McDonald’s New Offering Is So Close To Being the Adult Happy Meal We Crave

When you’re a kid, your greatest desire is to grow up and do adult things and be taken seriously. And yet, ironically, when you become an adult, you start yearning for the simple pleasures of childhood.

This nostalgia can take a number of forms, like revisiting the music you listened to as a kid or watching The Land Before Time and seeing if it holds up. Or it could take the form of wishing there was a version of McDonald’s famous Happy Meal catered to your adult-sized body. An “Adult Happy Meal,” if you will.

That’s why a lot of people got excited when, on August 7, 2024, McDonald’s announced the “Collector’s Meal.” On its face, it sounds a lot like an Adult Happy Meal: Buy a specific meal, and receive a fun goodie. In this case, that goodie is retro-looking glass inspired by those fun glasses McDonald’s used to release in the ’80s and ’90s. Because I’m sorry to say that the ’90s are now retro.

But a glass isn’t exactly a “toy.” So the Collector’s Meal isn’t an Adult Happy Meal, right?

Not really but kinda??

In 2022, for the first time ever, McDonald’s briefly introduced adult Happy Meals—toy and all. In November 2023, they followed up with the Kerwin Frost Box. That was effectively another adult Happy Meal—you ordered either a Big Mac or a 10-piece McNugget and got a fun box and toy. The McNugget Buddy toy and art were designed by creative director and DJ Kerwin Frost.

The Collector’s Meal isn’t a Happy Meal. At least, if the Happy Meal is defined by the fact that it comes in a fun box, it doesn’t make the cut. But it clearly stems from the Happy Meal ethos. The meals are even the same as the Kerwin Frost Box, with the addition of an Egg McMuffin option.

Most importantly, the Collector’s Meal does come with a little something extra—a glass instead of a toy. And when you’re an adult, sometimes a fun glass that you want but don’t really need feels like just as mischievous of an acquisition. Ah, adulthood.

The glasses are clearly aimed at the same demographic as the adult Happy Meals because they go straight for our ’90s nostalgia. There’s an entire Beanie Babies-themed one, dammit. Beanie Babies!! There are six options in total, which also include Hello Kitty & Peanuts, Barbie & Hot Wheels, and a retro McDonald’s one.

So the Collector’s Meal isn’t a Happy Meal if a Happy Meal is defined by the box. But it’s also not not a Happy Meal if a Happy Meal is defined by the inclusion of a fun item. What is a Happy Meal, really?