McDonald's is aiming to broaden its appeal with a new Happy Meal mascot that may wind up having the opposite effect.

The fast food giant introduced the mascot, named Happy, on Monday:

McDonald's says Happy "brings fun and excitement to kids’ meals while also serving as an ambassador for balanced and wholesome eating."

Yeah, well, he also brings a kind of unanticipated terror, too. Look at that smile -- it looks like it's hiding a bottomless well that swallows little children who only want to enjoy Chicken McNuggets after playing soccer with their traveling team. And those eyes. We're pretty sure Happy is lulling children into hypnotizing them.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Twittersphere was equally freaked out:

It's enough to make us long for the day of Burger King's creepy king:

Happy will begin his reign of terror in Mickey D's all across this great nation of ours on Friday. Consider yourself warned.

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