Situation: Parents were feeling stress about old Happy Meal Toys piling up. Kids didn’t want to part with their old toys. The brand wanted to improve the perception of our commitment to using our scale for good. The combination of these issues pushed us to pursue some way of implementing a recycling program to transform toys into trays and positively shift perception of the brand.

Brief: Make people feel better about McDonald’s social conscious and Happy Meal Toys environmental impact.

Objectives: Get significant number of parents & kids to participate in a toy return/recycle program within a 2-month window.

Kids love Happy Meal Toys. But as the toys pile up, parents stress out. McDonald’s Japan wanted to offer a way for kids to feel better about saying goodbye to their old toys while giving parents a chance to share an important lesson in sustainability. This is the story of how kids part with their old Happy Meal Toys but meet them again with a renewed smile! And help shape a positive feeling towards our brand while galvanizing the global network to start a recycling program in their region of the world.

Target audience: Parents & Kids

Approach: Leverage TVC, social & in-store merchandising to motivate kids, in partnership with their parents, to return old Happy Meal toys to the store

Implementation: Toy Collection Boxes & posters were placed in every restaurant. TV aired, Digital & Social. McDonald’s adopted leading-edge technology partner capable of recycling 100% of the toy.

Timeline: 2 month period (March 18-May 18)

Scale: Toy Collection Boxes were placed in nearly all 3000 restaurants enabling everyone across Japan access to the program.

Business Impact: In just two months, a staggering 1.2 million toys were collected and recycled, adopting leading-edge technology used only in Japan.

Response Rate: The toys kids returned transformed into over 100,000 smiling green trays!

Impressions: PR value in earned media amounted to ¥46,614,972 ($416,411).

Change in behavior: Surveys showed 81% of moms believe that McDonald’s is concerned about the environment. And 79% of them thought that McDonald’s contributes positively to the local community and society.

Consumer Awareness: Highest comprehension/awareness scores (50%/81%) of all seasonal programs. TVC scored highest source of awareness in 2018 (73%). In-store recycle box was the second biggest source of awareness for 2018.