McDonald's is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast-food restaurants. They promoted the film Cars in 2006, with a line if Happy Meal toys. In September 2022, they promoted Cars on the Road with a new set of toys and a tie-in game, the Cars on the Road Happy Meal PowerUp.
Happy Meal toys[]
Cars (2006)[]
McDonald's released Happy Meal toys of eight of the Cars characters, some of which come in variations. They were available from June 9 through July 6 in the United States and Canada, and they were also available in Japan.[citation needed] List is ordered by bag number.
- Lightning McQueen (clean and dirty)
- Mater
- Sally
- Doc Hudson
- Ramone (purple, green and yellow)
- Flo
- Luigi
- Fillmore
Cars on the Road (2022)[]
On September 15 it was rumored that eight Cars on the Road McDonald's toys would be released. Five days later, the toys were released. Several of the plastic cars used included sticker sheets for additional decals. In addition to the toys, The Cars on the Road Happy Meal PowerUp game was released as an additional piece of cross-promotion.
- Road Trip Lightning McQueen
- Cruz Ramirez
- Rumbler Mater
- Rumbler Lightning McQueen
- Road Trip Mater
- Ivy
- Cave Lightning McQueen
- Cave Mater
Trivia[]
- In Cars, Fillmore was originally going to be called "Waldmire," named after Robert "Bob" Waldmire, a Route 66 resident whom the crew befriended during their road trip to do research for the film. However, Waldmire was vegan, and he did not want his name to be featured in Happy Meal toys at McDonald's.
- McDonald's is the first and only restaurant to have promoted a Cars film.
- Cars was the final Disney film to receive Happy Meal toys, as Disney and McDonald's stopped working together shortly after. In the late 2010's, the toy companies worked out a new deal, allowing for Happy Meal toys based on Disney properties to be made once again, eventually leading to the Cars on the Road Happy Meal, among others.