In honour of Mental Health Awareness Month, Burger King just launched some not-so-subtle new products that playfully poke fun at their rival’s famous Happy Meals. The fast food franchise delivers an important message about depression while rolling out a collection of unhappy meals, “because no one is happy all the time.” While it’s unexpected to see a fast-food giant speaking up about these issues, Burger King has tackled issues like bullying and gender discrimination in previous campaigns.

BK, which teamed up with Mental Health America, released five unhappy meals called The Real Meal which cover a variety of different moods:

• Pissed Meal (mad)
• Blue Meal (sad)
• Salty Meal (bitter)
• YAAAS Meal (excited)
• DGAF Meal (Don’t give a fuck).

The box includes a standard Whopper, fries and a drink and are rolling out in a few major US cities, including Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, Austin, and Miami. Unlike Happy Meals, however, Real Meals don’t come with a toy, because they are targeted to the older audience. The goal of the campaign is to encourage people not to keep their mental health issues to themselves and speak up about their emotions.

“While not everyone would think about pairing fast food and mental health, MHA believes in elevating the conversation in all communities in order to address mental illness Before Stage 4, ” said Paul Gionfriddo, the president and CEO of MHA.

#FeelYourWay

Burger King released a video promoting the Real Meals. In the clip, various people share their struggles, frustrations and sadness.

“Not everybody wakes up happy. Sometimes you feel sad, scared, crappy,” one person in the video says. The group of people then breaks out singing “All I ask is that you let me feel my way” sung to the same tune as “Have It Your Way,” a song that burger fans might recognize from 1970s Burger King commercials. After the song, the video fades out and text on the screen reads: “No one is happy all the time. And that’s OK.”

The Real Meal campaign was well received, with many people excited about the company’s intentions to tackle important issues. A donation has been made to Mental Health America on behalf of Burger King, but the exact amount has not been specified. And while the promotional campaign doesn’t aim to prevent mental health issues it tries to spark conversation about issues we all face sometimes.

Source: https://people.com/food/burger-king-unhappy-meals-mental-health-awareness/