Artist Kerwin Frost with his new take on the McNugget Buddies.
It's the year of the mascot at McDonald's.
Less than six months after the Grimace Shake reinvigorated the popularity of the fast food chain's big purple taste bud, McDonald's has turned its attention to a coterie of mascots that have been dormant for over 25 years: the McNugget Buddies.
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McDonald's will roll out the Kerwin Frost Box, a collab with New York-based artist Kerwin Frost, on December 11. Customers who order the meal will choose between a 10-piece McNuggets or a Big Mac and will receive fries and a soda.
But the star of the limited-time collab are the McNugget Buddies, an assortment of anthropomorphic McNuggets that haven't been a part of McDonald's mascot rotation in decades.
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The McNugget Buddies were first introduced in a 1988 Happy Meal, according to McDonald's. They made appearances in McDonald's Canada comics in the early 1993, were available as Sports Buddies in the UK, Japan and Singapore in 1992 and were last seen in 1996 for McNugget Buddies Halloween.
Frost has given the Buddies a facelift, updating retro designs such as the police officer, cowboy and SCUBA McNugget. The six new McNugget Buddies are based on Frost's experiences growing up in New York City, including one that is designed to look like him.
The Kerwin Frost Box is McDonald's latest attempt at putting a fresh spin on its vintage mascots. Last year, the chain partnered with streetwear company Cactus Plant Flea Market for a limited-edition meal that featured toys of mainstays Grimace, the Hamburglar and Birdie.
Money Report
The meal was such a hit that opportunistic buyers attempted to resell the toys for as much as $300,000 on eBay.
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