McDonald’s Releases ‘Happy Meal’ Boxes For Birds To Keep Winged Patrons Chirpy

By Mikelle Leow, 28 Sep 2020

Image courtesy of McDonald’s Finland

McDonald’s fare has been serving the peckish for generations. Over time, it has soared to meet the needs of bees via dedicated hotels and the world’s smallest Golden Arches outlet, and now, birds.

To cater to birds in search of nesting homes, McDonald’s Finland gave out Happy Meal-inspired bird box DIY sets to families who ordered the Happy Meals on Saturday 26 September.

According to NORDDDB, the ad agency behind the campaign, building and setting up nest boxes is a Finnish practice, and households often have one in their backyards. The kits were all snapped up in “only a couple of hours,” the agency said in a statement sent to DesignTAXI.

The makeshift Happy Meals don’t just serve as a source of comfort for small nesting birds, but they also protect them from predatorial species. Finland turns out to be an ideal country for these families to migrate to as they can find nesting spots all year round; nesting boxes are easily accessible, since they are permitted to be set up outside homes, in forests, and in recreational spaces.

The Happy Meal Bird Boxes were built by a small local business using Finnish hardwood, and can be easily assembled by the entire family, thanks to the accompanying parts and screws as well as instructions, which were also displayed on trayliners.

Plus, putting them together makes for a fun at-home activity for all family members. “McDonald’s is known as a family restaurant and especially after COVID-19, we wanted to give families something they could do together, while protecting our precious nature and wildlife at the same time,” explained Mats Nyström, Marketing Director for McDonald’s Finland.