The Cactus Plant Flea Market Boxes, better known as for McDonald's in 2022. The has sent the internet into a frenzy multiple years in a row. And nostalgic customers were roped in by the in 2023.
It's fair to say McDonald's knows how to pull in customers with Happy Meal toy memories. The chain's marketing strategy is something , but long before the Golden Arches found its secret formula for instant campaign success — a combination of celebrity and nostalgia — there was Burger Chef. Burger Chef was a fast food chain founded in the mid-1950s which ran its course until the early 1980s, when it was sold off to Hardee's and eventually shuttered.
Long before that sale, though, Burger Chef had the Fun Meal. The Fun Meal was first introduced in 1973 and consisted of a burger, a dessert, and a toy. The toys included items like yo-yos, and the Fun Meal also brought about the creation of characters, like a magician called Burgerini and a vampire named Count Fangburger.
For millennials like myself, fast food-themed cartoon characters might sound a lot like ripoffs of the McDonaldland classic characters we know and love. But, alas, it's Burger Chef's creations that are the true OGs. Burger Chef started it all When you drill down into the history of fast food, Burger Chef's Fun Meal predates McDonald's iconic Happy Meal by six years.
Although the Fun Meal was the first to pair food with a toy for kids, the key difference is that it did not come in a special branded box as the Happy Meal.
