Man who created Happy Meals looks back on 60 years in Kansas City
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - A Kansas City advertising agency is celebrating its 60th anniversary on November 1.
Bernstein Rein has had major clients over the years including Walmart and Blockbuster. However, it's best known for creating something a billion parents now purchase each year, the McDonald's Happy Meal.
Bob Bernstein says Kansas City's nine McDonald's franchises were struggling somewhat when his agency first landed them as a client in 1967.
"The first thing was to create children's marketing because McDonald's in my mind I thought it really appealed to children," the 86-year-old recalled, sitting in his Kansas City office filled with nostalgic McDonald's items.
So he started creating premium promotions. His first was a styrofoam plane dubbed the Flying Hamburger featuring Ronald McDonald in 1968. In 1970, he created the Happy Cup, McDonald's first national promotion followed by the Happy Plate, Happy Lid and Sippy Dipper Straw.
Some creations like the pencil puppet erasers, never really took off, but he has the current CEO of Bernstein Rein, his son Steve, to thank in part for a McDonald's menu staple for 45 years.
"I would read the same cereal box over and over again and it was true he was frustrated with me, he'd say, 'Don't you have something better to read,'" Steve Bernstein remembered from his childhood.
"I thought he wanted something to do, he's a bright kid. Why wouldn't other kids want to do the same? They want to have something to do while they are eating," Bob Bernstein explained.
That thought inspired the Happy Meal, which launched in Kansas City and three other test markets in 1977.
Bernstein says McDonald's wasn't originally sold on the concept. Bernstein still has eight of the nine original Happy Meal boxes that were created in his office.
"We took illustrators and said look, take a theme, do a theme and do ten items on each one to make sure that the kids have plenty to do," Bernstein said.
Original Happy Meals were sold nationwide beginning in 1979 and had a small Cracker Jack box-type toy. Television ads told customers Happy Meals would only be available for a limited time.
"When I came up with the idea I never dreamed that it would be what it is today," Bernstein detailed.
He'd sell the patent to McDonald's four years later for just $1. Of course, others within McDonald's Corporation helped the Happy Meal evolve to make the toy into the staple prize for generations.
Bernstein also added he makes no claims to have invented the concept of a kid's meal. But Bernstein is the one with a bronze Happy Meal in his office from the McDonald's Corporation in 1987. It reads, "Thank you for bringing the Happy Meal, a bold idea to the McDonald's system. Your insight and conviction truly has made McDonald's a fun place for children for the past 10 years."
"It is the greatest promotion in the history of promotions, a billion sold a year. So to see it go from a KC promotion to a worldwide promotion and permanently on the McDonald's menu, it's an incredible thing," Steve Bernstein said.
Bernstein Rein will welcome employees who have been a part of the company's 60-year history to their Kansas City offices on Friday, November 1 for a celebration between 5 p.m. and 9 p.m.