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Have you ever wondered how the McDonald's happy

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meal became the best-selling meal in history or

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who created that bottle of sriracha? That's living

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in your fridge. Why nearly every house in

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America has at least one game of monopoly.

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Oh, Jack I know exactly where yours is

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by the way top shelf upper right yetis

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This is Nick and this is Jack hosts

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of the best one yet and big news

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here We just came out with a brand

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new podcast called The

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best idea yet in this podcast We're

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discovering the surprising stories behind the products

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we use every day like Jack Did

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you know that super Mario the best-selling

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video game character of all time only

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exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights

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to Popeye Were that the

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idea for the McDonald's happy meal first

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came from a mom in Guatemala? Oh,

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we're gonna tell you all about her

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now from Pez dispensers to Levi's 501

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to air Jordans every week on the

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best idea yet You'll discover surprising stories

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behind the products you're obsessed with now

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We're about to play a clip from

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the best idea yet while you're listening

0:59

Follow the best idea yet on the wonder

1:01

app or wherever you get your podcasts All

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right, Jack so your mom hands you a

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capri Sun I don't know the flavor but

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something tropical oh and you've got a gap

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sweatshirt on G Pete

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I know the one you're talking about yeah size

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husky. Oh and then Alanis Morissette. She's playing in

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the background You know, it's like a little bit

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of hand in my pocket. Maybe a little bit

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of ironic I think you're describing ten-year-old me. Yes

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minivan on a family road trip. Is that the

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senior painting boom, baby? 1998

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you've been in the car for hours, man, you're hungry. You're

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getting cranky. Oh and someone has to go to the bathroom

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And finally your mom decides to turn

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off an exit and I know you

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know what the next question is Oh,

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yeah. Yeah, where are we gonna eat?

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Oh, where are we gonna eat? Oh,

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and then Jack remember This is the

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BC era like BC before Chipotle like

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you can't just pop off

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the road So

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my brother Nick probably wanted Taco Bell.

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My brother Tuck probably wanted Wendy's. Teddy

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wanted Burger King and I like it.

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I was going for the chicken McNuggets.

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This is a Michelin-starred crowd. Well, every

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family has faced that decision, literally millions.

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And there's probably a family right now

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in their car listening to this pod

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going through exactly this. Besties, whether you're

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barreling down the East coast on 995

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or taking the scenic route down the PCH, chances are

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you're going to stop for some grub at one of

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the 200,000 fast food

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restaurants in the United States. And if you've

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got your family with you, no way you're

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making multiple stops. So where

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can you go where everyone can find

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something that makes them happy? Happy? Well,

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that answer comes in a cardboard box.

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It costs about six bucks and it

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is literally the most sold meal in

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history. We're talking about the Happy

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Meal. Your kids will love

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McDonald's Happy Meal. It's food and fun in a

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box. Well,

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Jack, did you have a favorite Happy Meal toy?

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Let's dig it back up. Absolutely. Talk to me,

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man. This is my Power Rangers era. If I

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got the Green Ranger, Tommy, it made my year.

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Oh, Jack, I was ahead of my time. I

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was going Pink Ranger on that thing. That

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is the head of your time. It was. Now,

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since this is our first episode, we want to

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take a second to tell you what this is

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all about. If you know us from our other

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show, the best one yet, our daily business news

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show, over 1000 episodes and

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counting. Well, Yetis and Bessies, you've

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earned us. Break down the most

3:29

important pop biz news stories in

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business today. But on the best

3:33

idea yet, we're going deep on

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the surprising, the unexpected, the unknown

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origin stories of your favorite products.

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Right. We found the products that

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are the most loved with the

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biggest cult following. But then we

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discovered the unexpected ways they actually

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came to life. Yeah, we're digging

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into who had that first spark,

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what shocking challenges almost stopped them in their

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tracks and how they got over the hump

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to bring these iconic products to market and

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to you and yet. You know

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we're gonna give you the business insights along

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the way. And that is why

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Jack and I think this first product is just

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the perfect place to start. McDonald's

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has sold over 35 billion

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Happy Meals since they first launched it.

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Jack, can you sprinkle on a little

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more salty context please? The 2016 study

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found that McDonald's was selling 3.2 million

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Happy Meals every day. Don't even

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tell me the calories, Jack. That's

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enough food to feed every single

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person in Iowa. But Jell

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and I am loving these geography analogies. What else you got, man? Nick,

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line up that many Happy Meals and they reach

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from Paris to Amsterdam. We weigh in with a

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toy in every single box. This

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makes McDonald's one of the largest toy

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distributors in the world, adding up to

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1.5 billion toys annually. Think

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about it. McDonald's sells more toys than

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Hasbro or Mattel. Yeah, that's

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right. The Happy Meal is a

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bigger toy franchise than Barbie. The

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Happy Meal is the most popular,

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profitable, and iconic dish in commercial

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history. Yes, it is. And it

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smells like it was cooked up

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in some R&D lab at McDonald's

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headquarters like every other fast food

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dish. Except it wasn't. The Happy

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Meal was actually the opposite of

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that. Few know the Happy Meal's

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secret, surprising, and contested origin because

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the most iconic meal in a

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box since the invention of the

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lunch pail was actually invented by...

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a pioneering mom in Central America.

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That's right. The entire Happy Meal industry starts

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with a working mom in Guatemala. Or was

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it a Missouri dad who happens to be

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an ad exec? Or Jack,

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pause the part. Was it grimace the entire time? Classic

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grimace. There's actually a hot dispute at the center of

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this story and we're going to get into all of

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it. We're going to take

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you to McDonald's University. Real thing.

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Find the first breakthrough toy. Made in China. And

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learn how the Happy Meal creates lifelong

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customers with a strategy called the window

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of loyalty. The window of loyalty. Not

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to be confused with this. drive-through window

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where you snag that six-piece McNuggets and

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find out the McFlurry machine is still

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broken. You don't need mom's permission for

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this episode but you're gonna want to

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tell her about it right afterwards because

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this is the untold story of the

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McDonald's Happy Meal. The most important meal

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in history, at least according to your

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inner six-year-old. Stick around to hear why

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the Happy Meal is the best idea

6:21

yet. You

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can listen to the best idea yet early and

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ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the

6:30

Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.