When it comes to nostalgia, McDonald’s customers sure love it.
The burger chain brought back Halloween buckets on Tuesday, which haven’t been offered in the US since 2016. Plastic buckets are decorated to look like ghosts, goblins, or jack-o’-lanterns (aka). McBoo, McGoblin and McPunk’n) began trending quickly among real-time Google searches on Tuesday.
But the appetite of these Halloween buckets is nothing compared to the latest McDonald’s MCD,
A collaboration with streetwear company Cactus Plant Flea Market, which launched a $12-$13 box (better known as a “grown-up happy meal”) and Happy Meals, a growing-adult food combo and collectible figurines.
They sold out quickly, and now some enterprising fast food enthusiasts are spoofing adult Happy Meal toys on online sales sites for thousands of dollars.
So what is an appeal? Nostalgia, nostalgia, nostalgia. “Everyone remembers their first Happy Meal as a kid… and the feeling when you dig in to see what’s inside and still can’t sit down,” McDonald’s said in a press release. “Now we’re reimagining that experience in a whole new way—this time for adults.”
Launching at McDonald’s on October 3, the limited-edition Cactus Plant Flea Market box fed the average customer’s inner child by offering a choice of a Big Mac or 10-piece chicken nuggets as an entree, fries and a soft drink. also features redesigned McDonald’s mascots such as Grimace, Hamburgler, and Birdie, as well as the new “Cactus Buddy!” number (yes, the exclamation mark is part of its name.)
Cactus Plant Flea Market boxes sold out in multiple locations the day they came out. Some McDonald’s employees took to Reddit and TikTok to share how upset they were no love it – it reminded me of a lot of Starbucks SBUX haters,
employees felt against the viral unicorn frappuccino in 2017.
Now, both the toys and the boxes have become nearly impossible to get – unless you want to cough up a lot of money. A medium-sized cactus plant flea market box costs about $12, a large box is closer to $13 — and one New Jersey mom noted that a Big Mac combo with fries and a drink in her area is under $10, so stock up basically spent $3 to make it. toy
But an eBay listing offering three Cactus Plant Flea Markets that are still unpackaged and collectable in their original packaging is asking $300,000.
Sold-out cactus plant flea market boxes, aka McDonald’s “adult happy meals,” are popping up on resale sites for thousands of dollars.
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Another listing marked as a “verified” post on the fashion marketplace Grailed reads, “Cactus Buddy!” Figure for an asking price of $39,999 (10% off the original $44,444 price tag).
Sold-out cactus plant flea market boxes, aka McDonald’s “adult happy meals,” are popping up on resale sites for thousands of dollars.
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But there are dozens of other listings on resale sites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace for individual toys and boxes in the more palatable $10-30 range, or for packs of four collectible figurines running $60-70.
McDonald’s was not immediately available for comment, but a representative told Axios that “the hype around the Cactus Plant Flea Market Box was so real that some of our restaurants sold out of the limited-edition experience.” They added, “We’ve been very pleased with the excitement we’ve seen.”
The official McDonald’s Twitter account also posted inquiries from disappointed potential customers who couldn’t purchase any of the adult Happy Meals, apologizing that it was only a limited-time offer.
Time will tell if more “adult happy meals” will be offered in the future. Clearly, there is a customer base hungry for more.
This is certainly not McDonald’s first viral sensation. The fast food giant also found success with its famous collaborations with K-Pop sensation BTS or singing diva Mariah Carey – which also sold out.