Happy Meals typically come with a choice of entree—burger or chicken nuggets—a french fry, a drink, and a toy. They’ve been around since 1979. However, a U.K.-based mother said it wasn’t until she was 32 years old that she discovered how these beloved Happy Meal boxes have a purpose far beyond just transporting meals and making children happy.
“32 years old and just finding out that Happy Meal boxes can be turned into a plate,” TikTok user Kirsty (@kirstyfoxx) wrote in the caption on her video.
She then demonstrates. She noticed horizontal perforations in the middle of the the box. She peels off that sliver of the Happy Meal box, turning it into two different pieces—the top half and bottom half. She then uses the bottom half as a makeshift tray. She dumps he food from the box into it.
“Am i the last person on the planet to notice this,” she asked in the caption of the video.
@kirstyfoxx Am i the last person on the planet to notice this 😂 #mumsoftiktok #mumtok #honestmotherhood #motherhood #2under2 #postpartum #mumlifebelike #toddler #relatable #relatablemum #toddlersoftiktok #mum #parentsoftiktok ♬ just a girl – autumnaudios
Kirsty’s video amassed 9.9 million views. Like Kirsty, this was news to some viewers.
“The way my almost 40 years old a$$ just grabbed my keys to go get a Happy Meal. Because I just gotta see this,” one viewer wrote.
“I worked there and I didn’t even know,” a second stated.
However, an alleged former McDonald’s worker claimed the Happy Meal boxes weren’t always designed like this.
“Was a manager at a McDonald’s for 8 years. This is something new, they haven’t always been like this,” they said.
Others said they tried it out themselves, to unhappy results.
“I’ll save some of you the trip because not all happy meal boxes do that,” one user remarked.
“Back to say; this DID not work. no place to even peel it apart must be certain boxes,” a second commented.
Did McDonald’s change its Happy Meal boxes?
Although it’s not confirmed whether the U.S. McDonald’s has changed its Happy Meal boxes, they do not have the adjustments needed to transform them into trays.
But the Happy Meal boxes in the U.K. do, in fact, have them. That design reportedly was introduced to the public in 2017.
However, Kirsty wasn’t the first mom to discover this. Another British mother, @mumlifemylife, went viral after filming herself trying out this hack. “Life hack, don’t forget to pull the tab on the Happy Meal box,” she wrote on her TikTok at the time.
McDonald’s is no stranger to experimentation, especially when it comes to these Happy Meals boxes. In 2016, the Sweden McDonald’s released Happy Meals boxes that could be transformed into virtual reality glasses.
The Daily Dot reached out to Kirsty via Instagram direct message and TikTok comment as well as to U.K. McDonald’s.
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