of Burger Chef’s Fun Meal and wanted to create something similar. Bernstein shaped that notion into the Happy Meal around the same time Yolanda was offering a value menu option to kids. Like McDonald’s itself, which was opened by Richard and Maurice McDonald but brought to new heights by Ray Kroc , everyone had something to contribute.

Everything We Know About McDonald's Famous Happy Meal

mcdonald's happy meal

Since 1979 , McDonald's Happy Meals have been an integral part of most childhoods, and whether it's a once a week, once a month, or once a year treat, the excitement level for that iconic cardboard box is the same. Those perfectly salted fries and arguably plain but oh-so-tasty hamburger with just the right amount of rehydrated onion and pickle are the epitome of fast food deliciousness. But let's be honest — it's the toy that really matters when you're anxiously waiting in the backseat of the car.

As a kid, you didn't concern yourself with the history of the Happy Meal, or strange stories associated with it. So long as you could get your hands on that toy, what did you care? But adults might find it surprising that their little one's favorite meals have been used as a drug front , or that the apple slices take an unusually long time to turn brown. And did that Minion toy really say what we think it said? Let's dive into the untold truth of McDonald's famous Happy Meal.

Vintage toys can be worth a pretty penny

Most of us had that box of beat-up Happy Meal toys from our childhood that at some point in our teen years got put into the donation pile without a second thought. But if you'd kept that box, and if those toys had been in pristine condition and in the original packaging, they might be worth a pretty penny today.

In May 2018, LoveAntiques.com commissioned a toy expert to compile a list of "the most valuable McDonald's toys you may have at home," and the potential sales figures might surprise you. At the top of the list, coming in at $450, is a set of TY's Teenie Beanie Boos from 2000, which the site says is "much rarer than their toy shop equivalent." The oldest toys on the list, both from 1979 and going from $400 each, are a set of Underwater Monsters, and Robots by Diener Keshi. Not too shabby for a few pieces of plastic, right? On the flip side, if you somehow managed to track down all 101 toys from the 1996 101 Dalmatians collection, you'd only be looking at $220, and considering you probably spent more on the Happy Meals, that's not such a great return on investment.

But how much can you really get for them?

Now you're probably kicking yourself for tossing your Happy Meal toys all those years ago, but are those numbers even feasible in the real world? According to Today , who spoke to experts in toys and antiques, the likelihood of getting rich quick from vintage Mickey D's toys is not great, but of course there are always exceptions. Dov Kelemer, president of DKE Toys, explained, "Unfortunately, in my toy dealing experience most modern McDonald's Happy Meal toys have little or no value to collectors and I doubt there are any notable auction houses selling them." 

Today reports that most toy listings on eBay are firmly in the under-$100 range, with an occasional jaw-dropping auction price popping up, like a complete set of 100 Years of Disney Magic toys for an astounding $10,000. "As with any collectibles category, the main factors of value are supply and demand, impacted often by a 'nostalgia curve'..." antiques appraiser Gary Sohmers noted. In other words, rare gems could fetch high dollars, but most likely won't.

San Francisco tried to ruin all the fun

San Francisco might be considered the West Coast's foodie paradise for adults, but in 2010 they voted to dash the dreams of all Happy Meal-loving kids when, according to Reuters , its Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring that "restaurant kids' meals meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys." The law, which went into effect in 2011, allowed toys to be given away provided that the meal "have less than 600 calories, contain fruits and vegetables, and include beverages without excessive fat or sugar."

McDonald's obviously opposed the law, saying in a statement, "We are extremely disappointed with today's decision. It's not what our customers want, nor is it something they asked for." Of course, the company quickly found a loophole for this new law without having to comply with all those pesky nutritional requirements: A 10 cent donation to the Ronald McDonald House (via Business Insider ). By tacking an extra dime onto each Happy Meal purchase when a toy was included, they were able to satisfy their obligation to the law and benefit their charity at the same time.

The cheeseburger Happy Meal is a thing of the past

Since that 2011 San Francisco toy ban , McDonald's has made some positive changes to its famous Happy Meal. The option of apple slices (which actually began in 2004), gave parents the choice between french fries or fruit, but today, a regular Happy Meal bundle automatically includes the choice of apple slices, low-fat Yoplait Go-Gurt, or Cuties (when in season), and a smaller kid-sized fry. The soft drink option is also long gone, and now it's a choice between milk or apple juice. It was a good start...

But thanks to chocolate milk and cheeseburgers, the Happy Meal was still hitting above that 600 calorie mark. In an effort to finally get the numbers down, McDonald's removed the cheeseburger and chocolate milk Happy Meal options in June 2018, as per Today . The chocolate milk was slated to return later with reduced sugar. Currently, the highest calorie combination — six-piece Chicken McNuggets, fries, Go-Gurt, and 1% milk — comes in at 530 calories. Great news, right? Not for everyone. While you might think this healthy change would be celebrated all around, adult consumers took to social media lamenting the removal of the cheeseburger, dubbing it a #sadmeal . Proof that you can't win 'em all.

But why don't those apple slices turn brown?

