Whataburger’s redesigned packaging proves the Happy Meal could be happier

Whataburger is rethinking the fast-food kids meal.

The Texas-based burger chain just relaunched its Kids Whatameal with a new focus on an engaging packaging experience over a singular plastic toy. In a sense, the packaging is now the toy: The meals come in a bright, white-and-orange box with a handle on top, an interactive maze printed on the side, and one of five collectible sticker packs inside.

“We wanted to build something that was a bit more intentional and experience-led,” Scott Hudler, Whataburger’s chief marketing officer, tells Fast Company.

But the experiential strategy is first visible in the food options themselves—essentially by providing kids with choice. “Kids are more likely to eat that full meal when they can have some control of the entrée, the sides, and the drink,” Hudler says. As such, kids can choose from a burger, grilled cheese, and chicken strips or bites, plus french fries or Mott’s applesauce, a drink, and a treat.

The packaging came out of extensive user research that took place online and in person at Whataburger’s innovation center, which found that while food is a big driver of the decision, so is agency.

The team adapted its design with those findings in mind. Whataburger considered several different formats for the kids meal packaging but ultimately decided on a box with a small handle that’s easy for kids to hold and carry—a handled box tested best because it gave kids a sense of independence and ownership.

The packaging is also fun to play with. Whataburger’s research found that while traditional character-based plastic toys are “a nice to have,” sensory toys or activities outperformed plastic toys and even desserts.

“In testing, tactile, sensory-driven items performed better,” Hudler says. “Kids consistently gravitated toward things they could actively touch and manipulate,” like stickers, games, activities, and fidget-style pieces. (For a limited time last year, McDonald’s launched blank Happy Meal packages kids could draw on, later returning to its classic red.)

Ultimately, Whataburger sought to make its packaging “unmistakably Whataburger” by emphasizing visual brand assets like the orange-and-white stripes and the flying W. The box also shows the smiling face of Whataguy, the chain’s superhero mascot who first appeared on kids meal bags in 1999. Actress Eva Longoria, a longtime Whataburger fan, stars in a campaign promoting the kids meals with her son.

The redesign better competes with McDonald’s brightly packaged Happy Meals, but it also serves much the same function as a butcher paper table covering and crayons for the kids at a sit-down restaurant. Sometimes the best toy is the box it comes in.

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