A Happy Meal is a kids' meal usually sold at the American fast food restaurant chain McDonald's since June 1979.

Enjoy an easy meal for kids when you order a Happy Meal® with options like a Hamburger or Chicken McNuggets®, complete with kids fries, apple slices, choice of beverage, and a Happy Meal toy!

1979. The Happy Meal was born! The box had a circus theme and came with fries, cookies, a soft drink, and a toy. The toys were “McDoodler” stencils, “McWrist” wallets, small bracelets, puzzles, erasers, or spinning tops.

They didn't immediately embrace it,” Bob Bernstein, an advertising executive who created the Happy Meal in the late 1970s, said in a video interview from his Kansas City office, which is decked out with Happy Meal memorabilia and original art.

The American fast-food restaurant chain McDonald's was founded in 1940 and has since grown to the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue.

Arguably, fast-food restaurants originated in the United States with White Castle in 1921. Today, American-founded fast-food chains such as McDonald's (est. 1940) and KFC (est. 1952) are multinational corporations with outlets across the globe.

The limited-edition meal box is a “grownup” version of the Happy Meals McDonald's target audience enjoyed as kids, complete with prizes and an illustrated box with the golden arches as handles. Meals include a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, fries and a drink.

Guatemala Hispanic Heritage: Happy meals migrated from Guatemala The McDonald's Happy Meal has become a childhood staple around the world, but few know the marketing idea began in Guatemala as "Ronald's menu." What happened: Jose Maria Cofiño and Yolanda Fernández de Cofiño founded the first McDonald's in Guatemala in 1974.

Hot Wheels (1983) Back in the early '80s, McDonald's teamed up with Hot Wheels to give out cars with their Happy Meals. The rarest of these toys are now worth several hundred dollars on the collectors' market, especially if they're in mint condition and in their original packaging.

McDonald's pledged to phase out its plastic Happy Meal Toys, but environmental experts say the company's real problem is its use of beef. McDonald's has pledged to phase out the use of fossil-fuel based plastics in its Happy Meal toys by 2025. The company intends to use more paper and recyclable plastics in its toys.

McDonald's Hamburger Happy Meal® includes a juicy McDonald's Hamburger with kid-sized World Famous Fries® and Apple Slices. Then pick a kid's drink: 1% Low Fat Milk Jug, Reduced Sugar* Low Fat Chocolate Milk, DASANI® Water, or Honest Kids® Appley Ever After® Organic Juice Drink.

Build Your Own Vegan Happy Meal Order the hamburger without the patty and add lettuce, tomato, and your choice of condiments and sauces. Swap the fries for sliced apples, and select water or juice in lieu of the milk.