McDonald's partners with a Warren Buffett company

At the end of 2022, Warren Buffett's holdings company Berkshire Hathaway  (BRK.B) - Get Free Report completed its acquisition of Alleghany Corporation for over $11 billion. The smaller investment company had, six years earlier, taken over the Jazwares toy company behind highly popular brands such as Fortnite, Peppa Pig, Roblox and Squishmallows.

"Jazwares is a gem and Judd and Laura are the ideal Berkshire managers," Buffett himself told Reuters of the company's founders when the deal was going through.

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Squishmallows, which are large round stuffed toys made to look like different animals and magical creatures, have been particularly popular. In the last year, over one hundred million toys priced between $5.99 and $40 each sold around the world.

'Some of the hottest toys out there right now,' McDonald's says

The popularity has not wound down in 2023 and, this week, fast-food giant McDonald's  (MCD) - Get Free Report announced that its new Squishmallows Happy Meal will hit restaurants in the U.S. from Dec. 26, 2023. The toy that one can expect to find in the Happy Meal will be one out of 12 three-inch characters such as the iconic Squishmallows Cam and Fifi and McDonald's own Grimace (a viral campaign of the purple mascot from the 1970s and 1980s in the summer of 2023 skyrocketed McDonald's store visits.)

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"We're all about connecting our fans to culture and Squishmallows are some of the hottest toys out there right now," Tariq Hassan, who heads marketing and customer experience for McDonald’s USA, said in a statement. "This collaboration welcomes McDonald’s and Squishmallow fans alike to enjoy this one-of-a-kind experience."

McDonald's is tapping into a viral toy to add spice to its Happy Meal

Each character will also come with a QR code that will take them to a Universal Music Group playlist of songs that match its personality. Research firm Circana put Squishmallows among the 10 most popular toys for the holiday season of 2023 alongside longstanding classics such as Barbie, Pokémon, Hot Wheels and the Marvel superhero franchise. Over 300 million Squishmallows were sold since the 2017 acquisition from Jazzwares with over 100 million sold in the last year alone.

"We are excited to bring the program to our millions of fans in the U.S. with fun new ways to collect and connect with the Squishmallows brand," Gerhard Runken, SVP of Brand & Marketing at Jazwares, said in a statement.

McDonald's is, predictably, tapping in on the toys' viral success to promote the Happy meal and drive new excitement around its menu among both kids and their parents and single adults (Squishmallows also has a significant following among the latter.)

At the start of December, the chain also partnered with Harlem artist Kerwin Frost for a new adult Happy Meal of 10 Chicken McNuggets or a Big Mac, fries, a soft drink, and a McNugget Buddy collectible figurine made to look like the classic Cactus Plant Flea Market toys. McDonald's first tried tapping into such nostalgia with the adult Happy Meal featuring old-school McDonaldland characters in September 2022 to viral success among those who associate the Happy Meal with their childhoods.