McDonald’s erases the smile from its Happy Meal to talk about mental health in children

McDonald’s removes the smile from its Happy Meal boxes to raise awareness about children’s mental health.

If there is a characteristic element of McDonald’s, it is its packaging, and more specifically the Happy Meal packaging. This little box for the little ones has a printed smile as a symbol representing the happiness of the little ones.

Now, to raise awareness about mental health in children, McDonald’s has decided to eliminate the smile from its Happy Meals, which will be accompanied by stickers that show a wide range of emotions.

McDonald’s campaign on mental health: “The Meal”

“The Meal” is the title of the campaign in which McDonald’s erases the smile from its Happy Meal boxes. It was carried out by the agencies Ready 10 and Leo Burnett on the occasion of “Mental Health Awareness Week”, an event organized by the BBC Children In Need organization and the former Manchester United player Rio Ferdinand.

The McDonald’s commercial is narrated by Rio Ferdinand and shows different children talking about their emotions and how they feel at different times of the day or year. The piece is based on the conclusions of a report commissioned by the multinational. The results show that 48% of British children feel the obligation to be happy all the time; and 74% urge their children to stop feeling sad when they are.

Using a QR code on the new Happy Meal, you can access a site with resources to address mental health in children. Also, the boxes will come accompanied by different stickers expressing different emotions.

According to Louise Page, head of consumer communications & partnerships at McDonald’s in the United Kingdom: “With this change to our iconic Happy Meal, we hope that more families will be encouraged to have conversations about children’s emotions and well-being.”

For their part, Andrew Long and James Millers, executive creative directors at Leo, commented: “The Happy Meal is about bringing families together and to do so it is important that we are open when it comes to expressing our emotions. Using the McDonald’s children’s menu “We hope our campaign resonates with families and drives conversations about children’s mental health.”

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