Happy Meal
- “Ronald, Mario's mystery block makes him big!”
“And my magic box makes us lunch!” - —Grimace and Ronald McDonald respectively, Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal commercial
A Happy Meal is a children's meal sold at the American fast-food chain McDonald's. The Happy Meals usually have a tie-in promotion of a franchise with a toy relating to the promotion. The Happy Meal box is also designed after the property it is promoting and sometimes includes activities themed after it. The Super Mario franchise has had tie-in releases as early as Super Mario Bros. 3.
Promotions[edit]
Game-specific[edit]
Super Mario Bros. 3 (August 1990)[edit]
The Super Mario Bros. 3 promotion took place in August 1990, and it was Nintendo's first tie-in with a fast food restaurant.[1] One of four possible toys was included in a Happy Meal, each being specifically named and numbered:
- Mario – A figurine based on Raccoon Mario that bounces up if pushed down. It was modified from a 1989 retail toy that depicted Mario's normal form and had red overalls.[2]
- Luigi – A figurine of Luigi sitting on a cloud and holding up a Starman. By pulling it back, the user can move the toy around.
- Little Goomba – A Goomba figurine that hops when it is pressed down.
- Koopa Paratroopa – A toy of a Paratroopa that is also capable of hopping.
There is a fifth toy of Raccoon Mario, which was specifically designed for children younger than three. Toys of this type were not packaged inside Happy Meals, and one could be provided only if it was specifically requested for a child who was younger than three. Unlike the other toys, the Raccoon Mario toy is not numbered and is erroneously named "Super Mario" on the included paper slip.
Mario Kart 8 (July 2014)[edit]
From July 4 to July 31, 2014,[3] eight toys based on Mario Kart 8 were included in Happy Meals. Seven of them are racing figurines, and one is a plastic Mario Cap with the Mario Kart 8 logo on it. The figurines include sticker sheets for adding character logos and other details to the karts. The racing figurines include:
- Mario in the Standard Kart in anti-gravity mode.
- Luigi in the Mach 8 in anti-gravity mode.
- Bowser in the Mach 8.
- Toad in the Standard Kart in underwater mode.
- Princess Peach on the Standard Bike in anti-gravity mode.
- Donkey Kong in the Standard Kart in anti-gravity mode.
- Yoshi on the Standard Bike.
Mario Kart (March 2022)[edit]
From March 8, 2022, the seven figurines included within the Mario Kart 8 collection were rereleased but with a few changes. The toys are now branded with the standard Mario Kart logo rather than the Mario Kart 8 logo, and the plastic visor was replaced with an eighth figurine of Toadette in the Standard Kart in anti-gravity mode.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (September 2024)[edit]
The Mario Kart set was released for a third time in Australia on September 5, 2024, and in other countries starting in October 2024,[4] this time branded as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe specifically. The Peach and Yoshi figurines are now on the Standard Kart in anti-gravity mode and the Mach 8, respectively, instead of the Standard Bike, and Bowser's and Donkey Kong's karts had their tires changed to the Monster tires. This set also saw the addition of two figurines, being Gold Mario in the Gold Standard and Pink Gold Peach in the Standard Kart.[5]
Super Mario franchise[edit]
Take the Mario Challenge (September 2006)[edit]
A promotion themed after the Super Mario franchise for Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals titled Take the Mario Challenge took place from September 1 through September 21, 2006.[6] The challenge encouraged healthy and outdoor activity from children, especially with one of their six toys that included a challenge for them to complete. In addition to the toys, two promotional Adobe Flash games were also available: Jammin' With Mario and Mario's Driving Range.
The Take the Mario Challenge was promoted on the official Happy Meal website and on a television commercial. As a part of the promotion, the Happy Meal website hosted a contest where 100 random participants would win a Nintendo DS Lite included with two Super Mario games.[6]
- "Donkey Kong Banana Chaser" – A figurine of Donkey Kong capable of launching two circular objects
- "Yoshi Tag and Run Meter" – A figurine of Yoshi that plays a version of "Alpina Blue" from Yoshi's Story in A major if it comes in contact with another object, or if the saddle is pressed
- "Yoshi Pop and Catch" – A figurine of Yoshi that includes a miniature baseball intended to be caught in its mouth
- "Mario Throw and Catch" – A toy based on Mario Pinball Land that shows Mario winking in his pinball form
- "Mario Swing and Hit" – A toy modeled after Mario's Iron Hammer move from Mario Power Tennis
- "Donkey Kong Throw and Go Spinner" – A green frisbee with artwork of Donkey Kong centered on the spinning yellow plastic part
February–April 2014[edit]
A wave of eight Super Mario–themed toys was included in McDonald's Happy Meals in Europe between February and April 2014.
