Nintendo has struck a deal with McDonalds to include Mario Kart 8 toys in Happy Meals for the next couple of months. The toys offered include a Mario visor, as well as seven different miniature vehicles featuring Mario, Luigi, Toad, Bowser, Peach, Yoshi, and Donkey Kong.
This is a huge partnership that shows some of the clever ways Nintendo is able to market its products. Nintendo distributes roughly 1.5 billion toys each year as a result of its popular Happy Meal product, although they have declined in popularity over the past couple years. Nonetheless, Mario Kart 8 has performed well and the Wii U should benefit greatly from this.
Later this year Nintendo will be releasing Amiibo, an NFC platform that’ll spawn dozens of new collectible figurines. This new focus on delivering physical Nintendo-branded products to young people is part of the company’s renewed strategy, something it spoke about vaguely in January.
Related: Nintendo Announces Amiibo
These Mario Kart 8 themed Happy Meal toys are exclusive to the United States. South Korea recently had some highly collectible Mario toys included in its Happy Meal program, but will not be receiving these.
Below you can see an image of the Happy Meal box and Mario toy (posted on Reddit by You-Are-Incorrect) as well as the commercial for the partnership.