Parents celebrated when McDonald's made the change to include apple slices in their Happy Meals, but alarms started going off when consumers realized that the fruit took an unusually long time to turn brown . So what's the deal?

A quick glance at the ingredient list for the apple slices will clue you in — along with the fruit you'll find calcium ascorbate, which according to McDonald's is "a blend of calcium and vitamin C to maintain freshness and color." But is calcium ascorbate some scary chemical we should be afraid of? Nope. According to the FDA , it's "generally recognized as safe when used in accordance with good manufacturing practice," and at the end of the day, actually makes those apple slices much more palatable than if not treated. This is because as soon as an apple is cut, oxygen starts to deteriorate its flesh and causes it to turn brown. Thanks to the calcium ascorbate dip (also called NatureSeal ), the cut apple slices are protected from those changes in texture, color, and taste, and have an impressive 21-day shelf life.

WTF did that Minion say?

A Despicable Me Happy Meal toy caused an uproar when outraged grandparents alerted the media to a Minion , which was included in their grandchild's meal, that appeared to be spewing profanity (you can listen here ). Indeed, to those of us with potty mouths, the toy does seem to be saying, "What the f***?"

McDonald's, however, denied the claims, and a spokesperson told MarketWatch that the loin cloth clad Minion toy included three recorded sounds: "Para la bukay," "hahaha," and "eh eh." Apparently "hahaha" in Minionese sounds an awful lot like "WTF?" in English. "We're aware of a very small number of customers who have been in touch regarding this toy, and we regret any confusion or offense to those who may have misinterpreted its sounds. The allegation that this toy is saying anything offensive or profane is not true," the company said. McDonald's did not pull the toy over the controversy, and there's no telling how many kids picked up a useful new phrase.

A Happy Meal with a side of heroin

Imagine if you rolled through the McDonald's drive-thru for a special surprise for your kids and ended up with a Happy Meal full of heroin. Sounds unbelievable, but that's exactly what you would have gotten at one Pittsburgh location if you said the magic words: "I'd like to order a toy." Since a toy can legitimately be purchased separately from a Happy Meal (in some  regions ), the request wouldn't have seemed too out of the ordinary for those in the know, but in this case that "toy" was actually heroin, as per CNN . 

McDonald's employee Shantia Dennis was arrested in 2014 after she was busted by undercover police officers for, among other charges, possession with intent to deliver heroin. After receiving a tip from an informant, the officers ordered a "toy" in Dennis' drive-thru, paid her $80 for what should have been about a $2 bill, and got a Happy Meal box full of 10 small bags of heroin. No word on whether the order also included the usual hamburger and fries, but if it did, it was a real "value meal."

What exactly is Mario doing?

Over the years McDonald's has featured several Super Mario collections , and some of those toys have struck consumers as a bit odd.

In 2017, a collection that debuted in the UK prompted punny headlines  like, "Super Mario McDonald's UK Happy Meal Toys Revealed, Evidently Much to Mario's Relief." See, Mario is supposedly sitting on a pile of bricks, but if you use your imagination, you can easily see Nintendo's favorite plumber copping a squat on the toilet. EuroGamer.net reported that commenters had a field day with the revelation, with one user remarking, "So that's where the phrase 'sh***ing bricks' comes from!" Cue the rimshot.

In another incident, tabloid website The Mirror reported on a toy that "looks like it's performing a sex act." This particular Mario had a mechanical arm with a boomerang in his hand, but when the boomerang was removed, the hand was left with a hole in the middle. Couple that with the up-down motion of the arm and, well... you can come to your own conclusions as to what Mario was doing. Tyler Atfield, the "horrified father" at the center of this story who allegedly gave quotes like, "They should not be giving out toys that look like that. My kids started doing the action and it was so wrong," later said that he was the victim of a prank  and had never complained about the toy. Prank or not, it does look a little suspicious, doesn't it?

They give McDonald's a notable distinction in the toy world

We know that McDonald's has sold billions of burgers, but what about Happy Meals? While the company isn't typically forthcoming with juicy statistics when it comes to their Happy Meal sales, Sense360 was able to glean some mind-blowing data from a 2016 McDonald's press release. By calculating the data based on a snapshot of sales, the firm determined that the fast food company sells — are you ready for this? — 3.2 million Happy Meals per day. So, if McDonald's is selling 89 Happy Meals every second, and there's a toy in every box, you don't need a calculator to know that the Golden Arches is also doling out a whole lot of toys. In fact, they're the world's largest distributor of toys. 

"We distribute 1.4 billion toys a year globally," Pam Edwards, McDonald's director of consumer product safety, told The Toronto Star in 2015. "There's about 550 [toys] a year that are designed and distributed around the world." Unbelievably, they're all designed and produced in one place: The Marketing Store. The development lab has been heading the task for over 30 years, and the process for any given toy begins 15 to 18 months prior to landing in your Happy Meal. Makes you appreciate that plastic Pokémon a bit more, doesn't it?

What's the real deal with the 6-year-old Happy Meal?

