We Try McDonald's New Happy Meals for Adults

Need an excuse to swing by McDonald's? Lauren Drewes Daniels

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McDonald's has launched a new collectibles meal aimed at adults. Because kids are annoying, right?

For a limited time, McDonald's will have Collector's Meals — a standard chicken nugget or Big Mac meal — with one of six collectible cups, all of which are inspired by past collectibles. Remember Cowpoke McNuggets from 1988 (neither do we)? What about McDonald's Dragster of 1993? Nope. Did you snag a Hello Kitty Crew Keychain in 2000? If not, you can go back for a Hello Kitty cup.

The fast-food chain has struggled as of late. Second quarter sales at McDonald's were down 1% globally, the first drop since 2020 when the pandemic hit. Even though the $5 meal deal launched early this summer performed better than expected, customers' purse strings are tighter. The $5 promotion is expected to extend through August, but will customers splurge nearly twice the price for a nostaglic, yet cheap, plastic cup? We did, but only for the purpose of research.

click to enlarge

McDonald's

The six-cup lineup of nostalgic themes includes:

1. Barbie & Hot Wheels from Mattel
2. Beanie Babies (think Golden Arches Bear from '04)
3. Coca-Cola
4. Hello Kitty and Peanuts
5. Shrek, Jurassic Park and Minions
6. McDonald's Characters (The Grimace Glass, Book Buckets and Funny Fry Friends)

The Collector's Meal is available at stores now and comes in three meal options: a sausage McMuffin egg sandwich with hash browns and coffee during breakfast hours, and a 10-piece chicken McNuggets or a Big Mac with fries and a drink after breakfast hours.

Prices vary by location, but the meal with the cup rings up at around $11 in North Texas. The cups are about the size of a small drink and are plastic.