McDonald's gives Happy Meal toys a sustainable makeover

Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma explains McDonald's latest effort to go green with Happy Meal toys.

Video transcript

AKIKO FUJITA: Well, from beverages to fast food, McDonald's giving Happy Meal toys a bit of a makeover in the name of sustainability. Let's bring in Yahoo Finance's Brooke DiPalma. And Brooke, we've all loved Happy Meal toys, right? We've all grown up with them. What kind of makeover are we talking about?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Akiko, it's a major makeover happening right now in the US. Rolling out is set in January. Now, this includes different uses of renewable recycled and certified materials. So one McDonald's executive is calling this a major undertaking. As you know, more than 1 billion toys are sold in over 100 countries.

And so in order to do this, McDonald's is working closely with their global supply chain partners to reduce virgin plastic by 90% by the year 2025. Now that's compared to when they started this initiative back in 2018, but with so many franchisees, this will come at nearly no cost for them. McDonald's is ready and they say franchisees as well as consumers are also ready to take this sustainable initiative. Meanwhile, in the UK, overseas, and in Ireland, this is currently underway, while in France, this is already complete.

The transition has already happened. There, they're seeing a 30% reduction in use of virgin plastic. That's compared to 2018 as well. And they say that this is really fostering the next generation who really wants these sustainable practices at major fast food chains, like McDonald's, and really, they care about protecting the planet and what they can do to help.

AKIKO FUJITA: So how are these toys going to look different with that twist in mind?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Akiko, just like you said, we all grew up with happy meals. It started back in 1979 and so it really has a long history. Some favorites were those teeny Beanie Babies or those Furbys, and so, McDonald's is taking a bit of a change here in order to introduce more sustainable practices and also sort of recreate the experience.

They're looking for more interactive toys that kids can do with families. And so they sent me some and I took a crack at them. So this is like a re-imagined Batman. You might have seen this in a plush toy in the past or perhaps a plastic figurine.

Now this is a completely sustainable cardboard that I actually had to build myself. And I'll be honest, I took some help from my friends as well to make it happen, so quite tricky. It says three years of age and under.

And in addition to that, here's a minion that actually boogies a bit. So they're certainly working with their companies that they introduce these toys with, like Disney, like Hasbro, and like Warner Brothers, to really re-imagine that experience and certainly engage consumers of all ages, including myself, to really build a more sustainable future. And they say that consumers ask for this, they want this and franchisees are ready to jump on.

AKIKO FUJITA: What is it made of, Brooke, the one that you just showed? You have to put that together, right?

BROOKE DIPALMA: Yep, so this actually just came with just the minion. It's made of recyclable, renewable materials and I actually to put it on the legs by myself. The arms they came with, but I had to put on this hair as well as his eye and mustache. And so it's certainly, as you can see, it dances, it's interactive, and I have to say, it really makes consumers think. It really allows them to engage while they're perhaps eating that Happy Meal, as opposed to that Beanie Baby that you just took home and played with.

AKIKO FUJITA: OK. A lot of people may go out to McDonald's now that they've watched this, Brooke. Brooke DiPalma bringing us that story. Thanks so much for that.