- A basic Luigi figure
- A basic Luigi figure in a different pose
- A figure of Mario with a Brick Block and Coin
- A figure of Mario in a Warp Pipe
- A figure of a Super Mushroom
- A figure of Princess Peach standing in front of an archway
- A figure of Toad sitting
- A basic Yoshi figure
December 2016[edit]
A line of eight Super Mario figures was included in Happy Meals in China in December 2016.[7]
- A Mario figure
- A Mario figure that jumps up to hit a ? Block and makes a Super Star appear
- A Princess Peach figure holding a parasol
- A Bowser figure in a Koopa Clown Car
- A Luigi figure on a cloud that spins around
- A sitting Yoshi figure with a Yoshi's Egg pullstring
- A Toad figure that waves its arms up and down
- A Boo figure that wags its tongue when pushed along
April–May 2017[edit]
A wave of eight Super Mario–branded toys was included in McDonald's Happy Meals in April through May 2017. In addition, a digital book titled Go! Mario and Friends was published on the McPlay app.
- A basic Mario figurine (makes a jumping sound when a button is pressed)
- Yoshi (able to extend and retract his tongue when a button on his saddle is pressed)
- Bowser (plastic fire can be inserted into his mouth and ejected by pressing a button on his back)
- Peach with a background (she spins around as the toy moves)
- A Red Shell (can be moved similarly to a toy car)
- Luigi with a yellow Warp Pipe (he can be inserted and ejected from the pipe)
- Invincible Mario (flicking the switch on the toy's base lights the toy up in a number of colors)
- A 1-Up Mushroom (makes the 1-Up sound from Super Mario 3D Land when a button is pressed)
In Canada, the Mario figure, Bowser and 1-Up Mushroom were replaced with 3 different toys:
- A Mario figure sitting on a Brick Block throne (Mario waves when you push a button on the back side)
- Piranha Plant (retracts in and out of a Warp Pipe using a manual switch)
- 2 Brick Blocks and a Question Block (can be combined to create various formations, a Super Star pops in and out of the Question Block via a manual switch)
July–August 2018[edit]
Nintendo released another wave of Super Mario–branded toys from July 30 through August 20, 2018.[8] One of eight toys was included in the Happy Meal:
- Yoshi Bingo Game, a roulette toy featuring Yoshi
- Dual World Maze Game, A New Super Mario Bros. U–themed maze toy (has two sides)
- Mario Power-Up Block, a toy slot machine featuring Mario
- Mario Puzzle Cube (With miniature cards, one is to rearrange the blocks to match up with the design, which includes a Brick Block, a Note Block, a ? Block, an Empty Block, and a purple, green, red, and blue block that features on each of their sides an icon based on Super Mario characters. The purple block has a Goomba, a Blooper, a Boo, a Bullet Bill, and Bowser; the blue block has a POW Block; the red block has Mario, a Toad, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Peach; and the green block has a Mushroom, a Fire Flower, a Yoshi's Egg, a Super Star, and a Koopa Shell.)
- Fire Luigi (comes with a cutout Goomba and Koopa Troopa, where the left arm acts as the firing mechanism to launch a disc representing the fireball)
- Running Yoshi (he can be inserted into a launcher and ejected, with a pick representing an egg and fruit acting as stoppers)
- Magnetic Mario Koopa Shell Kicker, a Super Mario Bros.–themed pointer game (flicking the switch on the toy's base causes a Koopa Shell to be launched and fall into any of the designated points, with the leftmost bit awarding 10 points, the middle being 50, and the rightmost bit awarding 100 points)
- Mario Cap Thrower, a Mario and Cappy target game (the user can twist Mario around to have him "throw" Cappy onto a target icon depicting Goombas and coins)
Some other toys were released in countries outside of the United States in this set,
- Koopa Shell Pinball, a mini pachinko game based off Super Mario Bros.
- Mario Goal Pole Climber, a Mario figure attached to a toy Goal Pole. The object of the game is to make Mario knock down the flag by pressing a red button on the base that will make him jump, the player with the least amount of button presses is the winner.
- Mario's Magnetic Adventure Game A magnetic marble maze game based off New Super Mario Bros. U
- Princess Peach's Spinning Game A Peach cutout on a blue box. The aim of the game is to spin Peach as fast as you can to fill up a meter.
- Princess Peach's Popping Game, A cutout of Peach in a plastic dome with 2 Warp Pipes and some plastic confetti shaped like various power-ups. The aim of the game is to pop all the confetti into the pipes using a switch that makes the confetti pop up.
August–September 2019[edit]
In Canada, Nintendo released a set of 10 different toys from August to September 2019.
