"happy meal toys" news and stories

Yes, the nuggets taste fine, but let's face it: Most kids beg their parents for Happy Meals because they regard fast-food drive-throughs as drive-by toy stores. The city of San Francisco has already banned toys in fast-food meals, and now it looks as though New York City may follow suit.

Councilman Leroy Comrie, a coucilman from Queens, said "Prohibiting fast food restaurants from giving out toys with highly unhealthy meals will reduce the allure of such establishments for children while hopefully incentivizing the fast food industry to provide their customers with healthier and more nutritious options," reports the New York Post.

If you want to buy your kid a Happy Meal with Chicken McNuggets and fries in San Francisco, don't expect to find a toy inside.

A committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously voted, 3 - 0, to pass a proposed new rule banning toys from kids' meals unless they meet nutritional standards set by the board, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

In order to include toys, restaurants like McDonald's must limit the meals' sugar, sodium and fat content and include a half-cup of fruit and vegetables.

The legislation was put forth by board Supervisor Eric Mar as a "modest effort" to help curb childhood obesity, the Chronicle reported.

Photo: Breakmould, Flickr.

Fast food restaurants know where their bread is buttered -- with the kids! The chains have been using toys as little-kid bait for decades, and it's an effective tactic: Children have an adorable propensity for confusing junk for treasure, which is why kiddie meals can be the highlight of their day.

Most of these meals fall into two categories: interactive advertisements for recent blockbusters or beloved television shows, and lame.

We're focusing on the latter, those toys over the years that were uninspired, nonsensical, or just plain disappointing. Each of these so-called "collectibles" currently languishes in the corners of garages, the bottoms of landfills and in the remote, digital wastelands of eBay.