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02/19/2007: Twelve fantastic McDonald’s tray covers.


New article, covering thirty years’ worth of McDonald’s history…as told by one dozen promotional tray covers. Once merely thought of as those sheets of paper that protected loose fries from tray grime, these tray covers are a window into fast food history, and a solid memento of those swank Batman Forever mugs McDonald’s used to sell. Read it and weep.


Posted by Matt. E-mail me!

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Discussion Thread: 252 comments

I always got honey sauce with my McNuggets. It was absolutely the best. I almost never eat McDonalds anymore, and when I do, I don’t get the nuggets. I don’t think I’ve had a McNugget since I was about 10. and they used to be all I would eat there. I may have to go try some again soon…

and Mystie, I never mixed McDonalds sauces, but I do mix other ones. Specifically ketchup and mayo (fry sauce) or ranch dressing and BBQ sauce. That combo is probably my favorite for hamburgers, fries, chicken, pretty much anything you’d put either on separately. It’s delicious.

Ghosted by snowfire @ 02/22/2007 4:13 AM EST

Matt and gang, the largest colossal squid has been caught! It’s not a giant squid but it’s apparently a close relative. Click my name for info and pics! My god, this post sounds like spam!!

Ghosted by Darth Poop @ 02/22/2007 11:22 AM EST

I don’t want to go into how many McNuggets I just ate but let’s just say it was a personal record in one sitting and I am blaming each and everyone of you for making me do it. Two notes, Sweet n Sour is better than I remembered and I mixed it and BBQ on one nugget, I feel they just cancelled each other out more than enhanced one and other.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 02/22/2007 12:45 PM EST

Squee: Our Wendy’s still serves bacon and cheese potatoes. Actually, you can get them loaded with everything if you want; chili, cheese, bacon, broccoli, chives, etc.

Ghosted by Matt(#2?) @ 02/22/2007 12:53 PM EST

Man, McDonald’s has had like 40 of those Hot Wheels promotions. Happens all the time. The girl option is often Barbie, but I’ve also seen Polly Pocket, Hello Kitty, and My Little Pony.

My favorite McDonald’s promotion is from 2001 or 2002: BattleBots. I’d outgrown Happy Meals at that point in time, but I was a gigantic BattleBots fan, and when I found out about the fact that BattleBots were coming to Micky D’s, I went right back to Happy Meals and began an epic quest to collect them all. The series consisted of 8 robots, mostly ones that competed season after season on the show: Ankle Biter, Diesector, Tentoumushi, Overkill, BioHazard, Mechadon, Ginsu, and a McDonald’s-created robot that sembled a metallic hamburger. I collected six of them over the course of the promotion (amassing some duplicates and a small army of BurgerBots in the process), and two years ago I was lucky enough to discover number seven at a garage sale (Tentomoushi). Overkill remains elusive. These things are almost as durable as actual BattleBots; for a free toy that comes with some chicken nuggets and fries, they’re very high-quality.

Another old promotion I enjoyed: The Attack Pack, some awesome Hot Whells vehicles that had buttons you’d hold down to open mouths and stuff on the toys. I still have a monster truck and a submarine from that set in my box of toy cars.

Last I checked, McDonald’s current promotion was for KatScratch, another one in the long line of disposable NickToons that never really took off. That show debuted about a year ago, why’s it getting a Happy Meal run now? I don’t get it.

Ghosted by Gooper Blooper @ 02/22/2007 1:17 PM EST

No, I’m being judgy, and the idea of making lemonade is wrong. I bet waitresses hated that. Again. That’s just me. Wrongfully judging.

Ghosted by kb @ 02/22/2007 1:31 PM EST

Gooper, there are two on eBay right now. Sadly, I don’t know what Overkill looks like, and there isn’t a description on either.

Plus, if I link both of them, this post would be in the approval bin. So, to eBay!

