Last week, McDonalds re-released their Halloween Pails, small plastic buckets that come with a Happy Meal and can later be utilized for trick or treating. As a child of the 80’s and 90’s, it brought a smile to my face to see something that meant so much to me as a kid brought back for today’s youth. But then my view of Halloween Pails took a turn and I’ve been churning with this ever since.
Even prior to the official release of the Halloween Pails, social media and various retro bloggers began to get their hands on these plastic bins. I didn’t think too much of it, until I started seeing just how many grown adults had bought these Happy Meals. Pictures filled timelines full of people holding three or even five Boo Pails and showing them off to the world.
Besides becoming a bit annoying seeing basically the same picture over and over again, something inside me felt like this was wrong. As a child, I only had one Boo Pail. I remember the excitement of going to McDonalds and finally getting my hands on it. I used it for so many things over the years and it was by far the best item to ever come with a Happy Meal.
Then I remembered the disappointment I felt when I would go to McDonalds for a special event or toy, and they would be sold out. I remember the disappointment of seeing all my friends have something that I was just too unlucky not to get. And while I can accept that I’m sure children don’t all share in the same fads as I did thirty years ago, I couldn’t help but think maybe adults running out and buying Happy Meals isn’t right.
It’s one thing to go online and buy some old toy from thirty years ago that you loved, but it’s something else to actively buy multiples of children toys which could potentially rob children of the joy of experiencing it.
Maybe I’m overreacting and maybe McDonalds made plenty of Boo Pails to go around, but I haven’t been able to get this idea out of my head this week that what I witnessed was wrong. Then again, I know for a fact that McDonalds did send out free Halloween Pails to retro influencers and maybe getting adults to buy more Happy Meals is part of their business model.
I will say, watching the Halloween Pails release occur has made me think about a couple of things.
1. I’m going to be more specific about what I buy. Is this marketed for adults or are these for children?
2. I really need to stop looking at Instagram.
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