If you’re in your late 30s, chances are you remember getting a Halloween bucket for your Happy Meal from McDonald’s. They rolled them out nationwide in 1986, but had tested them the year prior in select locations. After that, it became tradition to release a pail of some kind annually; minus 1988 for some reason. Maybe plastic cost more that year? Who knows.
A few years ago, there was a rumor the pails would be coming back but unfortunately that wasn’t true. Well, it seems that because of social media they FINALLY realized that’s what we wanted. [Now if they would only bring back the McNugget buddies with their cool costumes. Seriously who needs themed toys when you have perfectly good dressable McNuggets?]
Thanks to a horror blogger Patti Paultergeist, we feel confident the iconic buckets are in fact, coming back. While this has yet to be confirmed by McDonald’s, there is mounting evidence that the buckets are either in production, or have already been made. Paultergeist includes a photo of a calendar she was reportedly sent by a McDonald’s employee which shows shipping dates, as well as a timeframe for when they would be distributed.
According to Nightmare Nostalgia Blog, October 18th will be the day Halloween pails will be available at local stores. The chain will likely run out well before the 31st, but on the off chance that they don’t, that’s the day that the promotion is going to end. (We expect to see them on eBay.) I really hope McDonald’s realizes exactly how many people have been waiting for these to come back.
If you’d like to learn about the history of the McDonald’s Halloween Pails, we fully recommend checking out this article. It’s amazing!
