The History Of The Beanie Babies And McDonald's Collab
NEWS
BY ALEXANDRIA WALTZ
Happy Meal Toys
By the '70s, McDonald's was brainstorming ways to create children’s meals. The Happy Meal launched in 1979, and unsurprisingly to today's consumers, included toys.
Themed as a circus train, McDonald's first Happy Meals gave guests an array of toy options, including a puzzle lock, wallet, stencil, and McDonaldland character erasers.
Beanie Babies
Beanie Babies exploded in the mid-1990s. Only about two years after their initial release, certain Beanie Babies were retired to create marketplace scarcity.
New characters were introduced in a wave-like approach, a strategy that created buzz around retirements and new merchandise. A huge collector market rose up around the toys.
Partnership
McDonald's approached Ty about integrating Beanie Babies into a Happy Meal promotion around 1996, aiming to elevate their toys to the status of collector items.
So that the partnership did not dilute the brand's value, the McDonald’s toys maintained distinct ties to core Beanie Babies characters. Thus, Teenie Beanies were born.
