A closer look

Forget Hasbro and Mattel; the true kingpin of the toy industry smells overwhelmingly like french fry grease. Thanks to the relentless cultural dominance of the Happy Meal, McDonald's distributes over 1.5 billion toys globally every year. They realized decades ago that the secret to long-term economic superiority isn't culinary excellence, but bribing toddlers with cheap plastic junk so their exhausted parents will buy a burger.