We've all heard those rumors about McDonald's food never rotting , and a viral Facebook post in 2016 only added fuel to that fire. The post featured images of a 6-year-old Happy Meal that looked not dissimilar to a fresh Happy Meal, and exclaimed, "It's been 6 years since I bought this 'Happy Meal' at McDonald's. It's been sitting at our office this whole time and has not rotted, molded, or decomposed at all!!! It smells only of cardboard. We did this experiment to show our patients how unhealthy this 'food' is... There are so many chemicals in this food!"

But it's actually not chemicals that preserve the food and prevent it from rotting — it's the lack of moisture. Any food needs moisture and warmth to rot, and McDonald's food, just like any other food, will in fact start to decompose in a warm, moist environment. But left in its paper wrappers, and starting out on the dry side as it is, it simply dehydrates rather than rots. Bottom line: It might be surprising to see a 6-year-old Happy Meal looking fairly edible , but it could result in a broken tooth.    

McDonald's first sold an adult Happy Meal in 2004

In 2004, McDonald's capitalized on both the familiarity and good feelings engendered by the Happy Meal to launch a special combo meal aimed at adults, a crucial element of a health-conscious publicity campaign. Under intense scrutiny at the time following lawsuits alleging that they encouraged unhealthy eating habits that led to obesity and other health complications (per The Guardian ), McDonald's introduced salads, cut its "Super Size" option on fries, and unveiled the Go Active! Happy Meal, according to CNN . 

Different from the traditional Happy Meal in every way, the Go Active! Happy Meal was marketed to adults, centered around one of four large salads as an entree, included a bottle of Dasani water, didn't include French fries, and cost more ($5.99 in most areas, as per CNN). What made the Go Active! Happy Meal a Happy Meal was the free prize — a clip-on pedometer which could be worn to count steps along with a "Step With It!" booklet full of health and fitness tips. The Go Active! Happy Meal was initially a limited time offering, before it was added to the regular menu. It ultimately disappeared from McDonald's combo meal board.

McDonald's released another Happy Meal for adults in 2022

Nearly 20 years after dabbling in the idea of a Happy Meal for adults, McDonald's fully embraced the idea of sharing the kids' menu fun with grown-ups via the Cactus Plant Flea Market Box. Packed in a cardboard box with McDonald's famous "Golden Arches" on top doubling as a handle, it's a Happy Meal in everything but name, only for grown-ups.

Cactus Plant Flea Market, according to  McDonald's , is an artistic and creative collective that makes unique, hand-made clothing. It partnered with the fast food chain to design the meal promotion, as well as a series of giveaway T-shirts and the toys that come inside the Happy Meal for adults. According to CNET , those toys are a set of four figurines, three of which are surreal, crooked-grinned, four-eyed takes on McDonald's characters Hamburglar, Grimace, and Birdie. The fourth is the proprietary "Cactus Buddy," dressed in a McDonald's logo T-shirt.

The Cactus Plant Flea Market meal is a premium item at a premium price: about $10, which is significantly more than a kids' Happy Meal. That cost covers fries, a soft drink, and the customer's choice of a Big Mac or 10 Chicken McNuggets (and the toy, of course). The promotion ran throughout October 2022.

In the 1980s, McDonald's sold Happy Meals in Boo Buckets

The McDonald's Happy Meal almost always comes inside a cardboard box or paper bag with a toy hidden inside. Sometimes, however, the packaging is a reusable or keepsake item that serves a special purpose. In the fall of 1986, according to The Sun , McDonald's introduced the Halloween Pumpkin Happy Meal , with the familiar kids meal arriving inside of a " Boo Bucket ," one of three orange, lidded plastic pails made to resemble a modest Jack-o'-lantern. The three varieties included the McPunk'n (a standard Jack-o'-lantern pumpkin), the McBoo (a ghost face), and the McGoblin (a monstrous visage). Adorned with spooky imagery, the buckets were meant to be used by kids to hold and store all their sugary loot obtained on Halloween night.

The promotion proved so popular that McDonald's kept up the Boo Buckets for years, making the McBoo and McGoblin buckets in white and green, respectively, for Halloween 1990 . The chain undertook a temporary move to glow-in-the-dark McBoo Bags, before it was discontinued in 2016, per Nightmare Nostalgia . In October 2022, McDonald's announced the return of the Halloween Happy Meal, complete with newly designed Boo Buckets in orange pumpkin, green monster, and white ghost varieties.

Happy Meals have different names in different countries

McDonald's is a global company, and as such, offers similar fare around the world, adapting its food and marketing to local tastes, dietary restrictions, and languages as appropriate. To that end, McDonald's has sold some variety of what's known in North America as the Happy Meal in more than 100 countries, according to " Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia ."

By and large, the Happy Meal is known as the Happy Meal in other English-speaking areas or a literal translation of the phrase in the local dominant language. In places where that phrase doesn't quite translate directly, McDonald's devised new names. In French-speaking areas of the Canadian province of Quebec, the Happy Meal is called Joyeux Fesin, or "Happy Birthday." In Spanish-speaking Latin American countries, kids can order a Cajita Felitz (literally "Happy Little Box"), and in Japan, the combo is called the Happy Set .

