McDonald’s wants you to play with your food, or at least toys shaped like food.
After more than 25 years off the market, McDonald’s is reintroducing McNugget Buddies, the classic Happy Meal collectibles.
Starting on December 11, six new McNugget Buddy collectibles, each with their clothing and backstory, will be available at McDonald’s locations around the country. The toys are being re-released in collaboration with New York City-based artist Kerwin Frost, who helped redesign the mascots and designed a meal for fans to purchase.
Frost’s youth in Harlem inspired the new Buddies, and one of the toys is a tiny replica of the DJ, suitably called Kerwin Frost and equipped with a matching facial tattoo. Don Bernice, Uptown Moe, Waffutu, BRRRICK, and Darla are the other McNugget Buddies. Each toy comes with removable clothes.
One McNugget Buddy, fries, a soft drink, and your choice of 10-piece McNuggets or a Big Mac are included in the Kerwin Frost Box. Furthermore, merchandise from the collaboration will be available online beginning December 11, while supplies last.
McDonald’s enjoys bringing back former menu items and Happy Meal toys.
After the famous McRib—boneless pork slathered in barbecue sauce and topped with slivered onions and dill pickles on a hoagie-style bun—went on a “McRib Farewell Tour” last October, the fast food chain decided to bring the beloved menu item back for a limited time only this month at select locations.
In addition, McDonald’s reintroduced Boo Buckets for Halloween in October.
According to the fast food business, the Halloween-themed pails, which may subsequently be used for trick-or-treating, made their formal comeback in the middle of October. The festive buckets, which were initially presented in 1986, will be reintroduced in 2022 for the first time since 2016.
In one of the year’s most viral moments, McDonald’s celebrated Grimace, a large purple mascot launched in 1972, with a limited-time menu item.
Grimace’s 52nd birthday was commemorated with a Grimace’s Birthday Meal, which included a purple milkshake, a Big Mac or 10-piece chicken nuggets, and medium fries. However, the shake drew worldwide notice.
Grimace (who is actually a gigantic tastebud) was the face of the “Grimace Shake” fad on TikTok, where fans made little horror flicks criticizing the repercussions of drinking the new McDonald’s milkshake.
While the trend was probably not what McDonald’s had in mind when they introduced the shake, the firm went along with it. The fast food business published a close-up of the fuzzy mascot on Instagram two weeks after unveiling the special menu item. “Mee pretending I don’t see the grimace shake trend,” says the post.