While the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are looking to cut vast holes in your wallet for their own VR headsets, McDonald’s have stepped into the ring, and are offering their own VR experience for the mere price of a Happy Meal.
The fast food chain have announced “Happy Goggles” – a virtual reality headset made from a Happy Meal box. That’s not chicken nugget grease in your eyes my friend… that’s Virtual Reality. No, wait, it’s just grease.
The video below shows off the kind of visual trickery you could be getting up to. Simply pop out the eye holes, do a bit of folding, and slide in your smartphone to enjoy. McDonald’s have even put together their own ski themed VR game called Slope Stars to be used with your shiny new box.
According to AdWeek, Happy Goggles will be trialled at fourteen McDonald’s establishments in Sweden over the weekends of March 5 and March 12. Around 3,500 will be made, priced at about $4.10 (£2.93) a pop.
Jeff Jackett, marketing director at McDonald’s Sweden said:
Parents can learn more about their children’s knowledge and experience of the digital world. And purposeful gaming can also be a great joint activity that helps families interact on equal terms.
Jackett also adds that the program could be expanded if it proves popular. Just imagine it: Hordes of screaming British kids running around, probably slamming into doors and windows in your local McDonald’s with boxes strapped to their face. It sounds awful.
Ewan Moore is a journalist at UNILAD Gaming who still quite hasn’t gotten out of his mid 00’s emo phase. After graduating from the University of Portsmouth in 2015 with a BA in Journalism & Media Studies (thanks for asking), he went on to do some freelance words for various places, including Kotaku, Den of Geek, and TheSixthAxis, before landing a full time gig at UNILAD in 2016.