McDonald's Offers Adult Happy Meals, But There's A Catch

Many of us have fond childhood memories of McDonald's Happy Meals. With its iconic red and yellow packaging, the item has long been a staple of McDonald's menus around the world. And despite its initially confusing history, the Happy Meal continues to be part of the childhoods of many.

For a long time, adults that missed having a Happy Meal didn't have a really viable option other than trying to get away with ordering the item under the guise of having a kid waiting in the car. This issue was circumvented when McDonald's announced an adult version of Happy Meals in 2022, much to the elation of hungry, nostalgic customers. However, there is still a catch: These meals are only available for a limited time and in limited places.

Typically, adult Happy Meals are associated with some kind of promotion that runs for a set amount of time. For example, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the "Friends" TV show, McDonald's offered a limited-time adult Happy Meal featuring collectible figures of the characters. However, this special edition meal could only be found exclusively in Spain.

Like vegetarian and vegan Happy Meals, adult Happy Meals are unfortunately not available globally and finding one is kind of luck of the draw. When the Kerwin Frost Happy Meal came out in 2023, it was listed as available at participating McDonald's locations in the United States and select locations internationally. However, the lack of specificity meant not everyone could order the adult Happy Meal while it was offered.

In a way, this lack of clarity on where to snag adult Happy Meals is what has earned the concept so much success and why McDonald's keeps returning to the limited-edition releases time and time again. The limited availability combined with nostalgia has proved to be a resounding success for driving demand. Lines in drive thrus turned to chaos, toys from adult Happy Meals were found available for resale online for high prices, and McDonald's experienced a 37% increase in visits in 2022 when its Cactus Plant Flea Market boxes were made available (via Nation's Restaurant News). 

The toys in adult Happy Meals are also generally geared more toward adults' tastes, making the special version of the classic menu item even more successful. Collaborations between McDonald's and DJs, hip hop clothing companies, and '90s sitcoms have appealed greatly to fans and collectors alike. The size of adult Happy Meals are also expanded to include more food, such as 10 McNuggets instead of four or six, to suit bigger appetites.