The Happy Meal was born in Guatemala and St. Louis

The McDonald's Happy Meal, likely the most famous kid's meal in history, officially launched across the U.S. in 1979. However, it originated in Guatemala half a decade earlier. According to Consequence , Yolanda Fernandez de Cofiño ran Guatemala's flagship McDonald's outlet at the time. Noticing that parents seemed a little overwhelmed when ordering for their children, de Cofiño created the "Menu Ronald," a fixed children's meal named after the McDonald's clown mascot. Inside a little bag came a conveniently packed order of a hamburger, small fries, and a small ice cream sundae.

Knowledge of de Cofiño's innovation made its way to McDonald's global headquarters in Chicago by the time American employees started working on the idea of a kid's meal. In the 1970s, McDonald's biggest competitor was the now-defunct chain Burger Chef, which invented the fast food kiddie combo with the 1973 Fun Meal, according to Insider . 

Per the Chicago Tribune , McDonald's St. Louis-based regional advertising director Dick Brams figured that was a good idea and put McDonald's midwestern ad company, Bernstein-Rein, on the case. ""I came up with the Happy Meal, in 1975, as I watched my son at the breakfast table reading his cereal box," Bob Bernstein said. "He did it every morning. I thought, we make a box for McDonald's that holds a meal and gives kids things to do."

What the first Happy Meal toys were like

After McDonald's decided to roll out a kids combo meal pack in its thousands of stores in the late 1970s, it worked with two advertising companies. According to " Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia ," Bernstein-Rein devised a concept called the Happy Meal with the initial design of "Circus Wagon Happy Meal." Costing $1, it came in a cardboard box covered in puzzles, jokes, and stories and illustrations of Ronald and his McDonaldland friends. The box contained a burger (with or without cheese), a small order of fries, a small soft drink, a small bag of cookies, and one of five free toys: a stencil tool called a McDoodler, a McWrist wallet, a puzzle book, an identification bracelet, or an eraser. Meanwhile, the Stoltz Advertising Company designed the McDonaldland Fun-To-Go box. Honing in on the then-new concept of the McDonald's drive-thru, the Fun-To-Go box was all about driving and cars. Its toy was based on the video game "Space Invaders."

Bernstein-Rein test-marketed the Happy Meal in Kansas City, while Stoltz promoted the Fun-To-Go meal in St. Louis. The far more successful Happy Meal won and became a permanent part of the McDonald's menu. Within the first year, the Happy Meal would give away countless rubber balls, plastic jewelry, action figures, toy cars, and miniature flying discs.

The first Happy Meal promotion was for Star Trek

McDonald's has partnered with many movie studios and production companies over the decades for branded Happy Meals meant to get kids excited about blockbuster movies, popular TV shows, video games, toy lines, and other kid-centric forms of entertainment and commerce. While McDonald's most famously partnered with Disney in a $1 billion deal in 1996 (per the New York Times ), the very first time the fast good company used Happy Meals to promote a film was in 1979, with Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." The G-rated sci-fi epic and continuation of the short-lived cult 1960s TV series, "Star Trek" hit theaters in December 1979 and was promoted via McDonald's, which launched the Happy Meal earlier that year (via " Toys and American Culture: An Encyclopedia ").

Per the Star Trek website, the Star Trek Meal promotion involved six different boxes, each including a different comic book-style adaptation of a scene from the movie. Kids who got their hands on one of these early Happy Meals received a hamburger or cheeseburger, fries, a drink, a little bag of cookies, and a toy. These could be a "Star Trek" ring with a secret compartment, a mini-board game, an iron-on sheet, a bracelet, or a replica Video Communicator.

Parents were unhappy with the Batman Returns Happy Meal

The 1989 big-screen "Batman" movie brought in $251 million . When "Batman Returns" arrived in 1992, Warner once again pulled out all the promotional stops, even securing one of the most high-profile marketing opportunities available: teaming up with McDonald's for a series of tie-ins, including a Happy Meal featuring toys made up in the likenesses of characters from the movie.

According to Entertainment Weekly , some parents weren't pleased with the "Batman Returns" Happy Meals, as the concept of kid-oriented combo meals didn't quite mesh with the film's dark and violent content. Indeed, "Batman Returns" earned a PG-13 rating from the MPAA, what with its scenes of electrocution, clowns killing innocent people, kidnapping, and reprehensible villains like The Penguin. "It's fine to make 'Batman Returns' an adult film, but don't market it to kids," said Faith Daniels, who dedicated an episode of her talk show "A Closer Look" to the controversy. Religious and decency advocacy group the Dove Foundation publicly protested the McDonald's Happy Meal. "Parents trust McDonald's," a spokesperson said. "So why is McDonald's promoting a movie to little kids that's filled with gratuitous graphic violence?"

The outcry may have pushed director Tim Burton to walk away from the Batman franchise after two films. "I think I upset McDonald's," he told Yahoo! News . "[Company reps asked] 'What's that black stuff coming out of The Penguin's mouth? We can't sell Happy Meals with that!'"

