McDonald’s Australia Launches Birdie’s Brekkie Meal: 5 Fun Facts You Never Knew About the McDonaldland Mascot

By Heather Taylor, Editor-in-Chief, PopIcon

One of McDonaldland’s most beloved mascots is finally getting her moment in the spotlight. McDonald’s Australia (affectionately known as Macca’s) has recently introduced Birdie’s Brekkie Meal to their breakfast menu for a limited time.

What’s In Birdie’s Brekkie Meal?

The meal, which arrives nestled in an adorable handle box featuring Birdie’s likeness, comes loaded with a trio of iconic Macca’s eats.

Take your pick of a McMuffin or Brekkie McWrap topped with Birdie’s Brekkie Signature Pink Sauce (a savory tomato-infused mayonnaise), golden hash brown, and Birdie’s Strawberry Shortcake Frappe topped with biscuit crumbs.

This pretty in pink campaign comes courtesy of Wieden+Kennedy Sydney and the agency went all out to ensure Birdie is the star of the show. Birdie flies ‘round town in an animation meets real world commercial and gives briefcases and smartphones a breakfast glow up while her own theme song plays in the background. (Look up the Spotify playlist “Birdie’s Brekkie Beats” to listen in!)

Fun Facts You (Probably) Don’t Know About Birdie the Early Bird

We want to keep Birdie’s playful vibes going strong, so we’re sharing some of our favorite little-known trivia surrounding the McDonaldland mascot.

1. Birdie Made Her Debut in 1979

Rich Seidelman, former Leo Burnett art director and curator of the Meta account Filming in McDonaldland, said Birdie made her debut in 1979 to promote McDonald’s breakfast.

Just seven years later in 1986, Birdie was redesigned to introduce audiences to a softer and friendlier look. Her key characteristics stayed the same though. Birdie is a bright, perky early bird. She doesn’t mind waking up before everyone else because it means she gets to enjoy her favorite meal of the day: breakfast.

2. Birdie Loves to Fly, but Struggles with Landing

This tidbit comes courtesy of the 1987 “Ronald McDonald and Friends Specification Manual” which was art directed by Seidelman.

It’s not surprising to hear Birdie likes flying, but back then she had a tougher go with landing than most birds. The Birdie’s Brekkie Meal commercial “may” contain a subtle nod to this mention since the spot ends with Birdie rolling up against a massive frappe… but we could be reading too much into that!

What else does Birdie love besides flying? She’s super active and participates in sports, dancing, and exercise. Keep these notes in the back pocket for future commercials, W+K Sydney!

3. Who Voiced Birdie?

Birdie’s voice in early McDonald’s commercials was provided by voiceover actress Russi Taylor.

Beyond Birdie, Taylor also voiced Minnie Mouse and several characters from The Simpsons including Bart Simpson’s know-it-all classmate Martin Prince. Taylor passed away in July 2019.

4. Birdie’s McDonaldland Arrival Happened at Night

You’d think Ronald, Grimace, the Professor and the Hamburglar would have been introduced to Birdie in the morning since she’s an early bird, right? Not quite. A 1986 McDonald’s commercial establishes it was nighttime when Birdie first came to McDonaldland.

The commercial shows a huge pink box falling from the sky with a “open me!” tag. Inside the box is a massive egg, but the egg won’t quite hatch.

Ronald suggests they give the egg some love and affection. Everyone builds a “nest” around the egg consisting of blankets and pillows to keep it warm through the night.

It worked! The egg cracked a smile. As the night changed into day, Birdie hatched and was immediately welcomed and embraced into the McDonaldland character crew.

5. Birdie Starred in Ads for the McKids Clothing Line

Remember McKids, the clothing partnership McDonald’s had with Sears in 1987?

This limited collection showcased brightly colored children’s clothing in comfortable fabrics available at the retailer. A McKids commercial showing the McDonaldland characters stocking shelves and clothing racks with t-shirts, overalls, and matching kid’s sets at midnight aired nationwide. And even though none of these ensembles appears to be inspired by Birdie herself, she did make appearances in the print advertisements.

Psst, W+K Sydney: let’s get limited-time Birdie merch to go with her Brekkie Meal, yeah?

Image Credits: McDonald’s Australia

About the Author

Heather Taylor is the senior writer and editor-in-chief of PopIcon, Advertising Week’s blog about brand mascots. Got a pitch on brand mascots or want to wax nostalgic about characters? Drop her a line at howveryheather@gmail.com.