Ghosted by K- @ 02/22/2007 2:04 PM EST

Anyone remember when David Letterman did a top 10 list about how McDonald’s was becoming healthier? (This was back when he was actually funny on NBC; not the repetitive, sound-effect hand gesturing to the continuous drum cymbal-riff, bada-bing Paul Schaeffer making the pencil crashing through the window keyboard noise, washed up retard he is today.) Anyways, #2 was Ronald McDonald is not allowed to sleep in the salad bar anymore.
Food for thought: I once submitted a story about Grimace the McDonald’s Assasin vs. the Golphers from Zuchini Pit for my 8th grade english class. It featured a humorous Mongolian cluster-f**k of senarios pitting Grimace and his McDonaldland spies against alien ninja golphers from the underground fortress Zuchini Pit, coupled with the Smurfs forming and breaking alliances with both sides (Gargamel’s name was switched to “Gargle-Scope” for copyright protection purposes). Grimace’s camoflauge disguise was hopping up into a pear tree and hanging there when danger was afoot (purple pears were common in this area I guess). Joe Isuzu would pop in periodically and offer snide remarks, and the story came to and abrupt end when John Candy and Dolly Parton trampled everyone inside of the Smurf village.
I was crushed when my grade was “go to counciling” with a “know the signs of your child’s drug abuse” flier attached to my paper.
HAPPY 89th BIRTHDAY C.H. MINTY!!!!!!!!!!!!
I love you very much Grampa!!!!

Ghosted by Josh Ednoff @ 02/22/2007 2:15 PM EST

the burro I remember that McDonalds. They also had fancy leather chairs and flat screen tvs. I never ordered any of that fancy food though. It was always a six piece McNuggets meal for me.

Re: NY Comic Con I’ll be there as well. Kevin Smith will be moderating the Battlestar Galatica panel! Fun times ahead. It would be quite awesome if Matt had a table there. Instead of drawing sketches for people, he could sign with outdated ad slogans or obscure TMNT character names. Oh just imagine the possibilities!

Ghosted by BUCKLY! @ 02/22/2007 2:35 PM EST

I confess, I mix ketchup, mustard, and Franks RedHot at times… but it is only for delicious, piping-hot onion rings. When it comes to McDonald’s I like to request the little honey mustard packets that nobody seems to want. :)

Ghosted by Liz @ 02/22/2007 2:47 PM EST

Mattman our McDees had pizza, fried chicken, and hotdogs. The pizza was actual ok, sorta reminded me of hot lunch pizza from school. The fried chicken and hotdogs were nothing special.

Ghosted by AoDfan @ 02/22/2007 2:50 PM EST

Speaking of the Hot Wheels promotions, one of my favorites of those was when the cars they gave out about 11 years ago were Drag Racers. Damn, those were awesome.

Last I checked, McDonald’s current promotion was for KatScratch, another one in the long line of disposable NickToons that never really took off. That show debuted about a year ago, why’s it getting a Happy Meal run now? I don’t get it.

I liked CatScratch, and I agree the implausibility of the Happy Meal promotion taking place now, rather than a year ago when it was in its prime (It debuted summer of 2005). Nick actually advertised it as “The Next Big Nicktoon!” but then they found out that they couldn’t merchandise it to death like Spongebob & Rugrats so they moved on to Avatar (another good show, and premired months before CatScratch)

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 02/22/2007 3:07 PM EST

I have a McD’s McNugget Changeable, and a Rock Lords Nuggit. In overall ranking among my vast Robot Army, they are very near the bottom. And that includes the Bootleg Battalion of rip-off Transformers, aka The Expendibles (first to die in any conflict).

CatScratch, brought to you by Mr TenNapel, Earthworm Jim’s daddy.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 02/22/2007 3:24 PM EST

Nuggit was always one of my favorites as a kid. Rock Lords was a vastly underappreciated line.

Ghosted by Matt @ 02/22/2007 3:26 PM EST

Totally. How many other toys turned into square turds. Excellent article. Strangley they had similar placetrays in England too. So that was quite nostalgic for me too. :-)

Ghosted by Mikee Teevee @ 02/22/2007 4:25 PM EST

The Atari scratch-off card reminds me of the Nintendo card-line that looked JUST LIKE THAT. I have a 3in stack of them under my bed.

Ghosted by K- @ 02/22/2007 4:36 PM EST

Well, Nuggit is spiffy, I admit that. I’m just cranky ’cause I never got Jewel Lord Solitaire, the only Go-Bot related toy that was actually meant to be female, as opposed to assigning genders randomly to (un)lucky Machine Robo toys.