The Happy Meal mascot was a little terrifying 

McDonald's is no stranger to character-based branding, what with its enduring "McDonaldland" cast of characters lead by Ronald McDonald. Many of those advertising mascots corresponded to particular menu items — Grimace loved shakes, the Hamburglar stole hamburgers, and Birdie was an "early bird" to promote the McDonald's breakfast menu. It wasn't until 2014 that McDonald's in the U.S. started using a character associated with the Happy Meal. That figure, per CNN , was Happy, a living, breathing Happy Meal box with cartoonishly long limbs and a couple of bulbous eyeballs.

Meant to be kid-friendly and fun, Happy was not immediately embraced as such. Within hours of McDonald's launching its Happy campaign, the internet savaged the 3-D creature that many found to be frightening, off-putting, and grotesque. "Happy is not for everyone," McDonald's senior director of U.S. marketing Julie Wenger said in response to the vicious public commentary. "He's about having fun. Really for kids and families" (via CNN).

You used to be able to get a Happy Meal on flights

One of the main reasons the Happy Meal exploded in popularity and has remained popular for more than 40 years is because of its convenience. It's a compactly packed and affordable boxed meal option for a hungry kid available in a matter of minutes at any of McDonald's 13,000-plus locations (per USA Today ). In the 1990s, it was possible for parents to get their kids a special treat of a Happy Meal in a place where food options were much more limited: on an airplane. 

In 1991, according to the Los Angeles Times , United Airlines partnered with McDonald's to serve Happy Meals to kids on flights heading in and out of Orlando, Florida, a family-friendly tourist destination home to Disney World. Happy Meals had to be ordered well in advance of the flight. The idea catered to the large population of kids on planes traveling to and from Orlando while also seeking to help right an air travel slump. United even installed special food carts on planes that kept hamburger patties warm. According to Click Americana , the Happy Meals didn't come with fries because they were difficult to keep hot and crispy. Kids got macaroni and cheese in those airborne Happy Meals instead. The promotion died down in 1993.

Why McDonald's includes QR codes on Happy Meals

Over the course of 2013, according to MarketingDive , McDonald's introduced QR codes to its packaging. What look like little black and white boxes filled with jagged, squiggly lines, unlock a digital experience — when a smartphone camera is pointed at a QR code, it takes the user to an app or website to provide extra information or entertainment. McDonald's initially brought out QR codes to link customers to dietary information, then embraced the technology for its Happy Meal. Kids or their parents could scan the QR code with a special McDonald's smartphone app that would provide games, activities, and interactive features used in conjunction with some Happy Meal toys.

Any number of apps can scan QR codes, but McDonald's designed the Happy Meal codes to work specifically with its smartphone software. This caused some problems in 2020. According to Promo Marketing , McDonald's ran a Happy Meal promotion for Disney's "Mickey & Minnie's Runaway Railway" theme park ride. The packaging utilized a QR code, which would take users to a contest entry page. But that's only if they used the McDonald's app — if they used any other QR reader, it wouldn't work at all.

In 2020, McDonald's offered Thank You Meals

Expanding upon the idea of combo meals bearing the names of passive feel-good emotions, McDonald's built on the idea of the Happy Meal in 2020 with the "Thank You Meal." According to USA Today , McDonald's wanted to publicly and meaningfully pay homage to first responders and front-line health care workers in the early, chaotic, and panicked days of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. And so, for a period of about two weeks from late April to early May 2020, any health care worker, paramedic, police officer, or firefighter could receive a meal at a participating McDonald's outlet in the U.S. The combo meals, available all day, came packed in a cardboard Happy Meal box to hopefully inspire happiness and smiles.

"We have been inspired by the way our franchisees have been going above and beyond to support their local communities throughout this trying time," Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald's USA said (via Restaurant News ). The program was such a hit that McDonald's revived the Thank You Meals in 2021 as a free giveaway for teachers, per USA Today .

Beanie Babies and Pokemon Happy Meals caused a sensation

McDonald's has enjoyed phenomenal Happy Meal sales over the past 40-odd years thanks to some tie-ins with already popular toy brands and franchises. But McDonald's embraced a cultural phenomenon in 1997 when it unveiled a specially produced line of Ty's Beanie Babies. According to Time , the Teenie Beanie Babies were a smaller, highly collectible version of the already small, and highly prized stuffed animals sought by toy aficionados and speculators in the late 1990s (per WBUR ). McDonald's sold an astounding 100 million Beanie Babies by year's end and brought back the promotion annually until 2000, by which time the fad had died down.

The only other time that McDonald's would reach such heights of consumer frenzy with Happy Meals came in 2021, when it launched a series of Pokémon-themed boxes and giveaways to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the multimedia franchise, according to Fast Company . A total of 50 cards featuring adorable fighting monsters were available only through Happy Meals, according to Polygon . So many adults descended on McDonald's outlets across the U.S. — some camping out, some buying armloads of meals and then throwing out the food just to keep the cards — that McDonald's corporate office recommended individual stores place a limit on Happy Meal purchases.