- Mario Table Hockey, a Mario and Luigi air hockey set, with a red Koopa shell puck
- Pop-Up Yoshi, a Yoshi figure that attaches to a base. The aim is to press the buttons on the base, but one ot the buttons will pop Yoshi out of the base. The game is similar to Crocodile Dentist and Pop-Up Pirate.
- Mario Stacking Game, a balancing game containing a Mario figure on a wobbly base, a Brick Block, a Question Block and a Super Star. The aim of the game is to stack all the items onto Mario's hands without them falling over.
- Princess Peach Hoop Game, a Princess Peach figure that comes with a couple of flower-shaped hoops. The game is a ring-toss game.
- Super Mario Dominoes, paper dominoes that come in a plastic container featuring Mario, Luigi, Peach and Toad. The dominoes feature artwork of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Bowser, Yoshi and Wario
- Super Star Target Game, a game consisting of a green Koopa shell and a Question Block. The aim is to slide the Koopa shell across a flat surface and try and hit the Question Block. When the Question Block is hit, a Super Star pops out
- Super Mario Puzzle Cube, a marble maze cube featuring artwork from New Super Mario Bros. U and New Super Mario Bros. Wii
- Peach's Castle Race, a race game with Mario and Luigi. The goal is to push the buttons to see which brother will make it to the end first. A Goal Pole will raise when the first brother reaches the end.
- Mario Tic-Tac-Toe, a tic-tac-toe game featuring Mario and Peach icons.
- Super Mario Puzzle Toy, a 24-piece puzzle that comes in a Warp Pipe container featuring a Mario cutout that pops out via a manual switch. The front side has a group image of the Mario cast, while the back features the Mario Party: Star Rush artwork of Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Peach, Toad and Bowser against a brick wall.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie[edit]
A promotion with toys based on The Super Mario Bros. Movie was launched during the holidays in 2022, when the movie was originally set to release in theaters. The promotion saw two different lines of toys, each released in distinct countries.
One line consists of plastic figures that can perform various actions. These toys include:
- "Jumping Mario": Mario in a pipe. He jumps up when he is pressed down.
- "Mario Kart": Mario in a kart.
- "Flashlight Luigi": Luigi holding a flashlight. He shifts around when a button is pressed.
- "Toad Kart": Toad in a blue truck.
- "Spinning Peach": A Princess Peach figure that can spin around.
- "Barrel Donkey Kong": Donkey Kong holding a barrel. His arm is able to spin around by a gear on his back.
- "Fire Breathing Bowser": Bowser, who comes with a plastic flame that can be inserted in his mouth. A knob on his back can be used to turn the fire once the fire is inserted into his mouth.
- "Spinning Lumalee": A Lumalee that can spin around.
This line of toys was released mainly in the Americas and most of Asia. The following table shows countries in which this line of toys was released, along with the start and end dates of the promotion for each country (where known):
| Region | Start date | End date | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [9] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [10][11] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [12] | |
| January 5, 2023 | February 1, 2023 | [13][14] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [15] | |
| December 7, 2022 | January 11, 2023 | [16][17] | |
| December 13, 2022 | January 10, 2023 | [18] | |
| December 15, 2022 | January 11, 2023 | [19] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [20] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [21] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [22] | |
| December 16, 2022 | ⸺[A] | [23][24] | |
| December 23, 2022 | TBA[B] | [25] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [26][27] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [28][29] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [30] | |
| December 16, 2022 | ⸺[A] | [31] | |
| December 15, 2022 | January 18, 2023[C] | [32] | |
| December 13, 2022 | January 10, 2023 | [33] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [34] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [35][36][37] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [38][39][40] | |
| December 13, 2022 | January 2, 2023 | [41] | |
| December 23, 2022 | January 17, 2023 | [42] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [43][44] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [45][46] | |
| December 15, 2022 | January 11, 2023[D] | [47] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [48] | |
| December 16, 2022 | January 19, 2023 | [49][50] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [51] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [52][53] | |
| December 27, 2022 | January 24, 2023 | [54][55] | |
| December 15, 2022 | ⸺ | [56] |
The other line of toys consists of cardboard craft kits intended to be assembled into characters from the movie. These kits include:
- "Mario Spinner": Mario jumping.
- "Mario Kart": Mario in a kart.
- "Toad Spinner": Toad posing, with his frying pan raised.
- "Toad Kart": Toad in a truck.
- "Princess Peach Spinner": Princess Peach posing with her arms crossed.
- "Princess Peach Bike": Princess Peach in a bike.
- "Donkey Kong Spinner": Donkey Kong posing.
- "Donkey Kong Kart": Donkey Kong in a vehicle.