Ghosted by kingklash @ 02/22/2007 4:54 PM EST

Honey is DEFINITELY the best kept secret of the McNugget dipping sauces. Still available at any location around me (Ottawa Canada)

Ghosted by Monty @ 02/22/2007 7:43 PM EST

Since everyone is on this crack addiction towards chicken nuggets, anyone remember the commercial where the chicken nuggets challenge Ronald to a basketball game; they strap on their headbands and then “perform” a team dunk by all popping themselves into the dipping sauces. There is still a red mark on my forehead from slapping it in disbelief. Anyways, the continued infatuation with the chicken nuggets is on par with the effectiveness of Fighter Hayabusa’s Back Brain Kick on NES Pro Wrestling!
Speaking of wrestling, there is a confusing paradox that has been troubling me for over 10 years now that I need some help with. In the show Thunder In Paradise starring Hulk Hogan, how is it possible that Hulk Hogan can find time to wrestle AND save lives and the world at the same time?

Ghosted by Josh Ednoff @ 02/22/2007 7:48 PM EST

Hey guys, speaking of Mcdonalds, I dropped by it today and am happy to report that Shamrock shakes are back.

God I love those minty shakes. Truely the nector of the gods. hehe

Ghosted by Chris @ 02/22/2007 7:55 PM EST

They don’t have tubs of honey where you live? I live in a small town and they have them here. We take as many as we can.

Ghosted by Anthony Sullivan @ 02/22/2007 8:19 PM EST

Oh man, Rock Lords and the Go Bots movie was so horrible it was awesome!

I still have my Leader 1 and Nugget toys, I also still have that Motorized toy from the rocklords, it’s a Hairy Zebra striped pig, with an Alligator style snout. It’s legs are wheels though. So when you turned it on it drove around on these round pig legs and snapped its jaws. I think the hair still has He-Man slime residue on it.

Ghosted by JimmyJamesInc. @ 02/22/2007 8:33 PM EST

I was reading the article “Twelve Fantastic McDonalds Tray Covers” and noticed one of the covers was for a contest McDonalds had where you could win a “Atari Computer” with scratch and win cards. It just so happens I have an original scratch and win card from the 1982 contest. This card is in mint condition and UNSCRATCHED. I recently bought a book off Ebay from someone in California and inside this book tucked deep within the pages was this game card. I have no idea as the value or not of this card, but it looks to be a great collecter item. If there is anyone out there who knows someone who might be interested in this card, let me know as I will be back.

Ghosted by Debbie @ 02/22/2007 8:55 PM EST

Yeah, I know them as “tray liners”. Ahh, the nostalgia. ^_^

Ghosted by Scott @ 02/22/2007 9:41 PM EST

Here you go, Jimmy. I will always contend that Matt has written about everything.

Rock Narlies, FTW!

Ghosted by K- @ 02/22/2007 10:05 PM EST

Hey all. Been absent lately cause I just found out Mrs. Terror Claws and I are having a baby! Wow, childhood’s officially over at 29. Guess I had a good run though. Sucks they can’t grow up in the 80s. Poor, poor little kids. :(

Ghosted by Terror Claws Cole @ 02/23/2007 12:10 AM EST

Congrats Terror Claws! When are you due? I love hearing about fellow x-ers having babies, we keep getting more and more parents around here!

Ghosted by IHAQ @ 02/23/2007 1:00 AM EST

K- Ah yes the Narlies. But I dont have just any old Narlie, well I do have the green one also I found out. But I have the grandpappy of them all, I have “SNARLIE NARLIE”!!! the leader of all Narlies. Click my name to check him out.

After digging him out I realised that he isn’t a Boar like I thought, but a Bull. Go figure. For some reason, he reminds me of the Ninja Turtle Figure that was a Bull. I think his name was Ground Chuck

Ghosted by JimmyJamesInc. @ 02/23/2007 3:01 AM EST

Today I’ve been having a weird craving for Checkers, motly because I got coupons in the mail for it. The weird part is that I don’t even eat there!

I went to a Frat/Sorority mixer tonight, and there’s absolutely nothing more hilarious than MSTing a bad Cinemax porno with a group of drunk frat guys, and dry pledges. We were changing the channel from The Wedding Singer, when we stumbled upon it.

“Is it just me, or are beer commericals getting less creative?”~Me MSTing about it.

Ghosted by Invader Norbert @ 02/23/2007 3:53 AM EST

It’s too bad about the fate of the Arch Deluxe because I actually thought it was pretty awesome. I remember their promotion with Batman Forever quite well though I was only a wee lad of 7 or so…I actually had a Batman molded cup, I used to drink everything in it. I think it’s at a Goodwill store somewhere. Oh, the memories.

