The Happy Meal became synonymous with suburban childhoods, as well as integrated, synergistic ecosystems of intellectual property tent poles spread across robust platforms. He also worked on the slapstick, surreal McDonaldland commercials of the s that featured Ronald, Mayor McCheese and friends.
McDonaldland ads were kind of fantasy stories with a hamburger, but Happy Meal ads were about making certain that kids understood all about a promotional tie-in. Controversies concerning the Happy Meal — food fights, frankly — were apparent from the start. Still, the majority of controversies centered on nutritional value. It was a big deal for them. Collectors became friends with toy designers, traded Happy Meal prototypes. The fries are even smaller than a normal order of small fries.
Christopher J. Bryan, an assistant professor of behavioral science at the University of Chicago — who recently co-authored a study to help kids avoid fast food — sees these changes as half-measures.
He is not impressed. Ask those who contributed to the early days of the Happy Meal if they feel any guilt about the Happy Meal, and generally they say that fast-food nutrition and marketing was less of a concern in And it all adds value and makes that Happy Meal more important to a kid.
Skip to content. All of the above? We could celebrate Happy Meals:. We could also bemoan Happy Meals:. Who created the Happy Meal? Or just honest. So I got a lot of Happy Meals, and I got chubby.
Shamrock Shakes, started in Connecticut. Big Macs, in Pittsburgh. Filet-O-Fish, in Cincinnati. Still, Bernstein perfected the idea, Schrage said. The second was the suppliers. The third was the employees. He believed that all three aspects need to be strong and work together in order to achieve success.
In , someone invented the Happy Meal. But exactly who that person is depends on which story you hear. Louis area. He invented the Happy Meal simply because he wanted to make a meal just for kids. Brams figured that kids would love the idea of having a meal just for them which was different than what their parents had.
The second version of the story is a bit more complicated. A restauranteur named Yolanda Fernandez de Cofino created small meals for parents to quickly and easily give to their children. She packed a small bag with a hamburger, small fries and a small sundae. Parents could pick up the meal and take it to go. Bernstein created the basics for the Happy Meal fairly quickly. The meals would include a hamburger or cheeseburger, a small order of fries, a cookie and a small drink.
But he also needed to create a box. Just like the food remained the same in each restaurant, the presentation needed to be consistent, too. Bernstein found inspiration from his son. Because it was a cereal for kids, the box had a variety of illustrations, jokes, mazes and games. Bernstein decided the Happy Meals should emulate this general idea.
The basic design of the first Happy Mail was based on a lunch pail. It included a calorie burger, fries, cookies and a soft drink. Two years later, the Happy Meal was introduced nationwide. While these early toys were popular, even bigger successes were just around the corner….
Photo by frankieleon via CC BY 2. Called the Star Trek Meal, it was marketed to both children and adults. Included with the meal was a comic book adaptation of the film as well as one toy. However, there were actually several possible toys available. Collectors bought multiple Happy Meals in order to complete the toy set. The Star Trek Meal was an unexpected and massive success. Each box, which had a circus wagon theme, came with a hamburger or cheeseburger, fries, cookies, and a soft drink.
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. A kid might order a Big Mac not knowing it was a substantial burger. 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. Naturally, Burger Chef had a different interpretation.
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?
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