- "Bowser Spinner": Bowser posing.
- "Cranky Kong Kart" (also known in some countries as "Kranky Kart"[58]): Cranky Kong in a motorized tricycle.
- "Luigi Spinner": Luigi posing.
- "Mario & Luigi Van": Mario and Luigi's Super Mario Bros. Plumbing van. The kit comes with one-piece cut-outs of Mario and Luigi.
This line of toys was released in European and Oceanian countries. The following table shows these countries, along with the start and end dates of the promotion for each country (where known):
| Region | Start date | End date | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [59] | |
| December 15, 2022 | January 18, 2023 | [60] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [61][62][63] | |
| December 16, 2022 | January 26, 2023 | [64] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [65] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [66] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [58] | |
| December 24, 2022 | ⸺ | [67] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [68] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [69] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [70] | |
| December 8, 2022 | January 18, 2023 | [71] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [72] | |
| January 13, 2023 | ⸺ | [73] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [74] | |
| December 23, 2022 | February 2, 2023 | [75] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [76] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [77] | |
| January 20, 2023 | February 19, 2023 | [78] | |
| February 19, 2023 | March 1, 2023 | [79] | |
| ⸺ | ⸺ | [80][81][82] | |
| January 4, 2023 | February 7, 2023 | [83][84][85] |
Super Nintendo World (July 2024)[edit]
A line of toys titled Universal Studios Japan All Stars (ユニバーサル・スタジオ・ジャパン オールスターズ, Yunibāsaru Sutajio Japan Ōrusutāzu) was included in McDonald's Happy Set in Japan to promote the theme park in Osaka.[86] The first wave of six toys from July 12 to July 18, 2024, is themed around Super Nintendo World.[86] These toys include:
- "Let's Fly! Mario Kart" (こうらをとばそう!マリオカート): A toy of Mario in a kart promoting Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge. A button on the kart's side can be pressed to launch a green disk depicting a Green Shell.
- "Collect Eggs! Yoshi Bracelet" (タマゴをあつめよう!ヨッシーのブレスレット): A Yoshi-themed watch-like bracelet promoting Yoshi's Adventure. It can be shaken to move Yoshi's Eggs inside it into their corresponding colored rings.
- "Who will I meet? Peach Castle Roulette" (だれに会えるかな?ピーチ城のルーレット): A toy shaped like a tower of Peach's Castle. Pressing a button spins a cylinder with images of Super Mario characters and the castle's stained glass artwork of Peach.
- "Let's Jump into the Jungle! Donkey Kong's Mine Cart" (ジャングルへ飛び出そう!ドンキーコングのトロッコ): A toy of Donkey Kong in a Mine Cart promoting Mine-Cart Madness. It can be attached to an Arrow Barrel to launch it.
- "Peek into the Pipe and Go on an Adventure! Super Nintendo World" (土管をのぞいてぼうけん!スーパー・ニンテンドー・ワールド): A toy shaped like the entrance to Super Nintendo World featuring artwork of Luigi. Pictures of Super Nintendo World can be seen by looking into a lens, and they can be cycled between by pressing down the Super Nintendo World logo.
- "Cheerful! Chef Toad Ring Toss Kendama[E]" (陽気におりょうり!シェフキノピオのわなげけん玉): A ring and pin toy of Chef Toad with a Mushroom-shaped ring promoting Toadstool Cafe.
The Super Mario Galaxy Movie[edit]
A line of toys themed after The Super Mario Galaxy Movie was released starting from March 2026.[87][88] Said toys were previously leaked prior to announcement.[89] The Mario's Big Adventure book, originally published to promote the first film, was also included with the meal as an alternative to the toys and updated to insert material from the second film.[90] A website for the promotion (referred to as a "game") was also published, where the user can watch videos of the characters corresponding to each toy.[91] The following toys are included:
- A self-titled keychain of Bowser. Behind him is a red background.[92]
- "Princess Rosalina", a keychain of Rosalina. Behind her is a star shape.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of a Luma. Behind the Luma is a star shape.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Yoshi. Behind him is one of his eggs.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Bowser Jr. Behind him is a purple background.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Mario with his arms outstretched. Behind him is a background resembling outer space.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Fire Mario holding a fireball. Behind him is a Fire Flower.[93]
- A self-titled keychain of Princess Peach. Behind her is a star shape.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Toad wearing attire similar to that of Captain Toad. Behind him is a background showing multiple coins.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Frog Luigi. Behind him is an underwater location.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Wonder Bowser Jr. Behind him is a black background.[92]
- A self-titled keychain of Birdo. Similar to the Toad keychain, behind her is a background showing multiple coins.[93]
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Happy Meal.
