McDonald’s Netflix Happy Meal Lands May 5: Twelve Toys, One Mystery, and a Lot of ’80s Nostalgia

The vines are what draw your attention when you first see the box. The kind of art direction you don’t typically associate with a cardboard container containing chicken nuggets and a juice box is dark, curling, and slightly menacing. However, that’s the image that McDonald‘s and Netflix have chosen for their most recent crossover, and it tells you nearly everything about the tone they’re aiming for. This isn’t a kid’s meal in the conventional sense. It’s a children’s meal dressed up as a Saturday-night binge.

The current Super Mario tie-in will be replaced by the Stranger Things: Tales From ’85 Happy Meal in about 13,000 American McDonald’s locations starting on May 5. Nestled between the events of seasons one and two, the animated spin-off it is promoting has been available for streaming since April 23. The Hawkins universe is currently in its afterlife phase, complete with Broadway productions, animated offshoots, and yes, fast-food collectibles, as the original live-action series concluded on New Year’s Eve of last year. Netflix seems to be adamant about preventing the Upside Down from quietly closing its doors.

One of twelve collectible character figures, an activity book, and a QR code that opens a digital game where players assist Dustin and the recently established Hawkins Investigators Club in battling monsters that have, according to the campaign’s haphazard internal logic, invaded McDonald’s itself are all included in each box. It’s a neat example of brand integration. The child eating fries in a booth becomes part of the legend, the monsters threaten the restaurant, and the meal becomes the rescue mission. It’s another matter entirely whether kids genuinely care about that framing or just want the toy.

Collectors are already circling the toy lineup. Only eight of the twelve figures—Eleven, Mike, Dustin, Lucas, Max, and Will—have been previewed by McDonald’s thus far. The remaining six are still being kept under wraps, which is precisely the kind of subtle mystery that raises resale prices before the meal’s value even declines. This is familiar to anyone who experienced the Beanie Baby era or, more recently, the Squishmallow rush. eBay listings will tell their own story by the middle of May.

Unusually, the rollout is spread out internationally. On April 28, it is first available in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and a few Latin American markets. Then, throughout May, waves travel across Europe, Asia, and the Pacific, with Korea waiting until August 27 and India arriving on June 1. It’s the kind of choreography that suggests how intricate these international tie-ins have grown, with distinct toy selections by geographical area, different show premiere dates in some markets, and presumably very different supply chains for plastic figurines. It’s difficult to ignore the amount of logistical work that goes into something that eventually fits in a paper bag as you watch it develop market by market.

Lately, McDonald’s has been actively pursuing these partnerships with Netflix. The Spicy Saja McMuffin and Derpy McFlurry from last month’s KPop Demon Hunters menu were already indicative of the direction this collaboration is taking. Even though the company doesn’t explicitly state it, there is a clear strategy in place. Cultural moments are necessary for streaming services. Fast-food restaurants require foot traffic. Both are largely satisfied by a glow-in-the-dark Demogorgon.

The Stranger Things meal might be seen as the pinnacle of this type of crossover, or it might just be a continuation of a longer trend. In any case, on May 5, a parent will pass a small cardboard box across a Formica table in a suburban area of Ohio, and a child will open it expecting plastic. Instead, they will receive a tiny fragment of Hawkins. A little strange. A little sentimental. Additionally, based on the initial online response, it was most likely sold out by the second week.