Happy Meal
It has been requested that this article be rewritten and expanded to include more information.
A Happy Meal is a kids' 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 thing it is promoting and sometimes includes activities on it. The Mario franchise has had tie-in releases as early as Super Mario Bros. 3.
Promotions
Game-specific
Super Mario Bros. 3 (August 1990)
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 were included in a Happy Meal, each being specifically named and numbered:
- Mario - A figurine based on Raccoon Mario which bounces up if pushed down.
- Luigi - A figurine where Luigi sitting on a cloud and holding up a Starman. By pulling it back, user can move the toy around.
- Little Goomba - A Goomba figurine that hops when it is pressed down. It could be a Microgoomba toy due to the word "little" in its title and because ordinary Goombas cannot jump.
- Koopa Paratroopa - A toy of Paratroopa which is also capable of hopping.
There is a fifth toy of a Raccoon Mario, which was specifically designed for children younger than three. They were not packaged inside Happy Meals, and one could only be provided 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)
From July 4-31, 2014[2], 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)
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 franchise
Take the Mario Challenge (September 2006)
From September 1st through September 21st, 2006,[3] there was a Mario-themed promotion for Happy Meals and Mighty Kids Meals titled Take the Mario Challenge. The promotion encouraged kids to be active and play outdoors with their included toy, which included a paper slip with a "challenge" for them to complete. Six toys were released for the promotion, and two of them are each based on a certain Mario spinoff title.
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 Mario games.[3]
- "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 an A-major version of "Alpina Blue" from Yoshi's Story 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
A wave of eight Mario-themed toys were 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 stood in front of an archway
- A figure of Toad sat down
- A basic Yoshi figure
December 2016
A line of eight Mario figures were included in Happy Meals in China in December 2016.[4]
- 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 pull string
- A Toad figure that waves its arms up and down
- A Boo figure that was its tongue when pushed along
April–May 2017
A wave of eight Super Mario-branded toys were included in McDonald's Happy Meals in April through May 2017.
- A basic Mario figurine (makes a jumping sound when a button is pressed)
- Yoshi (able to extend and retract his tongue by pressing a button on his saddle)
- Bowser (plastic fire can be inserted into his mouth and ejected by pressing a button on his back)
- Peach with a background (Peach spins around as the toy moves)
- A Red Shell (can be moved similarly to a toy car)
- Luigi with a yellow Warp Pipe (Luigi 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)
July–August 2018
Nintendo released another wave of Super Mario-branded toys starting from July 30, 2018 through August 20, 2018.[5] One of eight toys were included in the Happy Meal:
- A Yoshi (roulette toy)
- A New Super Mario Bros. U-themed maze toy (has two sides)
- Mario (toy slot machine)
- Rubik's cube (with miniature cards, one is to rearrange the blocks to match up with the design, which includes a; brick block, a musical 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 Mario characters; purple having a Goomba, a Blooper, a Boo, a Bullet Bill, and Bowser; Blue having a POW Block; Red having Mario, a Toad, Luigi, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Peach; and Green having 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 (Yoshi can be inserted into a launcher and ejected, with a pik representing an egg and fruit acting as stoppers)
- Super Mario Bros.-themed pointer game (flicking the switch on the toy's base will have a Koopa shell being 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)
- A Mario and Cappy target game (twist Mario around to have him "throw" Cappy onto a target icon depicting Goombas and coins)
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
This section is referring to a subject in an upcoming or recently released promotion. When the promotion is released, or more information about this subject is found, this section may need major rewriting.
This notice should be removed after a month has passed since the promotion was first released.
A promotion with toys based on The Super Mario Bros. Movie was launched during the holiday season of 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 include:
- "Jumping Mario": Mario in a pipe. He jumps up when a button is pressed.
- "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.
- "Spinning Lumalee": A Lumalee that can spin around.
The following list shows the countries in which this line of toys was released, along with the start and end dates of the promotion for each country (where known):
| Country | Start date | End date | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | ⸺ | ⸺ | [6][7] |
| Brazil | ⸺ | ⸺ | [8] |
| Hong Kong | December 16, 2022 | ⸺a | [9][10] |
| Japan | December 23, 2022 | TBAb | [11] |
| Mexico | ⸺ | ⸺ | [12] |
| Saudi Arabia | ⸺ | ⸺ | [13][14] |
| Singapore | December 15, 2022 | January 11, 2023c | [15] |
| United States | ⸺ | ⸺ | [16] |
The other line of toys, first shown in a Portuguese commercial,[17] 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"[18]): Cranky Kong in a motorized tricycle.
- "Luigi Spinner": Luigi posing.
- "Mario & Luigi Van": Mario and Luigi's van. The kit comes with one-piece cut-outs of Mario and Luigi.