Ghosted by Ace N. @ 02/23/2007 4:56 AM EST

When I was a kid, we had Star Wars glasses! And Empire glasses. And Great Muppet Caper glasses. Real breakable ones!

Speaking of HM toys, tho, I found an Armada McHot Shot today. I think I might send him to my little nephew to buddy up with the Strongbot I found him for Christmas. :)

Ghosted by Moony @ 02/23/2007 5:36 AM EST

Hey guys. So seeing as how were on McDonalds, I thought I’d share this little story.

Im at a new job, and yesterday I had to go with our receptionist to mail out some items. On the way home she says “is it ok if I get mcdonalds? You dont mind waiting while I go thru thr drive-thru?”, and I of course say “no go ahead.”. Now keep in mind, this lady is very VERY large, and she sorta smelled, well her car did. In addition, she’s a redhead, which isnt bad at all, but she makes everyone call her Big Red. It’s weird.

Ok so here’s what happens, she starts to tell me that she usually doesnt eat mcdonalds, and for the most part only has their breakfast’s because “there actually pretty healthy, they use real eggs”. So at this point im thinking she’s not really looked into what shes consuming, but whatever. Then we pull up to pay, the mcdonalds employee opens the little window and says “Hey Betty! How are you today sweetie? I didn’t see u this morning but I hope your breakfast was good”. Keep in mind that Big Red (Betty) had already stressed to me that she “doesnt usually eat mcdonalds” which at this point she kinda realizes too, so she turns and says “They only know my name because I thru-up in their donation box”. I really didnt know how to respond to that because even right now it still doesnt make sense to me.

So case in point, if you puke into the mcdonald’s “donation box” it’s customary to tell them all your name, I guess.

Pointless story, I know. And yet everyone else I told didn’t think anything weird of it either. Am I the only one?

Ghosted by Nickelodeon @ 02/23/2007 10:33 AM EST

terror claws I didn’t mean to say when are YOU due, I ment when are you guys due to have the baby.

Ghosted by IHAQ @ 02/23/2007 10:51 AM EST

Nickelodeon- That’s hilarious.

CONGRATS, Manimal and Terror Claws!! :) More little XE’ers.

I am going home to my parents house for 4 days, and they DON’T have the internet, so I will be shaking with withdrawl symptoms by later this evening…SNT will be a lonely party of one- I will probably scribble something on a notepad in a sad attempt to participate…sigh. See you in 4 days. :(

Ghosted by Muppet Baby @ 02/23/2007 11:11 AM EST

Nickelodeon – What a story. I love how she made up and enforced her own nickname, that detail right there tells so much about her personality. And if you feel like puking, would you really pull up to the drive-through? Surely you could just park somewhere…
You have to revisit that McD’s and ask if the story is true.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 02/23/2007 11:20 AM EST

Jessica Marie I might just go back there at lunch today and ask. Honestly, I can’t get the story out of my mind, it’s consuming me.

On a related note, as I just walked past her area, it totally smelled like McDonalds. So i said just that “it smells like mcdonalds in here”, to which she honestly replied “It smells like mcdonalds in beer?”. I decided to not correct her, but rather stare her down and see how long it took her to say something else. Turns out thats about 2 full minutes. She then said “Well if it smells like mcdonalds beer, that might be because my boyfriend spilled his beer all over my pants last night”.

This is where I have the problem. Im not against wearing something that might be a little dirty, BUT i am against spilling something that smells like booze on my clothes and then deciding that ill wear them the next day without cleaning.

I think she just naturally smells like mcdonalds now, so that smell she didnt have to explain. She always smell’s like mcdonalds + (insert random smell here)

Oh and you might find it funny to know that when we went to the post office, before getting into the car she said “Oh wait, your not allergic to dogs are you?” and I said “not at all” to which she replies “ok becuase im thinking of getting one in the spring”………. im still confused as to where she was going with that.

Ghosted by Nickelodeon @ 02/23/2007 11:45 AM EST

Big Red makes me laugh and depresses the hell out of me at the same time. I like how you didn’t even say beer but she still had a beer related excuse, an excuse that ended up painting her worse than what you were getting at to begin with.

