3 ms·

I'm confused -- do kids actually clamor specifically for the McDonald's toys? Aren't there better and cheaper toys out there?

by veyron 15y ago

bkudria 15y ago
Kids.
TomOfTTB 15y ago
The last numbers I know of are from 2003 but in 2003 Happy Meals accounted for about 20% of McDonalds Sales (Link found through Quick Google Search: http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/09/03/the-stealth-toy-giant.aspx http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/09/03/the-steal...) Apparently they distributed over 1.5 Billion toys in 2009 (Lftqgs: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_gives_away_over_15_billion.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_g...) So I'd say yes
byoung2 15y ago
I was in McDonald's a few weeks ago and heard a parent say "we've been to 3 locations looking for this toy!" Apparently some kids want them bad enough to force their parents to go to extremes to get them.
- rexf 15y ago
  Reminds me of Beanie Babies in the late 90's
  - veyron 15y ago
    McD made a boatload from a teeny beanie babies promotion: "Estimates suggest that McDonald's made $250 million of sales on Teenie Beanie Baby Happy Meals during this promotion." Link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_gives_away_over_15_billion_pg2.html?cat=3 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_g...
- kstenerud 15y ago
  What ever happened to "no"?
  - ams6110 15y ago
    Maybe the kid brought home an all "A" report card and the parent wanted to do something nice. Or not. Probably not. But I've been known to reward my kids with something they want if they have done something deserving a reward.
    - veyron 15y ago
      "I've been known to reward my kids with something they want" <-- if your kids asked you specifically for a mcdonalds toy, would you oblige?
joelhooks 15y ago
My first two kids did. We stopped feeding them fast food and it stopped. The younger two clamor for carrot sticks ;)
moe 15y ago
Kids are a delicious target audience. The churn-rate is largely irrelevant because there's infinite supply of new little idiots.
- aMoniker 15y ago
  s/Kids/Humans
colanderman 15y ago
"Aren't there better and cheaper toys out there?" I'm gonna guess you haven't spent much time around kids ;) How much a kid wants a toy is directly proportional both to how well it is marketed, and to how much their peers want it (which, since their "peers" appear in ads for the products, is really just a proxy for how well it's marketed). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs#Popularity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs#Popularity and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_babies#Marketing_strategies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_babies#Marketing_strateg...
- veyron 15y ago
  How does Lego do marketing? I don't think I or my parents have ever seen a Lego ad in my life, yet I played with legos as a little kid and I still play with Legos :)
  - true_religion 15y ago
    Lego seems to have plenty of ads at least in my area. If you watch kid's cartoons in the 5-9 age bracket you'll see a lot of their ads for special packs like Lego Space Adventure, etc.
  - tikhonj 15y ago
    Apart from whatever official marketing they do, they're also simply a very well-known and well-regarded brand. Even the word "Lego" is basically synonymous with the whole market segment they're in. Finally, Lego sets are just addictive (as I remember well from my childhood). I think I got my first one by accident--it was a tiny $3 (or something) set because the matchbox cars I liked back then weren't available. This was years ago so the details are fuzzy, but I still remember which set it was :) After that I was completely enthralled by Lego and continued getting more and more for years. Ultimately, the only reason I stopped playing with them was because I got even more addicted to programming. That alone must supplement their conventional marketing by a large amount.
- protomyth 15y ago
  Absolutely right, ask anyone who was a kid during the initial (79 + 80s) Star Wars toy craze who went from store to store chasing the Jawa figure. Or you can ask my Dad and he will have a long critique of the situation. Only time I ever heard my Dad utter MFer was after months of looking for the Jawa, which only one kid in the neighborhood had, we turned the corner at a K-Mart and found a whole isle of them.

I'm confused -- do kids actually clamor specifically for the McDonald's toys? Aren't there better and cheaper toys out there?

by veyron 15y ago

I'm confused -- do kids actually clamor specifically for the McDonald's toys? Aren't there better and cheaper toys out there?

bkudria 15y ago

Kids.

TomOfTTB 15y ago

The last numbers I know of are from 2003 but in 2003 Happy Meals accounted for about 20% of McDonalds Sales (Link found through Quick Google Search: http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/09/03/the-stealth-toy-giant.aspx http://www.fool.com/investing/small-cap/2004/09/03/the-steal...) Apparently they distributed over 1.5 Billion toys in 2009 (Lftqgs: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_gives_away_over_15_billion.html http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_g...) So I'd say yes

byoung2 15y ago

I was in McDonald's a few weeks ago and heard a parent say "we've been to 3 locations looking for this toy!" Apparently some kids want them bad enough to force their parents to go to extremes to get them.

rexf 15y ago
Reminds me of Beanie Babies in the late 90's
- veyron 15y ago
  McD made a boatload from a teeny beanie babies promotion: "Estimates suggest that McDonald's made $250 million of sales on Teenie Beanie Baby Happy Meals during this promotion." Link: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_gives_away_over_15_billion_pg2.html?cat=3 http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1460556/mcdonalds_g...
kstenerud 15y ago
What ever happened to "no"?
- ams6110 15y ago
  Maybe the kid brought home an all "A" report card and the parent wanted to do something nice. Or not. Probably not. But I've been known to reward my kids with something they want if they have done something deserving a reward.
  - veyron 15y ago
    "I've been known to reward my kids with something they want" <-- if your kids asked you specifically for a mcdonalds toy, would you oblige?

joelhooks 15y ago

My first two kids did. We stopped feeding them fast food and it stopped. The younger two clamor for carrot sticks ;)

moe 15y ago

Kids are a delicious target audience. The churn-rate is largely irrelevant because there's infinite supply of new little idiots.

aMoniker 15y ago
s/Kids/Humans

colanderman 15y ago

"Aren't there better and cheaper toys out there?" I'm gonna guess you haven't spent much time around kids ;) How much a kid wants a toy is directly proportional both to how well it is marketed, and to how much their peers want it (which, since their "peers" appear in ads for the products, is really just a proxy for how well it's marketed). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs#Popularity http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pogs#Popularity and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_babies#Marketing_strategies http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beanie_babies#Marketing_strateg...

veyron 15y ago
How does Lego do marketing? I don't think I or my parents have ever seen a Lego ad in my life, yet I played with legos as a little kid and I still play with Legos :)
- true_religion 15y ago
  Lego seems to have plenty of ads at least in my area. If you watch kid's cartoons in the 5-9 age bracket you'll see a lot of their ads for special packs like Lego Space Adventure, etc.
- tikhonj 15y ago
  Apart from whatever official marketing they do, they're also simply a very well-known and well-regarded brand. Even the word "Lego" is basically synonymous with the whole market segment they're in. Finally, Lego sets are just addictive (as I remember well from my childhood). I think I got my first one by accident--it was a tiny $3 (or something) set because the matchbox cars I liked back then weren't available. This was years ago so the details are fuzzy, but I still remember which set it was :) After that I was completely enthralled by Lego and continued getting more and more for years. Ultimately, the only reason I stopped playing with them was because I got even more addicted to programming. That alone must supplement their conventional marketing by a large amount.
protomyth 15y ago
Absolutely right, ask anyone who was a kid during the initial (79 + 80s) Star Wars toy craze who went from store to store chasing the Jawa figure. Or you can ask my Dad and he will have a long critique of the situation. Only time I ever heard my Dad utter MFer was after months of looking for the Jawa, which only one kid in the neighborhood had, we turned the corner at a K-Mart and found a whole isle of them.