McDonald's McTrax placemats complete your happy meal by letting you DJ

McDonald's is taking the happy in its "happy meal" to new musical levels. The fast food chain in the Netherlands has introduced a new placemat that doubles as a DJ controller called McTrax. The placemat comes equipped with Bluetooth and digital touchpoints embedded within its circuitry that allow customers to hook it up to their smartphones and jam like a McDJ.

McTrax was developed in collaboration with ad agency TBWA/Neboko and digital production firm This Page Amsterdam. McDonald's newest creation is aimed at promoting and encouraging people to unleash their creativity and make their dining experience more memorable and fun.

McDonald's Netherlands marketing director Erwin Dito said: "This is exactly what McDonald's is; a place to have fun and experience great moments, for everyone," Adweek reported.

McTrax looks like a deceptively non-tech thing, but the papermat is actually embedded with 26 digital touchpoints, conductive ink as well as a tiny battery - all of which allow diners to connect it to their smartphones to record music. Diners are required to first download an app (available for both iOS and Android users), after which they can use the "buttons" on the placemat and their phones to make recordings of their own voice. Customers can also mix things up by using the app's pre-recorded loops and musical effects to make their musical creation sound all the more cool and fun.

TBWA creative technologist Radha Pleijsant and digital design lead Jan Jesse Bakker said: "The paper of the placemat is what makes this technique so innovative. The phone merely acts as the speaker and screen, which is easily connected to the placemat via Bluetooth, making sure you can hear the music on your speakers."

Unfortunately, only Netherlands McDonald's lovers can currently play at being a DJ with McTrax. The fast food giant is yet to make any announcement on whether it intends happy meal lovers across the globe to also try their hand at being a McDJ.