The shocking free toy a furious mother found inside her child’s Happy Meal:
An Australian mother was shocked when she found a damaged cardboard bookmark with the text Despicable Me 4 printed on it as a ‘toy’ in her son’s Happy Meal at McDonald’s.
Mother-of-five Jess Fournier was disappointed to find a “torn paper bookmark” among the three Happy Meal presents she bought for her son at Heathcote McDonalds in Sydney’s south on Sunday night.
She accused McDonald’s of being stingy and wondered, “This has to be a joke?”
Ms Fournier slammed the fast food chain in a TikTok video, saying: “You can’t sell that to a child as a toy”.
“I bought my son a Happy Meal with three noodles tonight,” she said as she opened the meal.
“I asked for sweet and sour sauce and a toy. Look what was in this box.
‘No sauce, what’s the toy? Wow — Maccas, aren’t you making enough profit? Is this like taking away someone’s free book?’
Many viewers agreed that the toys were “absolutely disgusting,” while others recalled similar experiences.
Jess Fournier was shocked when she found a damaged Despicable Me 4 bookmark as a ‘toy’ in her son’s Happy Meal
‘Maccas are so expensive and awful these days – they do something wrong every time,’ wrote one person.
Another noted, “The bookmarks are free on the counter, in sheets of four.”
A third wrote: ‘The toys at Macca’s have been crap for a while now… only toys made of paper and cardboard or books.’
A fourth added: ‘They’ve done away with the plastic toys that kids actually play with and replaced them with absolute rubbish that gets thrown away straight away,’ wrote yet another.
However, some also felt the mother was ‘overreacting’.
“So you want a piece of plastic junk instead? Maybe you should think about the environment so your kids can enjoy it,” someone commented.
Another added: ‘You’re allowed to be annoyed but also check your order before you leave and don’t overdo it.’
A McDonald’s spokesperson said the bookmark was not among the toys currently on sale
McDonald’s is currently offering a range of Despicable Me 4 toys as part of its Happy Meals.
However, the bookmark is part of a separate free promotion.
“This is not a Happy Meal toy at this time,” a McDonald’s spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia.
“We have contacted the customer to offer our apologies and arrange for replacement toys to be delivered.”