As if there’s not enough to be depressed about already, McDonald’s is now taking the “Happy” out of its Happy Meals. On Wednesday, TMZ reported that the U.K. division of the Big Mac purveyor chose to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week by removing the smile from its kids’ meal packaging and rebranding to the ominous, but simple: “The Meal.” This marketing move seems like it would probably amount to the polar opposite effect of turning that frown upside down; I would assume wiping that smile off your child’s box of nuggets might also wind up wiping the smile off their face, too.
The redesign comes from Leo Burnett UK and Ready 10 in an attempt to cater to the reported 48 percent of children across the pond who feel pressured to be happy all the time. To solve that problem, McDonald’s took it upon itself to distribute 2.5 million Unhappy Meals to more than a thousand locations across the U.K., accompanied by stickers that represent different emotions so kids can give “The Meal” whatever mood they’d like. Complacent Meal? Anxious Meal? Would you like a soda with that Feral Meal?
“We know how important it is to help stimulate open conversations about mental health in families,” said Louise Page, McDonald’s Head of Consumer Communications & Partnerships. “Through this change to our Happy Meal box, we hope many more families are encouraged to kickstart positive conversations around children’s emotions and wellbeing.”
While I’m not sure the collective mental health of an entire country’s kids is an advertising agency’s problem to fix — let alone McDonalds’ — it’s a nice gesture that surely hits home for some parents. Personally, I’ll be waiting for my fast food to return to its giddy self.