The following list shows the countries in which this line of toys was released, along with the start and end dates of the promotion for each country (where known):
| Country | Start date | End date | Reference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | ⸺ | ⸺ | [19] |
| Austria | December 15, 2022 | January 18, 2023 | [20] |
| Bulgaria | December 16, 2022 | January 26, 2023 | [21] |
| Germany | ⸺ | ⸺ | [18] |
| Greece | December 24, 2022 | ⸺ | [22] |
| Netherlands | December 8, 2022 | January 18, 2023 | [23] |
| New Zealand | ⸺ | ⸺ | [24] |
| Portugal | ⸺ | ⸺ | [25] |
| Romania | December 23, 2022 | February 2, 2023 | [26] |
| Slovenia | ⸺ | ⸺ | [27] |
| Switzerland | ⸺ | ⸺ | [28][29][30] |
Gallery
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Happy Meal.
Front of the Super Mario Bros. 3 display
Raccoon Mario suction jumping toy from 1990
Donkey Kong frisbee from 2006
Notes
a -
Flashlight Luigi and Toad Kart added on December 16, 2022
Jumping Mario and Spinning Peach added on December 23, 2022
Mario Kart and Fire Breathing Bowser added on December 30, 2022
Spinning Lumalee and Barrel Donkey Kong added on January 6, 2023
b -
December 23, 2022–December 29, 2022 for part one (Jumping Mario, Spinning Peach, Toad Kart, Barrel Donkey Kong)
December 30, 2022–January 5, 2023 for part two (Mario Kart, Flashlight Luigi, Fire Breathing Bowser, Spinning Lumalee)
January 6, 2023–TBA for part three (all the toys)
c -
December 15, 2022–December 21, 2022 for Flashlight Luigi and Jumping Mario
December 22, 2022–December 28, 2022 for Spinning Peach and Toad Kart
December 29, 2022–January 4, 2023 for Mario Kart and Spinning Lumalee
January 5, 2023–January 11, 2023 for Barrel Donkey Kong and Fire Breathing Bowser
External links
- A Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal commercial
- A second Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal commercial
- A third Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal commercial
- Commercial of the "Take the Mario Challenge" (2006)
References
- ^ Super Mario Bros. 3 Original McDonald’s Happy Meal Artwork - Nintendo Player
- ^ Look what's parked in your Happy Meal: Mario Kart 8 toys! - Nintendo.ca (Wayback Machine)
- ^ a b New Mario Toys at McDonald's - Nintendo World Report
- ^ Chinese webpage for the December 2016 promotion
- ^ Get a Super Mario Happy Meal toy with your McDonald's Happy Meal - Nintendo.com
- ^ ألعاب هابي ميل. mcdonalds.com (Bahrain, Arabic). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:32:45 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal Toys. mcdonalds.com (Bahrain, English). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:32:29 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Lançamentos. mcdonalds.com.br. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 21, 2022, 19:10:02 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal™. campaign.mcdonalds.com.hk (English). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:47:15 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ 開心樂園餐™. campaign.mcdonalds.com.hk (traditional Chinese). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:50:44 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ 今回のハッピーセット. mcdonalds.co.jp. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 19:50:47 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Cajita Feliz Juguete. mcdonalds.com.mx. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:29:16 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ ألعاب هابي ميل. mcdonalds.com (Saudi Arabia, Arabic). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:40:27 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal Toys. mcdonalds.com (Saudi Arabia, English). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:42:58 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal®. mcdonalds.com.sg. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:41:15 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ happymeal.com. Retrieved December 28, 2022.
- ^ LETS - A - GO 64 (December 12, 2022). The Super Mario Bros. Movie - McDonald’s Commercial ad. YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
- ^ a b Jetzt im Happy Meal®! mcdonalds.com (Germany). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 27, 2022, 17:05:24 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Toyzone. mcdonalds.com.au. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 15, 2022, 06:16:55 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal. mcdonalds.at. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:32:15 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal™. mcdonalds.bg. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 18:57:22 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal Toys. mcdonalds.gr. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 19:21:18 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal met een boekje of speeltje. mcdonalds.com (Netherlands). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 18:54:17 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ McDonald's Happy Meal. mcdonalds.co.nz. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 21:22:58 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Programa Happy Meal. mcdonalds.pt. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:05:33 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal. mcdonalds.ro. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 18:54:51 UTC via archive.today.)
- ^ Happy Meal. mcdonalds.si. Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:14:39 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Surprise Happy Meal®. mcdonalds.com (Switzerland, French). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:20:42 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Happy Meal® Überraschung. mcdonalds.com (Switzerland, German). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:18:45 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Sorpresa Happy Meal®. mcdonalds.com (Switzerland, Italian). Retrieved December 28, 2022. (Archived December 28, 2022, 20:23:34 UTC via Wayback Machine.)