Ghosted by dohopoki @ 02/23/2007 12:01 PM EST

Im at a new job, and yesterday I had to go with our receptionist to mail out some items. On the way home she says “is it ok if I get mcdonalds?

What are you not telling us, you sly dog ;)

Ghosted by K- @ 02/23/2007 1:01 PM EST

Nickelodeon Great story…kinda sad, but it made me laugh.

Ghosted by kb @ 02/23/2007 2:13 PM EST

HAHAHAHA ok I didn’t even notice that I said home.

But believe me, big red looks like large marge. And I am no pee-wee.

Here’s another little interesting bit of info. We use ICQ here to communicate with each other (I didnt even know ICQ was still around) and most people will just send a message saying “hey whats up” or something to that effect. But not Big Red. If she wants to talk to you, the first thing she sends is “incomming”. That’s her way of letting you know she has another message for you that’s apparently “incomming”.

I sometimes feel as if everything she does is all a big setup to see how crazy she can make herself look. It’s hard for me to even believe she is the way she is.

Ghosted by Nickelodeon @ 02/23/2007 2:17 PM EST

sorry to double, but terror yay for you.
And you can have influence over your childs pop culture for a bit, my five year old son knows the 80’s because of the cds and cartoon series dvd’s I allow him to be exposed to. Come to think of it, I listened to my parents oldies til I was about 12.

Ghosted by kb @ 02/23/2007 2:18 PM EST

Thanks for the good words, peeps. The little lady (soon to be medium sized lady, har har) is due…on HALLOWEEN!!! Wooooo…now moving up to par with Xmas as my fave holiday, if only cause i’m gonna get a kid in my treat bag this year. I’m crazy pumped, and I’m buying what I think they absolutely need for an 80’s childhood outside the 80s. So far: Crazy Playmobil castle with tons of knights: check, Every 80’s cartoon I loved on DVD: check…and soon, when they release the 25th Anniversary GI Joes, I’m gonna snag em their own sets so they can play with and enjoy while watching 80’s Joe cartoons!

Backup plan: Cabbage Patch and a crapload of My Little Ponies.

Ghosted by Terror Claws Cole @ 02/23/2007 2:49 PM EST

Being born around Hallowe’en is a good deal, I’ll tell you what. Birthday parties can have costume contests, there’s lots of candy, and you can be a bit of a weirdo and people will accept it because of when you were born. 36 years of November Firsts, and I turned out all right. wakka-wakka do-do yeah! What if I take both the red pill and the blue pill, and shove them up my nose? La-da-dee, 1, 2, 3, Eric the Half-a-Bee…..

Ghosted by kingklash @ 02/23/2007 3:46 PM EST

Great article…the Hot Wheels one brings back memories. McDonalds was my favorite as a kid. I pretty sure I had all of those except the tow truck.

Ghosted by Jason @ 02/23/2007 4:13 PM EST

Kingklash: I can top you. I was born two days before Christmas, so I get double the presents and cash than my borthers get. Plus, I get to eat out. :)

Congrats to Manimal and Terror Claws on their impending arrivals.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 02/23/2007 5:31 PM EST

Ah, awesome article there Matt on placemats, er whatever you want to call them. The Happy Meal ones stand out the best for me.

Speaking of Happy Meals…

My kids are spoiled, over here in Germany, they actually let you choose what toy you want. Sigh, if only they had that when I was growing up…

Ghosted by Erik Majorwitz @ 02/23/2007 5:56 PM EST

Hold up, Manimal knocked someone up again? Dang, where have I been? Does this mean I too will be…

(wakes up in a cold sweat)

Ghosted by Erik Majorwitz @ 02/23/2007 6:01 PM EST

Nickelodeon –
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahah.
I am also consumed by your stories about Big Red, she seems impossibly ridiculous. Maybe you’re on a horrible reality show.

Ghosted by Jessica Marie @ 02/23/2007 6:17 PM EST

Yes, Nickelodeon we need daily updates on Big Red!

Ghosted by IHAQ @ 02/23/2007 8:10 PM EST

Don’t know if anyone is aware of this, but there is a new flavor of Diet Pepsi Jazz called Caramel Cream. It’s actually pretty good compared to the other two Jazz’s and tastes actually like it sounds.

Ghosted by JLAJRC @ 02/23/2007 8:12 PM EST

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