The Untold Story Of The McDonalds Happy Meal
The Untold Story Of The McDonalds Happy Meal
In 1979 Jack Goldenberg knew McDonald’s was losing money the new Happy Meal promotion. Goldenberg was the Creative Director of Frankel & Co, one of McDonald’s 85 marketing and promotional agencies at that time.
The Happy meal wasn’t bringing in enough business. It was so unpopular it only ran in local markets for 6-12 weeks a year.
Despite its lack of success, McDonald’s executives still wanted to release it nationally.
The loudest objections to the release came from the top, the all-powerful founder of McDonald’s, Ray Kroc, or “Kroc” as he was more commonly known.
Kroc finally agreed to make the Happy Meal a national product if it would be delivered in a bag instead of a box.
Afterall, switching the Happy Meal from a box to a bag would save McDonald’s $300,000 a week or $15.5 million a year.
When it came time for Goldenberg’s team to create marketing materials for the Happy Meal, Jack refused to put it in a bag.
The battle for box over bag began. Kroc and Goldenberg went head to head.
“Kids collect boxes. they keep them on the shelves in their rooms,” Goldenberg said. “They don’t collect bags. Bags fall on the floor. Their moms pick them up and throw them away.”
Finally, Kroc agreed to keep the Happy Meals in boxes. And the search was on to find the right promotional partner.
Luckily, Coca-Cola was searching for a company to promote Star Trek The Motion Picture.
Coke offered the movie to McDonald’s as a tie-in with Happy Meals.
Soon, Jack’s creative team at Frankel & Co. began working on the Star Trek Happy Meal marketing campaign.
The first national Star Trek Happy Meal was such a success. Local McDonald’s ran out of Star Trek Happy Meal boxes and toys three weeks into the six-week promotion.
It wasn’t long before the Star Trek Happy Meal boxes and prizes were being traded on school playgrounds everywhere.
Merchandising movies on Happy Meal boxes revolutionized the fast-food industry. McDonald’s became the most popular fast-food restaurant among kids, a primary target audience.
In the end Goldenberg succeeded because he followed the Star Trek mantra. That mantra? “to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
About Jack Goldenberg: The Untold Story Of The McDonalds Happy Meal
Jack Goldenberg is a visionary marketer, Copywriter and Creative Director. He has launched some of America’s most iconic products including the Happy Meal, Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, Pop Rocks candy, and everything Rubik created after Rubik’s Cube. Three of the 32 Obama Watches he created for Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns are in the Smithsonian and the United Nations officially supported his early environmental efforts.