  • Consequence

The Rise and Fall of McDonald’s Happy Meals

Fast Food's most recognizable kids meal has a long and winding story

The Rise and Fall of McDonald’s Happy Meals

America is a country of simplified commercialism, and nothing illustrates that quite the way McDonald’s does. It’s been 76 years of golden arches that continue to glow. They popped up in every state as a beacon of affordable food, addicting french fries, and speedy meals. The fast-food chain swam overseas and began installing itself in countries that, on paper, hold entirely opposing views, like India with their religious restrictions on cow consumption or France and its dislike of fast food. America finds a way to work harder, faster, and longer than others; McDonald’s represents that with a smile. Yet out of all of the chain’s iconic creations, nothing holds a light to American culture quite like the Happy Meal, a last-minute addition to help lessen the difficulties of parenting.

Perhaps that’s the best place to start talking about the Happy Meal. Looking back, it seems like an obvious cash grab — create a miniature-sized meal to increase the number of customers with families — but McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal after a Guatemalan invention saw rising success. Forget about Dick Brams, the St. Louis marketing manager attributed as the “father of the Happy Meal.” During the mid-1970s, Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño created a “Menu Ronald” to help parents feed their children with less fuss. She packed a hamburger, small fries, and small sundae in a bag, minimizing the time parents spent picking their child’s meal or debating nutritional benefits at the counter. When the McDonald’s headquarters in Chicago heard word of Fernández de Cofiño’s invention, they asked Bob Bernstein, the founder and CEO of marketing agency Bernstein-Rein, whom McDonald’s partnered with, to figure out an American take on it.

At first, creating a children’s meal seemed easy. Like Fernández de Cofiño, Bernstein decided to focus on smaller meal portions. Children could choose between a hamburger, cheeseburger, or small serving of Chicken McNuggets for the main item; french fries or apple slices for a side item; and milk, soda, or juice for a drink. But Bernstein knew there was more to it than that.

Kids wanted a clear distinction between their food and their parents’ food. Bernstein decided to give them that. Shortly after being assigned the task of bringing the “Menu Ronald” to American audiences, Bernstein took note of his son’s habits at breakfast. Instead of staring at his cereal while eating it, he scanned the cereal box’s illustrations over and over, drawing a line through its mazes and reading the jokes characters told. Bernstein instructed his creative team to set to work on paperboard boxes modeled in the style of lunch pails. The restaurant’s iconic Golden Arches, he told them, had to be handles. The company asked nationally known children’s illustrators to design content for the sides of the boxes, eight items total, that incorporated jokes, games, comics, stories, or anything else that might capture a child’s imagination.

In October of 1977, he introduced the Happy Meal to Kansas City markets with a 600 calorie (!) burger and, by 1979, brought the menu item to McDonald’s restaurants nationwide. To tie it together, Bernstein chose to add toys to the Happy Meal. This was the late ’70s, though, so McDonald’s threw in items like a puzzle lock, a spinning top, or branded items such as the McDoodle stencil or the McWrist wallet. Branding is key. McDonald’s capitalized on it in every sense of the word, from the shape of the Happy Meal to the items they packed within it.

It wasn’t until December of 1979 that McDonald’s partnered with outside forms of entertainment, thus crossing brands and, in turn, entering a world of unlimited options. Throw up a Vulcan salute. The first Happy Meal to promote a movie rolled out in tandem with Star Trek: The Motion Picture . Dubbed the Star Trek Meal, it harnessed Star Trek imagery to reach out to die-hard fans, regardless of age, by creating games inspired by the movie as well as a comic adaptation of the film. In order to complete a set of the toys, consumers had to buy multiple meals. Cue the Happy Meal frenzy that birthed collectors of all levels.

The ultimate branding move is to appeal to children. By nature, the Happy Meal does that, but McDonald’s swift collaboration with major motion pictures, animated TV shows, and popular games lured consumers who would otherwise never venture into their restaurants to suddenly purchase one, if not multiple meals in hopes of feeding their own fandom. They figured out the key to success — and their carabiner already clinked with a dozen additional keys.

Happy Meal toys ushered in a new McDonald’s cult they never intended. Back in 1990, a group of 18 adults in Ohio created the McDonald’s Collectors Club. Founder Linda Gegorski had been collecting Happy Meal toys since the early ’80s and decided to host a convention for fellow collectors she met over the years. She rented the Fremont Holiday Inn ballroom, offered tables to 50 people who had subscribed to her two fast-food newsletters, and she saw dozens turn to hundreds as the years passed by. The volunteer-run fan group has “an appreciation for all things McDonald’s,” but their love ties back to the toys, some for the nostalgia of playing with them, others for the fun of reselling them online, all of whom get a high by discovering a rare, international version of a toy.

Who can blame them? There’s a lot to collect. Hoarding picked up in 1987, the year the first Disney Happy Meal debuted. Since then, people of all ages rushed to McDonald’s to get their fix of pop culture, a result of the McDonald’s marketing team staying on top of their game. Happy Meals have included nearly every major franchise figure: Barbie, Transformers, Mario, Furby, Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, Simba, Nemo, Legos, Star Wars, Teletubbies, G.I. Joe, Batman, and all 101 dalmations. But nothing sparked a craze like Ty’s Beanie Babies, the holy grail of ’90s obsession that saw Americans queuing in line daily. McDonald’s sold over 100 million Happy Meals in 1997, the first year they included Teenie Beanie Babies in the box, which saw a light bulb go off. For the following three years, McDonald’s sold Teenie Beanie Babies and offered them once again in 2004 and 2009. Commercialism at its smartest.

