McDonald’s iconic Halloween buckets are making a return to the fast-food chain’s Happy Meals this spooky holiday season.
McDonald’s announced that its Halloween Happy Meal pails would return to participating locations from Tuesday, October 18 to October 31, or until supplies last. The Halloween-themed pails are also known as “Boo Buckets” and make an ideal container for trick-or-treating. The Boo Buckets come in various colors, including white, orange, and green.
“After weeks of anticipation, McDonald’s officially confirms the return of its Halloween Happy Meal and shares unique ways fans can reuse their collectible pail this fall and beyond,” the Chicago-based company said in a statement leading up to Tuesday’s launch.
The Halloween Happy Meal was first launched in 1986 and released with a trio of orange buckets: McPunk’n, McBoo, and McGoblin. McDonald’s upgraded the Halloween pails with new colors in 1990 to include a white ghost, a green witch, and an orange pumpkin. The last time Halloween Happy Meals were made available at McDonald’s was seven years ago, in October 2016
To participate in the spooky, limited-time-only fun, McDonald’s customers must purchase a traditional Happy Meal to receive one of the three Halloween-themed buckets. One of the three iconic pails will be served alongside the customer’s order in place of a classic Happy Meal toy.
Weeks before McDonald’s official Halloween announcement, rumors began to swirl around the return of the fast-food chain’s Halloween Happy Meal pails. The rumors were first made public when the website Nightmare Nostalgia released an allegedly leaked copy of McDonald’s corporate calendar of events for October 2022.
Happy Meal pails aren’t only used for trick-or-treating, according to McDonald’s. The spooky buckets can also be used as decorative ornaments to enhance any Halloween display.
“They may have vanished for a while… but that didn’t stop you from finding clever ways to keep their spooky spirit alive,” McDonald’s said about customers’ creative use of buckets.
