McDonald’s New Collector’s Meal Goes Straight for the Nostalgia Jugular
Perhaps when riffling through your parents’ or grandparents’ cupboards, you’ve come across some pretty distinctive glasses. They feature a scene printed across the entirety of the glass, almost always from a mainstream piece of pop culture—I myself just uncovered some Star Wars ones.
There’s a definite vibe from these glasses. And that vibe goes beyond the fact that they date from, at the latest, the 90s. I always surprise myself when I remember that they were from, of all places, McDonald’s. When was the last time McDonald’s did something this fun? And/or made something this durable?
As of August 7, 2024, McDonald’s changed that answer from “ages ago” to “right now.” The fast food company just announced a new Collector’s Meal. You can order a 10-piece McNugget, a Big Meal, or an Egg McMuffin meal, and it can now come with one of six collectible glasses. These glasses’ vibe is retro as hell. McDonald’s is playing the nostalgia card, and I resent them for winning on this one.
Six deeply, deeply nostalgic pulls
The Collector’s Meal comes with one of six glasses. The designs of the glasses are all new, but they’re also designed to harken back to days of old. Hell, various cups have years like “2002” and “2010” just on them, probably referencing specific tie-ins that normal plebeians like you and I have long forgotten.
However, the theming of the cups themselves is definitely recognizable. Of the six, the one that people are most losing their minds over is the Beanie Babies one. Yes, Beanie Babies. If you’re a child of the ’90s or early 2000s, you will remember pestering your guardians to take you to McDonald’s so that you could get one of the runs of Happy Meals that came with the Teeny Beanies. I loved the Teeny Beanies. We all did. Long live the Teeny Beanie!
Speaking of classic Happy Meals toys from the ’90s and early 2000s, another one of the six glasses is themed to Barbie and Hot Wheels. Back in the day, these Happy Meals used to be offered at the same time, with the very outdated gendered assumption that the girls only wanted Barbie and the boys only wanted Hot Wheels. Now, we’re smarter than that. We can have both, thank you.
Another one of the glasses features Hello Kitty and Peanuts. Yes, on the same glass—but on different sides of it, not co-mingling, unfortunately. And when we say “Peanuts” here, we really just mean “Snoopy.” This might seem like a weird coexistence, but having spent time in Japan, I’ve gotten incredibly used to seeing Hello Kitty and Snoopy inhabit spaces together. (Snoopy is huge in Japan.) Whoever designed this glass must have also been to a Kiddyland store in Tokyo.
There are three more glasses. There’s Coca-Cola one referencing specific collabs between McDonald’s and features the classic polar bear. We also have a Univeral/Dreamworks one which features Shrek, Jurassic Park, and Minions, with Jurassic Park being the obvious and hilarious one out. Lastly, there’s of course a McDonald’s themed one, which references classic McDonald’s giveaways of old like the Grimace Glass, Boo Buckets, and Funny Fry Friends.
When and how can you get them?
To get one of these glasses, simply go to your local McDonald’s and get a Collector’s Meal. Not every McDonald’s will have the glasses, so you might have to do some research. You can order the Collector’s Meal through the restaurant’s app, so that’s probably the easiest way to tell which locations have it and which don’t. Unless you want to drive by every McDonald’s in your area, but that sounds rather exhausting.
You have three different options for the meal itself: a 10-piece McNugget, a Big Mac, or—hooray!—an Egg McMuffin option which even comes with coffee instead of a soft drink. That means you can get the Collector’s Meal at any time of day.
Like a Happy Meal, it also seems like you won’t be able to pick which glass you get. I could be wrong about this, but none of the press releases specify, so it’s probably “Happy Meal rules.” But maybe you can ask nicely?
The Collector’s Meal releases at McDonald’s on August 13, 2024. One imagines that the glasses will be available as long as supplies last at each individual McDonald’s location. So if you really want one, be prompt! But also, of course, be civil—the ghost of the Rick and Morty Szechuan Sauce incident still hangs heavy.
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