However, shelf life applies to Happy Meal toys and, potentially, Happy Meals themselves. In 2016, the McDonald’s Collectors Club shut down for good as membership dwindled from 500 members to 35 members. Over a decade later, the Teenie Beanie Babies people banked on can be purchased for less than the cost of a Happy Meal. If a group of collectors can’t keep the fandom alive, who can?

More worrisome is the increase in health bans applied to the Happy Meal. In September of 2002, the parents of two obese teenagers filed a lawsuit against McDonald’s for the influence their product had on their children’s weight gain and resulting health problems, citing the Happy Meal toys as an influence. The following September, McDonald’s tested a new variation of the Happy Meal labeled “Go Active”, which offered up a salad, exercise booklet, and pedometer in favor of the usual items, but it failed to catch on. Healthier solutions like the addition of low-fat milk and apple dippers in 2004 stuck around, and, wisely, McDonald’s agreed to market the Happy Meal by exclusively picturing Chicken McNuggets and apple slices in advertising. In the last two years, McDonald’s added clementines to the mix, showing an awareness that the Happy Meal needs to be healthier if they’re going to actively target kids by including toys, although it’s a bit late.

The Happy Meal’s trajectory slips downhill with each passing year. McDonald’s arranged for free Happy Meal coupons to be printed on report cards for students who earned good grades in 2007; they falsely advertised the chicken and apples Happy Meal as 375 calories when a study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest revealed 93% of those sold exceed 430 calories, and numerous adults bring the company to court each year for misleading advertising that baits children to eat there too frequently.

The Happy Meal’s biggest downfall came in 2010 when San Francisco’s board of supervisors voted to ban Happy Meals from being served until McDonald’s complies with their guidelines: all meals that come with a toy must pack fruit or vegetables, and the entire meal, including the drink, must contain fewer than 600 calories. Though McDonald’s circumvented the ban by charging 10 cents per toy, a Centers for Disease Control study in 2014 proved the ban was effective. Kids’ meals were healthier in San Francisco after the veto.

Is it time to say goodbye to the toys? Maybe so. If there’s anything the past has taught us, it’s that frowning upon kid-enticing strategies isn’t good enough when children’s health is at risk, and cuddly toys don’t lessen the fat content of a McDonald’s cheeseburger. In 2013, McDonald’s created the McPlay mobile app, allowing kids to scan QR codes on Happy Meal toys to unlock games, quizzes, and digital content. As children wrap their hands around tablets and smartphones at a younger age each year, companies learn how to cater to them, and their products remain in high demand as a result.

So cling to those childhood toys and relish in the ones McDonald’s still puts out today. With places like Jack in the Box discontinuing free toys in kids meals and Taco Bell phasing out their children’s menu entirely, the future of McDonald’s appears as one filled with QR codes on Happy Meal boxes. It’s easier to store, it’s friendlier to the environment, and, most importantly, it’s cheaper. After all, this is America, and if there’s a way to cash in on commercialized culture, we’ll find a way to make it happen, even if states phase out the selling of Happy Meals county by county.

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IMAGES

  1. Looking Back At The MCDONALD'S STAR TREK: TMP HAPPY MEAL

    star trek happy meal

  2. "Star Trek" Happy Meal

    star trek happy meal

  3. Plaid Stallions : Rambling and Reflections on '70s pop culture: Star

    star trek happy meal

  4. Fast Food in Space: Remembering McDonalds’ Star Trek Meals (1979

    star trek happy meal

  5. 1979 Star Trek Happy Meal Box With 2 Play Cards

    star trek happy meal

  6. Star Trek The Motion Picture RARE 1979 McDonalds Kids Happy Meal Box

    star trek happy meal

COMMENTS

  1. How Star Trek Created The Happy Meal

    How Star Trek Created The Happy Meal. Star Trek: The Motion Picture causes weird bouts of nostalgia. Fans experience the film in different milieus. However, kids in the Winter of 1979 will remember that first film changing their fast food tastes. Before the late 70's, kids eating at McDonald's were forced to eat off the adult menu.

  2. A Collector's Trek #7: The TMP Happy Meal Promotion

    A Collector's Trek #7: The TMP Happy Meal Promotion. By James Sawyer. In the most recent installment of A Collector's Trek, we examined some of the odder items released to promote Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This time around, we're going to take a look at perhaps the most pioneering bit of merchandising tied to the film.

  3. Fast Food in Space: Remembering McDonalds' Star Trek Meals (1979)

    In December of 1979, Star Trek: The Motion Picture premiered in movie theaters. The 40 million dollar+ film was heavily merchandised through toy companies such as Mego but also — surprisingly — via McDonalds. In particular, the fast food restaurant introduced a Star Trek -themed Happy Meal with delightful art from illustrator Ron Villani ...

  4. McDonald's Star Trek: The Motion Picture Happy Meal ...

    December 1979 TV spot for McDonald's Happy Meal tie-in to the 1979 movie. This is the first version featuring an actor in full Klingon attire. Uploaded for ...

