The Conflicting Origin Stories Behind the Iconic McDonald’s ‘Happy Meal’
Daven Hiskey of Today I Found Out looks at the conflicting origins of the iconic McDonald's Happy Meal", as there is no official information about the project available through the fast food restaurant.
While the history section of McDonald's corporate website clearly lists the dates of invention of some of their staples such as the Big Mac, the Egg McMuffin, the McFlurry, as well as the names and surnames of their creators, there is not one single mention of the Happy Meal here, let alone who invented it and when.
Essay author Arnaldo Teodorani found out that there was a great deal of conflicting information regarding which ad man came up with the idea, Dick Brahms of Burger Chef, an early McDonald's competitor or Bob Bernstein of the ad agency Bernstein-Rein.
Version one, Dick Brahms took the fun meal concept from one of McDonald's chief rivals in Burger Chef and then briefed Bob Bernstein to flesh out the concept and develop a prototype. Or version two, Bob received a generic brief to increase McDonald's appeal with the little ones and he independently came up with the Happy Meal concept by himself.
There was also a third contender, Yolanda Fernandez de Cofino (Dona Yoly), a Chilean-Guatemalan businesswomanwho owned and managed the very first McDonalds in Guatemala. Dona Yoly, as she was known began serving kid-sized meals with toys in a paper box (Menu de Ronald). This menu item later became known as Cajito Feliz" (happy little box) after a dictate from McDonald's corporate.
This is where Yolanda's account merges with Bob Bernstein's origin story as she recounted to Forbes Central America. Corporate leadership asked the advertising executive to optimize Yolanda's concept designing the packaging and devise a new name. That's how the menu de Ronald became the Happy Meal or Cajita Feliz in Spanish.
In other words, it appears that all three contenders had a hand in inventing the Happy Meal, and all three have been recognized by McDonald's as such. So the original question as to the inventor of The Happy Meal can be summed up very easily.
In 1973 one of McDonald's chief competitors Burger Chef launched the Fun Meal the following year Yolanda and Jose launched their own Ronald's menu in Guatemala utilizing a similar concept sometime between 1973 and 1977 Dick Brams took notice of the success of the fun meal and potentially Yolanda's success with a similar concept and planned to launch a competing children's menu during the same time span Bob Bernstein's ad agency was tasked with finding a solution for McDonald's waning popularity amongst children.