The Happy Meal was McDonald’s children’s meal introduced nationally in the United States in 1979.
The meal combined a child-sized serving with a toy, creating a branded package aimed at families. It grew from regional experiments and was designed to make ordering for children simple while giving the restaurant a distinctive promotional product.
The Happy Meal became an important part of McDonald’s family branding. Toys were often tied to films, television programs, books, or McDonald’s characters, allowing the packaging and advertising to change regularly while keeping the recognizable red box or bag format.
The exact contents vary by country and over time, so “Happy Meal” does not identify one fixed menu. It is the name of the branded children’s format. The meal’s launch is also sometimes dated to 1978 because test markets existed before the 1979 national U.S. introduction.