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Plymouth McDonald's Happy Meal

Dad 'outraged' by McDonald’s masturbating Mario claims pranksters gave false quotes to the Mirror

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

August 19, 2015 | 2 min read

A Mirror news story outlining a father’s concern with alleged sexual gestures made by a McDonald’s Happy Meal Mario toy has been outed as a fake by the man the outrage was attributed to.

Father-of-five Tyler Atfield was quoted in the Mirror as an outraged dad concerned the doll’s jerking motion resembled masturbation, thus making it unsuitable as a toy.

The article read: "I was very concerned because it looked completely inappropriate, I was not happy. They should not be giving out toys that look like that. My kids started doing the action and it was so wrong.”

The problem is, Atfield later spoke to the Plymouth Herald, claiming he was stitched up by “one of his mates… for a laugh” and was in actual fact not angered by the toy in the slightest, nor did he provide the Mirror with the quote.

Atfield said: “I don’t have a clue who’s done it. I just can’t believe it, it’s made me embarrassed to go out on the street to be honest.”

McDonald’s dismissed the ‘outrage’ in a statement: “Super Mario toys are a much loved part of our Happy Meal promotional range.

"This particular toy has been available across the world since 2014 without any complaints so we are surprised that Boomerang Mario has been misconstrued in this way."

Plymouth McDonald's Happy Meal

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