Written by: Ollie Kaplan
McDonald’s is once again partnering with Nintendo’s Mario franchise for its latest Happy Meal promotion, a set of 12 collectible character toys featuring the heroes and villains of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. Participating McDonald’s locations in the U.S. will start offering the new Super Mario Happy Meal toys to its-a-us, the Mario fans, on March 26, just days ahead of the film’s April 1 premiere.
Since introducing the Happy Meal in 1977, the company has used the beloved kids’ meal to create one of the most memorable collectible toy experiences for fans of all ages. Spanning 44,000+ locations across 100 countries, the company has transformed the Happy Meal into a marketing powerhouse — keeping the brand culturally relevant and unmistakably iconic worldwide.
With McDonald’s serving as an ambassador for American culture abroad and Nintendo serving as an ambassador for Japanese culture beyond its borders, collaborations between the two brands were inevitable. Thus, this isn’t McDonald’s first rodeo with the Super Mario franchise, with the two brands having collaborated multiple times: a Super Mario Bros. 3 Happy Meal in 1990, a “Take the Mario Challenge” set in 2006, and the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie tie-in. The 1990 set included just four toys — Raccoon Mario, a Goomba, a Koopa Paratroopa, and Luigi with a starman — making this latest 12-piece lineup the most expansive Mario Happy Meal yet.
The posable clip keychains — a change from the small plastic figures used in the 2023 Super Mario Bros. Movie Happy Meal tie-in promotion — cover Mario, Luigi (Frog Suit), Princess Peach, Rosalina, Bowser, Yoshi, Toad, Luma, and Birdo, plus two versions each of Mario (standard and Fire Flower) and Bowser Jr. (standard and Wonder form). Each collectible toy also comes with a themed display stand featuring a unique galactic background, so they can be displayed on your backpack or bookshelf.
In addition, every Happy Meal box includes a QR code linking to games and puzzles on HappyMeal.com featuring Mario and other characters from the film. This digital feature picks up where the collectible toys leave off, adding another layer of appeal for fans. In other words, this promo is so HOT that you might want to plan a trip through the McDonald’s drive-thru line the day that the new Super Mario Galaxy Movie Happy Meal toys hit your local McD’s.
The promotion has already launched in Brazil, where it also includes themed packaging and new menu items tied to the collaboration. Whether this time around brings the same regional variation as 2023 — when North America received plastic figures, and Europe got a cardboard build-your-own design — hasn’t been confirmed.
The toy launch coincides with McDonald’s planned April value menu push, featuring items priced at $3 or less and $4 breakfast meal deals — a dual effort to draw in both budget-conscious diners and Nintendo fans, while competitors like Burger King expand their own budget offerings.
Source: McDonald’s
