McDonald's has now formed a new long-term partnership with entertainment giant the Walt Disney Company, to bring movie-themed Happy Meals based on Disney's properties in China.
The companies both announced their partnership at the annual McBanquet event Friday last week, while also revealing future tie-ups that will be beneficial to both parties and their respective products.
The promotional partnership between McDonald's China and Walt Disney will officially start this year and end in 2025. McDonald's will be offering different Happy Meal toys that will be based on Walt Disney's upcoming movies that will be released in China. Apart from China, the multi-year agreement will also be applied to the US market.
The release of McDonald's Happy Meal toys will coincide with the release of Disney's movies, essentially serving as a mutual marketing and advertising tool for both companies. The movies will include new releases from Walt Disney's movie-making subsidiaries, namely movies from Pixar Animations Studios, Disney Live-Action, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Lucasfilm, and Marvel Studios.
McDonald's China CEO Phyllis Cheung mentioned during the event late last week that the partnership should prove to be quite successful given Disney's strong presence in China. The executive explained that the alliance does offer both companies a lot of benefits in terms of ensuring the success of their respective products in the Chinese markets.
The first batch of Happy Meal free toys designed around Disney's animated characters will be rolled out in China on November 13. The toys will feature characters from Disney's upcoming movie, Frozen 2, which will be released in theaters on November 22.
The launch of the new toys will be part of the company's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Happy Meal. To commemorate the event, McDonald's announced that it will be upgrading its Happy Meals from a three-item menu to a four-item menu. The company plans to add more healthy options for the said meals, which will include fruit and vegetable items.
Apart from rolling out the new Happy Meal toys, McDonald's China also announced some big changes for the company itself. McDonald's officially revealed plans to open up a number of outlets in lower-tier cities around China. The company apparently wants to tap into more customers around the country and to spread its stores more widely throughout different provinces.
McDonald's first arrived in Mainland China in 1990, with its first store opened in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. This was then followed by the opening of the largest McDonald's store in the world in 1992, which opened in the heart of Beijing. In 2018, McDonald's mentioned that it had sold more than 27 million Happy Meals in China.
