McDonald’s Squishmallows Happy Meal launching in the US

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The Squishmallows Happy Meal characters are pictured in a provided image. (Credit: McDonalds)

CHICAGO - After the Christmas celebrations have ended, McDonald’s Happy Meals will start featuring the plush Squishmallow toys popular among kids.

The Squishmallows Happy Meal will make its debut at McDonald’s restaurants nationwide, featuring 12 different characters.

The fast food giant partnered with the toy brand's parent company, Jazwares, earlier this year to launch the meal in select markets and is now bringing the Squishmallows Happy Meal across the U.S.

The new Happy Meal will be available at McDonald's restaurants on Dec. 26, the company said.

"We're all about connecting our fans to culture and Squishmallows are some of the hottest toys out there right now," Tariq Hassan, McDonald's USA chief marketing and customer experience officer, said in a statement.

Squishmallow characters like Cam and Fifi will be a part of the lineup, as well as the McDonaldland character Grimace, the company said.

Each character in the new Happy Meal also comes with a unique playlist from Universal Music Group. Families can scan the QR code on the Happy Meal box to access each Squish's playlist, which was "carefully curated based off their unique and fun personalities."

Boy wins free McDonald's French fries for a year

A nine-year-old from Ohio earned himself free fries for a year at a local McDonald’s restaurant thanks to a custom-made costume.

Earlier this month, McDonald’s announced the return of adult Happy Meals with a modern take on the beloved McNugget Buddies, which were first introduced in 1988. The new Kerwin Frost Box includes the choice of 10-piece Chicken McNuggets or a Big Mac, fries, a soft drink and a special McNugget Buddy collectible.

The new menu items come as McDonald’s expects to open nearly 10,000 restaurants over the next four years – a pace of growth that would be unprecedented even for the world's largest burger chain.

At an investor update earlier this month, the Chicago burger giant said it aims to have 50,000 restaurants in operation worldwide by the end of 2027.

McDonald’s had 40,275 restaurants at the start of this year.

This story was reported from Cincinnati. The Associated Press contributed.