McDonald's Happy Meals are traditionally associated with kids. But in Sweden, the brand recently used them to cheer up isolated grandparents.

In a campaign that ran over a weeekend, via Nord DDB, McDonald's Sweden invited families to surprise their elderly relatives with a Happy Meal Senior. Families could organize a Happy Meal box to be delivered to a grandparent's home, together with a personal greeting their grandchildren themselves had drawn or written.

The idea was to provide some cheer to grandparents, who may have become lonely due to social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic. While Sweden has not had strict lockdowns in the same way as most other European countries, its government has encouraged older people to isolate themselves and not to meet up with grandchildren.

“We wanted to let the kids surprise their grandparents with what they themselves love most, along with a surprise that we know the grandparents appreciate. We hope the initiative has made the lives of the grandparents a little more enjoyable,” said Sofie Lager, Senior Marketing Manager at McDonald's, in a statement.

McDonald's isn't the first chain, however, to create a meal for older people. In 2017, rival Burger King created a meal box for seniors in Brazil, in a project via David that was designed to promote more inclusion for older people in society.