Extra long days at work often leave me forgetting to eat dinner until after 10p.m. and occasionally it's nice to just pick something up on the way home. Nothing hits that late evening fast food craving like a Happy Meal. Or tacos. But Taco Bell hasn't given me anything to blog about in years, if ever. McDonald's, on the other hand, has given me content out the wazoo. Besides, look at that box up there. No one can resist the simple lure of a Happy Meal box, saturated with the smell of chicken nuggets and fries.

When I pulled into the drive-in there was no boards displaying the current selection of Happy Meal toys. The teen on window duty that night must have been either new or highly distracted, because I asked him a couple of times if they had the My Little Pony Happy Meal with no response and then I just had him tell me which toys they DID have. I forgive him, because he kinda giggled when I grabbed my box all wide-eyed and smiley saying, "I love when they come in boxes." The emoticon translation of this interaction is such:





Holy crap. Someone laced the pony trough with ecstasy. When did they turn into Powerpuff Girls 'n Friends? This is too much saccharin for me. The eyes are huge, they're taking up the cheeks and everything. Even the logo has gotten cuter.

Only one side of the box was dedicated to ponies. You can see the G3 favorites like Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. It also clarifies that the pony hiney markings are called "Cutie Marks," which was a term that was only coined in recent years. The only activity on the box is a small circle that suggests you design your own cutie mark. No pop-outs to turn the box into a castle, no connect-the-dots, no search and find -- just a blank circle. It's about the least effort possible on a Happy Meal box I've seen in years.


I got Twilight Sparkle, which sounds like the name of an Edward Cullen body lotion. She's very purple and accent in pink which makes for a happy Mystie. Her purple sparkle stand is supposed to double as a comb, but the teeth are so large that her entire tail fits between them. I can forgive this, because she's a unicorn, which makes her super extra special. She also has her hoof raised in a jaunty fashion like a pinky finger in the air. Judging by how big her picture is on the box, I think I got the pick of the litter. I will grow bored of her slightly less earlier for that.