McScary, or Happy as McDonald’s knows him, is the new Happy Meal mascot hitting North America. The smiling anthropomorphized Happy Meal has been a staple of McDonald’s marketing in France since 2009, but he’s just now making it to the U.S. The thing is – North Americans find him to be a little terrifying.
On Monday, McDonald’s announced via Twitter that it was bringing Happy the serial killer Happy Meal to North America to encourage kids to eat healthy. Happy was unveiled alongside the announcement that McDonald’s would start offering Go-Gurt as a side in Happy Meals starting July 4.
As you might imagine, Happy didn’t receive a warm reception. There were many profanity laden responses to the original tweet with people wondering “what the hell” Happy was. Some even decided to “improve” the recently unveiled mascot to bring out its true nature:
ah @McDonalds pic.twitter.com/m2snysBs1e
— maxine (@sevendeadlywins) May 19, 2014
Now, McDonald’s is no stranger to botched social media campaigns. In 2012, the restaurant asked for consumers’ #McDStories, but only got stories of disgusting food and impoverished employees in return. It tried something similar a few months later to promote the Shamrock Shake and got a similar response.
After those two incidents, you would think McDonald’s would finally learn, and it did. Over on McDonald’s Twitter account, it’s obvious the company is just rolling with the response Happy has received thus far:
#CantStopSmiling about the #HappyMeal. pic.twitter.com/hTY6wl69SF
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) May 21, 2014
Meanwhile at Happy Headquarters… pic.twitter.com/ljcoUIb5PF
— McDonald's (@McDonalds) May 20, 2014
While it’s good to see McDonald’s finally learn how the Internet works, response to Happy is still divided:
@McDonalds aww, they don't look so bad here. Maybe the photo we all saw was just a bad angle. #teamhappy
— ART (@heyart) May 20, 2014
They've multiplied! RUN! RT @McDonalds: Meanwhile at Happy Headquarters… pic.twitter.com/JugNNx8IA9
— Sean C. (@2xAught7) May 20, 2014
THEYRE NSA AGENTS TOO? “@McDonalds: Meanwhile at Happy Headquarters… pic.twitter.com/XDV7riOTq6”
— Scott Sandler (@DigiRanger1994) May 20, 2014
Fantastic response to negative adoption early on! RT @McDonalds: Meanwhile at Happy Headquarters… pic.twitter.com/HCuKLcfdC1
— Amanda Burr (@DesigningMommy) May 20, 2014
Despite how you may feel about Happy, he’s not going anywhere. We can only hope our TV ads are as terrifying (and hilarious) as they are in France:
Image via McDonald’s/Twitter