This follows new research commissioned by McDonald’s which reveals that almost half of UK children feel like they must be happy all the time, even if they do not want to be. The limited-edition Happy Meal boxes have been designed to encourage parents to talk to their children about how they are feeling.
Available alongside the meal boxes are sheets of stickers that showcase an array of emotions that children experience, enabling children to illustrate their feelings directly onto the boxes themselves. The boxes will be available nationwide in all McDonald’s restaurants, with the stickers available in select locations from Monday, May 13 until Sunday, May 19.
McDonald’s is working with BBC Children in Need to provide families with access to a dedicated hub of resources designed to encourage candid conversations on emotional well-being with children, in collaboration with the charity’s Mental Health Awareness Week campaign shining a light on the emotional weight children and young people across the UK carry. The hub will be available to access via a QR code on the Happy Meal boxes, as well as via the McDonald’s website and social media channels.
Football legend and father-of-five, Rio Ferdinand, has teamed up with McDonald’s to support the campaign. He is drawing on his own personal parenting experiences to highlight to parents and families the reasons why it is so important to have conversations about emotional well-being with your children.
Rio said: “I’ve experienced first-hand with my own children how good communication and encouraging kids to embrace how they truly feel can build trust and help to manage emotions – no matter how big or small.
