McDonald’s will bring back Halloween Pails on October 18 – Orange County Register
McDonald’s will be serving Happy Meals in Halloween buckets starting October 18, the fast-food giant announced on Thursday, October 6.
Buckets replace the Happy Meal box while supplies last at participating restaurants.
Also called Halloween Buckets, the containers were launched in the 1980s but discontinued in 2016.
Thursday’s announcement follows weeks of fan anticipation and speculation on social media.
“We heard you loud and clear…if the spooky SZN doesn’t have McDonald’s Halloween Pails, then you don’t want it,” McDonald’s said in a press release.
The buckets will feature three characters introduced in 1986: McBoo, McPunk’n, and McGoblin. They come in orange, white, or lime green with Jack-o-Lantern faces on the sides.
According to the company, the buckets are made of plastic and are recyclable. In 2021, it announced an initiative to make sustainable Happy Meal toys from renewable or recycled materials, targeting a 90 percent reduction in fossil fuel-based plastics.
But many of the original buckets never made it to landfills. Earlier designs have become collector’s items. On eBay, the online auction, some 1986 buckets have bids in the $20-$30 range.
McDonald’s press release featured tips from TikTok on how to repurpose Halloween buckets as fashion accessories, planters or musical instruments. Content from influencers including Sidclusive, beatsbyblack, saracampz, themartinezcasita and laurdiy will go live on the social platform on Thursday.
Social media has played a role in recent fast food launches, fueling interest in new products and nostalgia for old brands.
The strategy of using TikTok to reach new audiences has been implemented by other restaurant chains in recent months, including El Pollo Loco and Denny’s. Taco Bell capitalized on social media nostalgia with its Mexican Pizza relaunch earlier this year. It’s repeating the move this week with a poll to decide which withdrawn menu item to bring back next.
McDonald’s tapped into nostalgia earlier this week with an adult Happy Meal called the Cactus Plant Flea Market Box, which comes with McDonaldland figurines along with a Big Mac or Chicken McNuggets combo.
“While the box is still a staple in the world of Happy Meals, there are certain things that parents remember and would like their child to experience. They remember the toys were better and the Happy Meal containers seasonal,” wrote Ashley Wehrli in a post on Moms.com, one of the many websites and news organizations trying to figure out what McDonald’s would be doing while the company was mom held.
Thursday’s announcement followed an Oct. 1 video announcing Boo Buckets on the McDonald’s Canada Twitter page. Even before this tweet, the news was an open secret thanks to intense internet interest.
One source that websites reached out to was Mark Vayntraub, an East Coast blogger known as Markie_devo, who has been featured in articles in the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post.
On October 1, he made posts on Facebook and Instagram predicting the buckets would return on October 18, citing an unnamed McDonald’s employee as his source.
“Once again I must disclose. McDonald’s has neither confirmed nor denied this,” the posts said.
Markie_devo also predicts Burger King will be releasing a Ghost Pepper Whopper and has posted a “preview” of Starbucks’ winter menu.
https://www.ocregister.com/2022/10/06/mcdonalds-will-bring-back-halloween-pails-on-oct-18/ McDonald’s will bring back Halloween Pails on October 18 – Orange County Register
