McDonald's Happy Meals are changing forever - and parents in Ireland will love it

The fast-food giant has been praised for the move

William Dunne Digital Journalist

13:42, 29 Jul 2020

Introducing the McDonald's veggie happy meal

Happy Meals at McDonald's have changed forever - and the move is sure to be a hit with parents.

From Wednesday morning, kids now have the option of choosing a book or a toy with their meal.

And the fast-food giant has committed to ditching hard plastic toys from next year.

McDonald's Ireland spokeswoman Michelle Graham-Clare said: "We have been committed to getting books in childrens hands for nearly a decade and are proud to have distributed thousands of books to children across Ireland.

"The Book or Toy initiative is another example of providing our Happy Meal families with even greater choice and what a choice to have!

[A Happy Meal is displayed for a photograph on a tray at a McDonald's]

A Happy Meal at a McDonald's(Image: Getty Images)

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"A brilliant story from some fantastic authors or a fun toy featuring some of their favourite film and TV characters."

The two books currently available - Scooby-Doo and the Haunted Castle and Scooby-Doo and the Werewolf - will rotate alongside the toy promotion.

Ms Grahan-Clare added: "This programme not only allows us to distribute even more books, but also supports our sustainability journey, giving families the ability to opt out of plastic toys.

"We are always working on our Happy Meal and from 2021, we will no longer give away hard plastic toys.

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"Were testing new packaging solutions for books and toys and constantly reviewing our Happy Meal gifts and menu to offer even greater choice to families."

McDonald's has also announced that it will donate 2,000 free childrens books to the St Vincent de Paul.

The charity's National President Kieran Stafford said: "This generous donation of 2,000 childrens books will greatly benefit so many children and families across the country.

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"This will help bring early learning and development benefits to children who might not normally have access to reading material.

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"Half of the donation will be going to our East region's WordPower initiative which to-date has provided books to around 3,500 children in Dublin, Kildare and Wicklow. This donation represents a great boost to the campaign."

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