Happy Meal - Happy Meal Toy

Happy Meal Toy

The Happy Meal did not introduce the practice of providing small toys to children. In Canada, the promotion prior to the Happy Meal was called the "Treat of the Week," where a different toy was available free on request each week. This promotion continued after the Happy Meal was introduced in 1979.

Happy Meal toys have become increasingly elaborate in recent years. While initially they were little more than a cheap plastic trinket such as a Frisbee or ball, they have gradually been replaced with increasingly sophisticated toys, many of which are a tie-in to some existing toy line, TV show, or contemporary motion picture. Between the mid-1980s and 2006, this was usually a Disney movie (Disney movie themes had also been used earlier, but sporadically). However, Disney didn't renew the contract, wishing to use their characters to promote healthier foods.

On November 2, 2010, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a law requiring that children's meals sold in restaurants must meet certain nutritional standards before they could be sold with toys, to reduce triggering of childhood obesity. The law, urged in part by increase of childhood obesity in the United States, would allow toys to be included with children's meals that have less than 600 calories and less than 640 milligrams of sodium, contain fruits and vegetables, and include beverages without excessive fat or sugar. The Board overturned the veto of Mayor Gavin Newsom on November 23 to pass the law. The law has been ridiculed by many, including the satirical news program The Daily Show. McDonald's circumvented the ban by charging 10 cents for the toys.

A class-action lawsuit seeking to ban Happy Meal toys in California was filed in 2010. The suit was thrown out of court in April 2012.

In Chile, the Happy Meal, along with kids' meals at other fast food chains, will no longer give out free toys because a law had been passed declaring that children's meals in restaurants and junk food products should no longer give out free toys in a move to stop obesity in children.