In a viral TikTok, a mom showed the internet how you’re actually supposed to use a Happy Meal box, and people lost their minds.
Originally posted on May 10, the video has gone on to gain over nine million views. A mom from the UK took to the platform to share that she was 32 years old before she discovered the true purpose of Happy Meal boxes, apart from just transporting food.
“32 years old and just finding out that Happy Meal boxes can be turned into a plate,” the video’s poster, Kirsty, captioned the video.
She shows the horizontal perforations in the center of the McDonald’s box, before peeling this section off and turning it into two separate pieces, one on the top, the other on the bottom. She uses the bottom half as a tray to eat the food from.
After the video was posted, people went crazy for the new hack, writing: “The way my almost 40 years old a** just grabbed my keys to go get a Happy Meal. Because I just gotta see this.”
“What I’m 54 just finding out with your video – can’t wait to show them,” another wrote.
However, some claimed that this was something new, and that the boxes haven’t always been this way: “Was a manager at a McDonald’s for 8 years. This is something new, they haven’t always been like this.”
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According to an article,“McDonald’s has included a tiny adjustment to their boxes to help parents everywhere make the dining experience a little less stressful.
“Look for a small gap along the side and start pulling away the strip of card. It will easily come away as you pull and will tear all the way around the box so that you can separate the top part of the cardboard, just leaving the bottom,” they explain, exactly like Kirsty does in the video.
Lauren Lewis was a Food Writer on Dexerto’s UK team and is a Master’s graduate. Her expert coverage areas include McDonald’s, KFC, Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, Starbucks, Taco Bell, and Domino’s Pizza, as well as viral food stories from YouTube, TikTok, and X/Twitter.