Why QSR Brands are Giving Up on the Era of Fast Food Toys

The era of receiving a Pokemon or Lion King toy with your Happy Meal may soon be a thing of the past—and with good reason. Faced with the growing public concern over single-use plastic, Burger King has vowed to stop giving away plastic toys with children’s meals in Britain and has encouraged customers to deposit old toys in collection bins at the chain’s locations there.

According to an article in the New York Times, “in December, the recycling firm Pentatonic will melt those orphaned action figures, then turn the raw material into playground equipment and reusable tray tables. Burger King plans to eliminate non-biodegradable toys from all its restaurants worldwide by 2025.”

For decades, fast-food toys have been synonymous with chains like McDonald’s and Burger King, operating as powerful marketing tools to bring children into the stores. Since the 1980s, McDonald’s and Burger King have resisted attempts to regulate the distribution of these plastic toys.

In 2010, legislators in San Francisco voted to prohibit fast-food restaurants from giving away toys with children’s meals that fell short of certain nutritional standards, arguing that the prizes promoted unhealthy eating. But McDonald’s got around the ban on giveaways by charging 10 cents for each toy.

Now, rising environmental concerns over plastic waste seem to be the kick in the pants these brands needed. In fact, in July, McDonald’s responded to a viral petition calling on it to cease distributing plastic toys to children in its Happy Meals by committing to exploring more sustainable giveaway options. In October, McDonald’s offered its British customers Happy Meals with a choice of a toy or a bag of fruit.

Plus, kids may not even be looking for physical toys anyway. In our technology-driven world, fast-food chains have grown increasingly focused on digital marketing tools, such as giving children scannable codes that can unlock games on branded apps.

Considering plastic pollution has become one of our planet’s most pressing environmental issues, these commitments are surely a step in the right direction.