McDonald’s Happy Meal Class Action Reaches Proposed Settlement

McDonald’s Restaurants has reached a class action settlement over allegations it unlawfully directed advertisements at children under the age of 13 in violation of Quebec’s Consumer Protection Act.

The McDonald’s Happy Meal advertising class action lawsuit, filed by plaintiff Antonio Bramante, was authorized by the Superior Court of Quebec on Nov. 14, 2018. Bramante had three children under the age of 13 at the time he filed the McDonald’s advertising class action lawsuit and says they ate at McDonald’s about once every two weeks based on his children’s requests.

Bramante notes that McDonald’s often times the release of new toys with the release of popular children’s movies or cartoons. Often, McDonald’s markets and sells the toys in a series, and Bramante says he purchased sets of toys over several visits to McDonald’s so his children could collect the series. According to the McDonald’s advertising class action lawsuit Bramante estimates he spent hundreds of dollars on McDonald’s Happy Meals, which include individually packaged toys.

Bramante accused McDonald’s of directing advertisements for toys directly to children in order to entice them to purchase the toys or urge another person to purchase the toys. According to the McDonald’s class action lawsuit, targeting children with advertising is a violation of Quebec’s consumer protection laws.

McDonald’s Happy Meals, which come with toys, are mostly intended for children under the age of 13. The Happy Meal class action lawsuit alleges McDonald’s would not have sold as many toys without marketing them to children.

The McDonald’s Happy Meal class action lawsuit notes that no other fast food chains or restaurants offer toys or children’s books with their children’s meals. This makes McDonald’s the only restaurant in Quebec engaging in the banned practice.

Class Members of the McDonald’s Happy Meal class action settlement include anyone who purchased a toy or Happy Meal for a child under the age of 13 present in a McDonald’s location in Quebec during an advertising campaign directed at children inside the restaurant since Nov. 15, 2013.

The parties reached a Happy Meal class action settlement on Jan. 8, 2020.

McDonald’s has agreed to pay $1 million to four charitable hospital foundations in Quebec: Fondation CHU de Québec, Fondation CHU Ste-Justine, Jewish General Hospital Foundation; and Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation. Each foundation will receive a lump sum payment of $250,000.

The Happy Meal advertising class action settlement also requires McDonald’s to make certain changes to its advertising campaigns in Quebec. These changes include:

• Using images of toys instead of physical toys in the restaurant’s toy/book displays (the images should be approximately the same size as the physical toys);
• Place the images of the toys above the images of books in the restaurant’s toy displays (instead of the current placement of having the toys placed under the books in the toy/book display);
• Commit to displaying images of both toys and books in the displays for at least two years;
• Implement age verification on web pages with information about Happy Meal Toys on the McDonald’s website; and
• Not use interactive toy and book displays as long as section 248 of the Consumer Protection Act remains in place.

The McDonald’s Happy Meal class action settlement approval hearing is scheduled for June 18, 2020.

Have you purchased a McDonald’s Happy Meal in the last seven years? Do you think the settlement is fair? Tell us in the comment section below! 

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Class Members are represented by LPC AVOCAT INC.

The McDonald’s Happy Meal Class Action Lawsuit is Antonio Bramante v. McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada Limited, Case No. 500-06-000824-165, in the Superior Court of Quebec, Canada.

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