The children yearn for the mines. That was proven early in April when A Minecraft Movie shattered box-office expectations, scooping up a whopping $157 million at the box office.
This was already obvious to me on April 1, when I spotted kids at my local McDonald’s streaming out the door with the new Minecraft-themed Happy Meal boxes. It’s all a promotion for the movie, drawing inspiration from the popular video game available across platforms including Xbox, Nintendo Switch and mobile phones. So, of course, I had to try everything they offered and report back. And I think my tongue is still burning days later. That Nether Flame Sauce is no joke.
And the Minecraft meals seem to be giving Ronald and company a boost. According to Nation’s Restaurant News, “visits to the Golden Arches jumped by 12.2% following the promotion’s launch versus year-to-date average Tuesday visit counts.”
A representative for McDonald’s did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Read more: McDonald’s Launches Minecraft Happy Meals, Plus a ‘Nether’ Hot Sauce for Nuggets
Happy Meals: 12 toys, digital game, Creeper box
You know what a Happy Meal is. It’s a boxed kids meal with a toy, where the kid can choose between a hamburger, cheeseburger, or 4-piece or 6-piece chicken McNuggets. Fries, apples and a drink also come with it.
The Minecraft Movie Meal, on the right, has more food, and a bigger box than the Happy Meal.
For this promotion, even the Happy Meal box is Minecraft-themed. Personally, I think the Happy Meal boxes are much cuter than the themed boxes that come with the adult Minecraft Movie Meal. My Happy Meal box looked the familiar green Minecraft monsters called Creepers, but this Creeper has kind of a furry look, like it was a cousin of Sesame Street’s green Muppet Oscar the Grouch
But it’s the toy, sorry — “figurine”, that will have kids making multiple trips to their local McD’s. There are 12 different toys. Mine was marked “#1, grass block and llama.” When you open the box the toy comes in, you might think the llama was left behind, because the toy itself is a closed green grass block. But you can open the block and inside is a little llama figurine, permanently attached to one side of the block.
I mean, it’s not the world’s most recognizable llama, but it’s Minecraft, what do you want? The toys that come with the Minecraft Happy Meals are more familiar from the game, and six of them come in little puzzle cubes.
The box my toy came in shows the other options you might get. There are six different block-and-creature toys, like the one I got, and six slightly bigger figurines that don’t come inside a block. And the walls of the block are kind of like puzzle pieces. You can take the block apart and lay its walls flat and connect them. So if you get more toys, you can make a little playmat of them all, and even attach the six slightly bigger figures, because their bases fit the “puzzle.”
Read more: Does ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Have a Post Credit Scene? Let’s Break It Down
The little toy box in each Happy Meal also comes with a scannable code on one side to unlock a digital game where players can complete a quest in the Minecraft Movie world. I tried it, and it’s actually more fun than a free mini-game from a fast food eatery has any right to be. Good job, Ronald.
Minecraft Movie Meal: McD-themed toys, in-game bonus item, Gold Block box
McDonald’s also was smart enough to know that adults like collectibles too, and that they might have bigger appetites. So the fast food chain is also offering a Minecraft Movie Meal — kind of like a bigger Happy Meal. Choose a Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, with fries and a drink.
The toy in the Minecraft Movie Meal comes with a card that gives you a code for an in-game matching item.
The boxes for these meals are like larger Happy Meal boxes. But instead of being Creeper-themed, the one I got was designed to look like a Minecraft gold block. While I prefer the Creeper, it’s smart that the adult meal and kid meal boxes are themed differently.
And then, the toy. The grownup meal toy was a big letdown compared to the Happy Meal toy options. While the Happy Meal toys were actual Minecraft characters, the ones in the adult meals are McDonald’s mascots created with that blocky, Minecraft look. The figurines have a bit of a twist — with the toys including a Grimace Egg and Zombie Hamburglar. Mine was called Birdie Wings, and is based on Birdie the Early Bird, a mascot McDonald’s introduced in 1980 to promote its then-new breakfast items.
Each figure, including my Birdie Wings, comes with a shiny card with that figure’s image. You scan the QR code on the card to unlock a matching item in Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
Nether Flame Sauce is hot, hot, hot
Maybe the most fun part of the McDonald’s-Minecraft promotion is a new chicken McNugget dipping sauce called the Nether Flame Sauce. It’s named for the Minecraft underworld, and I think it’s the hottest sauce McDonald’s has ever used. You don’t have to buy the Minecraft Movie Meal or Happy Meal to get the sauce. If you want to try it with fries or something else, you can order the Nether Flame Sauce with any purchase.
The Nether Flame Sauce can be ordered with any food item.
I’m a fan of hot sauces of all sorts. While Nether Flame Sauce isn’t one of the hottest hot sauces I’ve ever tried, it’s definitely the hottest McDonald’s dipping sauce I’ve ever tried, and I practically made a career out of reporting on the Rick and Morty Szechuan sauce.
The Nether Flame Sauce is hot, by McDonald’s standards.
There’s a definite kick to this sauce, which looks like Thai red chili sauce but is less sweet and more spicy. The ingredient list on the sauce packet says it includes chili peppers, cayenne peppers, vinegar, sugar, garlic, apricot concentrate and more. I had an extra sauce packet, and my husband devoured it with leftover French fries.
Final Minecraft-McDonald’s thoughts
Although I have no idea if the upcoming A Minecraft Movie is any good, I feel comfortable grading this McD-Minecraft promotion with a big fat “A.”
I’m not reviewing the non-Nether sauce foods in the meals. It’s McDonald’s. You know what it tastes like.
The boxes are cute. There’s a meal for kids and one for adults. The toys are creative and fun, though in my mind the tiny Happy Meal toys are far more fun to collect than the McDonald’s mascot ones that come in the adult meal.
And best of all, the Nether Flame sauce is a fun, spice-filled change of pace for those of us who don’t mind a fiery dipping option.
