Hello Kitty’s 50th Birthday Gift Is a Painfully Cute McDonald’s Meal
Hello Kitty turns 50 this year and to celebrate five whole decades of adorable-ness, Sanrio has partnered with McDonald’s for a special Hello Kitty menu and cutesy packaging.
Hello Kitty’s McDonald’s Prosperity meal comes with a suitably endearing Hello Kitty box and paper, shrouding a beef and onion sandwich — no Hello Kitty burger here — curly fries, a “Dragon Fruit Fizz” soda, and special McFlurry. You can also get black pepper steak and rice if the sandwich isn’t your thing, which is nice.
The commemorative McDonald's packaging is red with Hello Kitty's face and flowers printed everywhere around it, a fairly tasteful (and tasty) way to celebrate the cute cat’s 50th birthday.
Alas, the new Hello Kitty collab is only available at McDonald's Indonesia for now. Shame, because there sure are a lot of Hello Kitty fans all over the world who'd love a chance to get anything branded with the mascot's little face.
Hello Kitty's many admirers were also justifiably disappointed to learn that a Hello Kitty McDonald’s bucket that recently went viral on TikTok — around the same time that the 50th anniversary McDonald’s meal debuted, actually — is actually from a Singapore-exclusive Hello Kitty x McDonald’s collab that launched back in 2019.
There are so many McDonald's collabs that it can be hard to keep up, especially with all the regional stuff. McDonald's Verdy collab, for instance, was a China-only drop whereas the Kerwin Frost meal was only available in America.
Anyways, the good news is you can snag those Hello Kitty buckets on eBay for less than a hundred dollars if you need your cuteness fix.
Actually, there’s no shortage of ways to show your love for Hello Kitty if you know where to shop. Sanrio has collaborated with tons of brands over the years, from ultra-rare Nike shoes and trendy adidas sneakers to leather Balenciaga bags in the shape of Kitty's winning mug.
If you can’t get to Indonesia, there’s a concurrent Hello Kitty and McDonald’s anniversary collab currently running in Japan, where you can get little Hello Kitty plushie toys in your Happy Meal.
There are 50 of them to collect (for the 50th anniversary, of course), with some Hello Kitties wearing floral dresses and others dressed in little McDonald’s uniforms. Even Kitty's got to work in the gig economy, I suppose.
This is just the beginning of Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary celebrations, as Hello Kitty’s actual “birthday” comes way down the road in November 2024, so expect to see a lot more Hello Kitty stuff in the coming year.
Also, keep in mind that the Hello Kitty tribe is strong, so brace yourself while scrolling through TikTok throughout the year lest you assume that the next too-cute-for-words Hello Kitty and McDonalds collab can be copped just down the street. Make sure to do your research, Kitty fans!
But if you do fall in love with any kind of Hello Kitty merch, the good news is that there’s always the internet.