  5. Star Trek Happy Meal

    The Star Trek Happy Meal, also known as the Star Trek Meal, was the first ever movie tie-in Happy Meal from McDonald's, ranging from December 1979 through February 1980. The tie-in was based on the movie, Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The meal came in five different box designs full of games and jokes, as well as a prize toy, which includes a walkie-talkie, a USS Enterprise ring, a set of ...

  6. The first McDonald's Happy Meal movie tie-in was the Star Trek Meal

    The American launch of the Happy Meal happened to coincide with a significant pop culture comeback — the return of the original Star Trek crew. After a failed attempt to create a sequel television series dubbed Star Trek II , much of the pre-production work was carried over into the cinematic debut of the Enterprise.

  7. Star Trek

    Star Trek - Klingon Happy Meal (1979) at McDonald's.

  8. McDonald's

    Here's a commercial for McDonald's Star Trek Happy Meal - a tie-in promotion for Star Trek: The Motion Picture."At participating McDonald's until February 2n...

  9. TBT: Trek Video Communicator from TMP Happy Meal

    McDonald's is celebrating Star Trek's 50th anniversary by dipping into their archives to share a very cool TBT.It's a video of the Star Trek Video Communicator that was included in the Star Trek: The Motion Picture-themed Happy Meal box that McDonald's provided to young patrons - and Trek fans, of course, back in 1979.. As detailed by a Collector's Trek guest blog that ran in 2012 ...

  10. McDonald's

    McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of fast food restaurants. In 1979 McDonald's ran promotional ads that tied in the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture with their Star Trek Meal. The offer was valid at participating McDonald's and lasted until February 1980 (or until supplies lasted). When the production of The Motion Picture ran into financial difficulties in February ...

  11. McDonald's Happy Meals from the Old Star Trek Movies

    1979 saw the revival of the Star Trek franchise with Star Trek: The Motion Picture.McDonald's was part of the marketing blitz. It tried to draw in kids by offering Happy Meals inspired by the movie and its fresh take on Star Trek.The box included a connect-the-dots game, corny jokes, and puzzles.

  12. H&I

    The first McDonald's Happy Meal movie tie-in was the Star Trek Meal. Four decades ago, a brilliant idea was born in Guatemala. Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño and her husband were running McDonald's restaurants when she created what she called the Menu Ronald. The bundled meal was targeted to kids and included a hamburger, small fries and small ...

  13. Star Wars Blue Milk and the wildest movie tie-in products

    The 1979 Happy Meal for Star Trek consisted of a ring with a secret compartment, a cardboard game, a bracelet communicator, and many fun illustrations. Deal News reports that this was the first ...

  14. Happy Meal

    A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979. ... The packaging used for the Star Trek Meal consisted of various images and games related to the film, as well as a comic strip adaptation of the film. Consumers had to buy numerous meals in order to complete the set.

  15. The History of the McDonald's Happy Meal

    Later that year, the company entered into its first Happy Meal licensing agreement, issuing a Happy Meal tie-in for the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Happy Meals have been a perpetual ...

  16. The 1979 Star Trek Happy Meal

    Today we take a look at the happy meal released in 1979 to promote Star Trek there were a few different boxes with a few different prices or toys inside here...

  17. Everything We Know About McDonald's Famous Happy Meal

    The first Happy Meal promotion was for Star Trek. Instagram. McDonald's has partnered with many movie studios and production companies over the decades for branded Happy Meals meant to get kids excited about blockbuster movies, popular TV shows, video games, toy lines, and other kid-centric forms of entertainment and commerce. ...

  18. McDonald's Star Trek meal / McDonald's Corporation

    Star Trek Happy Meal box with comic strip and games for children. Created / Published 1979. Headings - Star trek (Motion picture : 1979) - McDonald, Ronald (Fictitious character) ...

  19. The Rise and Fall of McDonald's Happy Meals

    Dubbed the Star Trek Meal, it harnessed Star Trek imagery to reach out to die-hard fans, regardless of age, by creating games inspired by the movie as well as a comic adaptation of the film. In order to complete a set of the toys, consumers had to buy multiple meals. Cue the Happy Meal frenzy that birthed collectors of all levels.

  20. Mc Donalds

    Mc Donalds - Happy Meal - Star Trek The Motion Picture - 1979

  21. star trek happy meal for sale

    Lot52 Star Trek McDonald's 1979 Happy Meal 4 boxes, 2 games, 1 iron on prize. $36.93. or Best Offer. +$16.67 shipping. from Canada.

  22. Star Trek: the Motion Picture (1979) Mcdonald's Happy Meal

    Directed and designed by Jeff Doud and David Moore for Sullivan & Associates. #startrek #mcdonalds #happymeal #startrekthemotionpicture #mcdonaldshappymeal #...

  23. The Happy Meal inventor says McDonald's didn't want it at first

    Later that year, McDonald's created a meal tied to the debut of "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" movie, the first of many Happy Meal promotional tie-ins to movies.

  24. 1980's McDonald's

    Star Trek Happy Meal Commercial from the early 1980's