The company's UK division officially removed the smile from millions of Happy Meal containers in solidarity with Mental Health Awareness Week, which runs from May 13 to May 19. They're also dropping "Happy" from their famous menu item ... calling it "The Meal."

The redesign, brought about by Leo Burnett UK and Ready 10, is meant to reflect a recent study ... which found that 48% of kids in the UK feel pressured to be happy all the time.

In response to this finding, McDonald's distributed 2.5 million Happy Meal boxes to over a thousand locations in the UK ... with selected restaurants also receiving a range of emotion stickers -- so kids can replace the iconic smile with whatever emotion they'd like.

Louise Page -- a Mickey D's honcho -- said ... "We know how important it is to help stimulate open conversations about mental health in families, and through this change to our Happy Meal box, we hope many more families are encouraged to kickstart positive conversations around children’s emotions and wellbeing."

Now, this isn't necessarily new news ... as Burger King famously did something similar in 2019. Remember, McDonald's rival fast food chain took shots at Happy Meals, releasing Whopper Meal boxes, called "Real Meals."

The packaging featured different moods and colors alongside the slogan ... "No One Is Happy All the Time." In fact, BK didn't even offer a happy option at the time.

Burger King also dropped a #FeelYourWay campaign ... encouraging young people to express all their different emotions.