As one of the world's biggest fast-food brands, McDonald’s boasts a net worth of $151.19 billion and operates almost 38,000 restaurants in 120 countries across the world. A staggering 1.2 billion Happy Meals are sold globally every year, each one containing a toy.
The chain isn't just selling food - it's selling the party feeling and of course the toys, in massive numbers. In fact, McDonald's has become the largest distributor of toys in the world - not bad for a fast food company!
© Sunshine / Alamy Stock Photo
When did Happy Meals start?
Happy Meals were launched in June 1979 and every meal was packaged in a red box emblazoned with the McDonald's logo and a yellow smiling face. Each meal contains a small toy, which is often part of a marketing campaign for an existing movie, television show or toy brand.
McDonald's credits the idea of Happy Meals to advertising executive Bob Bernstein. The first was a circus-themed Happy Meal, but the toys were pretty small by today's standards. Children would find a McDoodler stencil or a McWrist wallet in the box.
Toys in the second Happy Meal of 1979 were much more elaborate, as they were a promotion for Star Trek: The Motion Picture and included puzzles related to the film.
What are the most famous toys?
Fast forward to the late 1980s and Happy Meals were promoting the Disney franchise. In 1987, McDonald's released its first Disney Happy Meal, featuring characters from Cinderella and other cartoon classics.
Since then, there have been hundreds of Disney-inspired toys, including characters from The Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, Finding Nemo and many more.
Happy Meal toy mania hit its peak in 1996, with the Teenie Beanie Babies inspiring a massive collectable craze that lasted until 2000. An unopened set of Teenie Beanies fetched $75 on eBay and a McDonald's collectors' club was launched by enthusiast Linda Gegorski, meeting every year to sell and swap Happy Meal toys.
Are there any negative impacts?
In 2010, Happy Meals courted controversy when San Francisco politician Eric Mar suggested that putting a toy in a meal was marketing aimed at children - encouraging them to have poor nutrition and childhood obesity.
McDonald's has attempted to counter such claims over the years by making Happy Meals healthier, such as adding apple slices instead of French fries.
In recent years, a bigger concern has been the amount of plastic being used to produce 1.2 billion Happy Meal toys every year. Environmental campaigners claim the fast food chain is contributing to the world's plastic pollution problem.
Where do the toys come from?
The toys have been manufactured in factories in different parts of the world over the years. Up until 2016, three main companies were producing the toys. Creata Australia was the producer of more than 50% of the toys. This system had been in operation for around 30 years.
Today, much of the production is done in China, in modern factories, where the toys go through a stringent quality control procedure, including scrapping any that are believed to be a choking hazard. In the past 15 years, many of the toys have been manufactured using modern technology, such as 3D printers.
This enables the mass production of the final products. A multitude of 3D artists make a physical toy first to ensure it works before they use the computer to produce the 3D models.
How big a concern is plastic waste?
The issue of McDonald's creating more plastic waste was addressed by the environment minister, Thérèse Coffey, in 2018. She suggested they should stop giving away plastic toys in Happy Meals and replace them with mobile phone games instead.
The suggestion was made during a panel discussion at the Conservative Party Conference, when the environment minister described how it would be a "symbolic" change against plastic use.
Following Coffey's remarks in October 2018, McDonald’s responded that their plastic toys could be recycled. A spokesperson told the press that McDonald's Happy Meal toys provide "fun for children and families".
The fun doesn't end when the customers have finished playing in the restaurants, it continues for "many fun-filled hours" at home, according to the fast food giant. The spokesperson pointed out that when families had finished playing with the plastic toys, they could be recycled, so they weren't adding to the waste problem.
What do kids think?
Ironically, the very customer age-group that the Happy Meal is meant to attract is becoming more environmentally aware themselves. A letter from an eight-year-old boy about the effects of plastic on the planet made such an impact on McDonald's bosses that they wrote him a personal response.
Jacob Douglas, of Basildon, Essex, raised concerns that plastic is "affecting the world around us". He asked McDonald's: "Please can you stop putting toys in Happy Meals? I would be very happy."
He said plastic was "killing a lot of animals" and the fact the toys were made of plastic was adding to the problem. His mum, Kirsty, said her son had cared about environmental issues for some time. He loves animals and has been thinking about which companies can make a difference. He chose McDonald's because they're a huge company.
Responding directly to Jacob's letter, a McDonald's spokesperson said the fast food chain was "very impressed" by his passion for protecting the planet and said they too were "passionate about doing our bit to protect the environment" for future generations.
The response continued that McDonald's restaurants were places where families enjoyed going to dine. "Our Happy Meal is part of the enjoyment," the spokesperson added, but the chain was "looking at alternatives" that would make sure Happy Meals were still fun, "without causing damage to our environment".
Among the plans for new Happy Meal toys are board games, books and soft toys, reducing the number of hard plastic toys by 60%. McDonald's has also announced plans to stop using plastic lids on its McFlurry ice creams and to phase out single-use plastics from its salads.
An official company statement on McDonald's website explains that the crossed-out wheelie bin symbol on the Happy Meal toy or the toy packaging itself means it can be recycled and doesn't have to be thrown away as waste.
As a responsible company, Solent Plastics stocks a variety of recycling, recycled and recyclable products that can be used again and again.