As a late-Gen X kid, there are certain memories from early childhood that I feel are at the core of who I am as a now-nerdy adult. I vividly remember receiving C-3PO and Darth Vader action figures for Christmas at my aunt and uncle’s house. I remember which theater I was at when I saw E.T. and TRON. I remember playing Frogger for hours on my cousin’s Atari 2600. And I remember going gaga over one of my first Happy Meals from McDonald’s.
IN THE BEGINNING…
The Happy Meal was released nationwide in June 1979, after a few years in test markets like Kansas City, Denver, and Phoenix. The circus-themed meal cost $1.15 and included a burger, small fries, small soft drink, a bag of McDonaldland cookies, and – what all kids were really excited about – a McDonald’s-branded toy. However, it wouldn’t take long for the marketing minds at McDonald’s to realize that the Happy Meal could do more than just sell burgers and fries.
WHERE NO MEAL HAS GONE BEFORE
Just a few months later, in December of 1979, Paramount Pictures released Star Trek: The Motion Picture, based on the cult favorite TV show of the 1960s. To help promote the picture, McDonald’s partnered with Paramount to turn the Happy Meal into the Star Trek Meal. The food was the same, but the Happy Meal box was now completely covered in Star Trek artwork, puzzles, and games. In fact, the only hint of McDonald’s branding were the Golden Arches handle on the box and Ronald with his arms outstretched over the name of the meal.
Inside each of the six boxes – one released about every week of the campaign – kids would get a small Star Trek prize, like a plastic ring with an embossed picture of the U.S.S. Enterprise, a “Starfleet” board game, a glittery iron-on patch, or a bracelet featuring stickers of the crew.
Inside was also a miniature Star Trek Communicator that featured a hand-cranked comic strip roll with different outer space adventures.
There were even more comic adventures on the back of the box that told a continuing adventure based on the main plotline of the film. While the name of the writer has been lost to history, the artwork was created by Ron Villani, a freelance commercial artist who drew for publications like Playboy, Encyclopedia Britannica, and more. In the fourth comic, two of the crew members in the transporter disappear, presumably dying in the process of beaming aboard. Get a burger with a side of mortality!
Depending upon what market you lived in, the meal cost anywhere between $1.25 and $1.50 for a plain hamburger version. The promotion ran for five-and-a-half weeks, from Wednesday, December 26, 1979 until Sunday, February 3, 1980, and was supported by in-restaurant signage and 30-second television spots.
THE VULCAN VARIANT
In the TV commercial and in-store advertising, it says there are 5 boxes to collect. However, there were six boxes released. The fourth box released, which I call the very Star Trek episode-sounding “Vulcan Variant”, reuses elements from other boxes on every panel, including its namesake Mr. Spock portrait.
I’m not sure why the Vulcan Variant was added, but I have a feeling it was a last minute decision based on how it’s cobbled together. Maybe some wires got crossed between Paramount Pictures and McDonald’s corporate on how long the promotion would run and another week was added after the artwork had been commissioned, the commercials had been shot, and the in-store displays were already printed. Even friend of the blog and McDonald’s expert, Consumer Time Capsule, didn’t know why there was this discrepancy in the messaging. Maybe someone out there has an idea? Leave a comment if you know!
MY STAR TREK MEAL
I remember getting my Star Trek Meal one Sunday afternoon. My best friend’s family had a tradition of going to McDonald’s for lunch after church was over and I was often invited along. The Star Trek movie had just been released and I was excited to see it. Not because I was a big Trekkie at the age of 4, but I’d seen the trailer on TV and it reminded me of the spacey spectacle that was Star Wars, so I figured it would be just like that. But even if I hadn’t wanted to see the movie, the design of the Star Trek Meal box (it was Box #2, by the way) was far too cool to ignore.
While scarfing down our cheeseburgers and fries, my friend and I were reading the puzzles and games, trying to help each other figure out the solutions. Instead of throwing away the box when we were finished, we put our prize and communicator inside and carried them home. Sadly, I did eventually throw it all away, but I held onto the box for a while because it was just that cool. I’m fairly certain we went back more than once throughout the promotion, but it’s really that first time that I remember so well.
A few weeks later, I saw Star Trek: The Motion Picture with my parents and aunt and uncle. I was too short to sit in theater seats at the time, so the adults took turns letting me sit on their laps throughout the picture. I wound up falling asleep on my uncle’s lap. Needless to say, it didn’t live up to the space opera thrills of those in a galaxy far, far away. I tried watching it as an adult around a year ago and turned it off about 30 minutes in; maybe that movie just isn’t for me. That being said, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was on constant rotation for me in our Betamax tape collection, but that’s considered by most audiences to be a major step up in quality (it is an even-numbered Trek film after all…)
MY COLLECTION
A couple of years ago I began very selectively collecting vintage McDonald’s toys and ephemera. It started with my Astrosniks obsession and branched into the Changeables toys, then into collectible glasses and cups. I already had a couple of Astrosnik Happy Meal boxes, but was looking for more on eBay, when I came across people selling the Star Trek Meal boxes. While I do have memories of the meal, it was really the cultural significance of this being the first promotional tie-in Happy Meal that made me want to collect the boxes. As I’ve said before, I’m a patient eBay buyer, so it took me a while to get them all, but now I have a complete set. One eBay seller was even kind enough to throw in the Starfleet board game for free!
LEGACY
While I’ve never been a huge Star Trek fan (though I do appreciate some of the shows and movies), I’m happy I was able to add these boxes to my collection. The fact that they were the first tie-in Happy Meal feels pretty significant to me. Plus, I love the original artwork, from a time when McDonald’s wasn’t just handed a bunch of clipart from the owners of the intellectual property to copy + paste all over the box. Someone painted those portraits of the characters…they painted all of those sweeping front panels…and drew the back panel comics and side panel puzzles and games; it’s a level of craftsmanship we don’t see much in advertising anymore, so it should be celebrated.
But, ultimately, these make for good conversation pieces. Most “normies” have no idea that the Star Trek Meal even existed, let alone its cultural impact. If they’re the right age, they probably had Kermit on a skateboard, Slimer as a pencil topper, or Doc Brown in a dangerous, sparking DeLorean, and didn’t know that the Star Trek Meal is where it all began.
I’d like to give a big shout out to Consumer Time Capsule – pretty much THE expert on McDonald’s history – for his assistance in helping me put this post together.
