HAPPY MEAL ON LEGS. Buffyverse Term/Concept/Idea/Intratext.
In “Becoming,” Part 2, Spike, in a conversation with Buffy about his willingness to help her save the world from Angel, who has recently been transformed into his evil alter ego Angelus, makes reference to the McDonald’s Happy Meals. While traditionally marketed as a meal to appease children containing kiddie-size portions of food and a child’s toy placed within container geared towards children, Spike tailors the fast food titan’s Happy Meal to the vampire realm. Spike suggests that for vampires, feeding off of humans produces a blissful delight that is comparable to the joy a child experiences from acquiring a McDonald’s Happy Meals; for vampires, humans are “Happy Meals with legs.”
The following passage of Spike’s speech is taken from the Buffyverse Dialogue Database:
SPIKE: We like to talk big. Vampires do. ‘I’m going to destroy the world.’ That’s just tough guy talk. Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. The truth is, I like this world. You’ve got . . . dog racing, Manchester United. And you’ve got people. Billions of people walking around like Happy Meals with legs. It’s all right here. But then someone comes along with a vision. With a real . . . passion for destruction. Angel could pull it off. Goodbye, Piccadilly. Farewell, Leicester Bloody Square. You know what I’m saying?