Squishmallows Happy Meal® continued its musical adventure at McDonald’s US
Squishmallows have travelled to many different McDonald’s around the globe and completed one of their final stops in the US earlier this year! The Squishmallows Happy Meal® ran from December 26 to January 22, featuring fun-loving characters with their own unique music playlists.
The campaign contained twelve Squishmallows characters, including two US exclusive characters from McDonaldland, Grimace and the Hamburglar – each equipped with their own curated music playlist. Customers were invited to try and collect all plush toys in their region each with their own unique tags that provide insight into the toys’ personalities and music tastes. Customers could then scan the QR code from the box which directed them to happymeal.com and revealed the Squishmallows’ personalized playlists!
The Squishmallows Happy Meal® has taken the world by storm. We were excited to bring the program to our millions of fans in the US with fun new ways to collect and connect with the Squishmallows brand.
The Squishmallows US Happy Meal® was part of a global campaign which started in 2023, with Latin America concluding the adventure in February. Outside of the US, the digital campaign ran in Europe, Australia, and the APMEA regions. Different toy renditions were available in certain parts of the world, and playlists contained as many as three songs in countries where the digital elements were accesible.
To add to the Squishmallows fun, each US playlist contained two songs, courtesy of our licensing partner, Universal Music Group, who sourced the songs and secured their rights. Partnering with McDonald’s, tms was responsible for the digital activation of the campaign, and we created a digital mechanic using facial recognition technology to identify the Squishmallows and automatically direct customers to the appropriate playlist, allowing them to virtually jam out with their cuddly companions.
Seeing the globe’s reaction to the Happy Meal Squishmania and knowing the US market was eagerly awaiting the Happy Meal® x Squish drop really got the team excited to work on this program! Transforming the iconic red box into part of the Squish Squad made this brand collab feel complete for fans and ownable to Happy Meal. Such a fun and adorable program to work on!
To promote the campaign in store, tms designed and produced distinctive packaging elements. Our embedded brand identity and packaging design agency Boxer Brand Design created three different Happy Meal® boxes which all feature various Squishmallows motifs.
Another unique element we produced, outside of the actual plush toys, were opaque poly bags to hide the Squishmallows’ identities, creating an element of surprise and delight for customers once they opened their Happy Meal®. Lastly, we developed an extensive retail communications POP kit for the program including retail posters, merchandise inserts, activity sheets, and more!
Learn more about our previous Squishmallows Autumn and Squishmallows Halloween Happy Meal® campaigns on our website.