WASHINGTON — Are the toys in your child’s Happy Meal making him fat?
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says they are. The Washington-based consumer advocacy group threatened to file a lawsuit against McDonald’s today, charging that the fast food chain "unfairly and deceptively" markets the toys to children.
"McDonald’s marketing has the effect of conscripting America’s children into an unpaid drone army of word-of-mouth marketers, causing them to nag their parents to bring them to McDonald’s," CSPI’s Stephen Gardner wrote to the heads of the chain in a letter announcing the lawsuit.
Okay. There is so much wrong with the above that I am having a hard time figuring out where to start. Let's start with the obvious: McDonald's offering a toy in their Happy Meals is not making any child fat. McDonald's Happy Meals are not making any child fat. Parents that allow their kids to eat McDonald's Happy Meals too often are allowing their children to get fat. Blaming McDonalds for this is like blaming Ford Motor Company for drunk driving deaths.
If your child is eating at McDonald's often enough to become obese from it, the problem is not with McDonald's. The problem is you're failing as a parent to provide your child with healthy food options or getting enough exercise, or a combination of both. My kids eat at McDonald's as a treat maybe once a month or so, and guess what? Neither is obese. Heck, we have trouble keeping meat on TheBoy's bones. Growing kids can eat pretty much whatever they want - as long as they're allowed to be kids and run around and play whenever possible.
Using this group's "logic", should we be suing Nintendo because the Wii makes kids want to stay inside on the couch?
If anyone out there honestly thinks that McDonald's food is healthy, well, little I can say here will here them. Suing McDonald's over a plastic toy isn't going to magically absolve folks from having to commit acts of parenting - kids are going to want fat and grease in their food regardless of the cheap POS lead-coated trinket included therein. If you are of the sort that feeds your kid a doublecheeseburger and large fries every night for dinner, whether McD's offers a free Webkinz toy or a broccoli stalk ain't gonna make a lick of difference in whether your kid porks up or not.
It's all up to you as the parent to make wise, healthy choices for your kids. They're going to chose the fatty, fried, chocolate-covered option every single time - you need to be the responsible baddy who says, "No, you can't have macaroni and cheese for the fourth night this week". You need to say and do unpopular things sometimes as a parent if you want your kids to grow up healthy, safe, and smart. If you want to be their BFF and allow them to eat whatever they want, don't be surprised when they balloon up, and don't expect McDonald's to pay for the liposuction.
Actions have consequences no matter how hard we would wish them away.
That is all.
8 comments:
Using this group's "logic", should we be suing Nintendo because the Wii makes kids want to stay inside on the couch?
Hey! Don't give them any ideas!
" ... the fast food chain 'unfairly and deceptively' markets the toys to children."
Instead of marketing toys to adults? I thought toys were suposed to be for children? Silly me.
These toys are placed in a child's sized meal. Called a HAPPY MEAL. "Unfair and Deceptive" would be to leave the toy OUT.
Hah hah! I'm the adult, and I got a toy marketed to me, but no toy for you! Not so happy now, are you?
That would be unfair and deceptive.
Don't worry, wolfwalker, they won't risk killing the Wii (X-Box, Playstation, etc.). They don't want to give up their instant babysitter.
No, McDonalds' food is not the problem.
McDonalds' money is the problem.
They have it, and the idiot parents want it.
Redistribution - it's for the children, after all.
Stupid people lead stupid lives, do whatever they want, be it good or bad, right or wrong and then blame someone, anyone, else for any ills and problems that befall them.
There is no logic involved other then their "logic" that kid got fat eating happy meals that they bought him because he wanted the toy and I am to lazy to cook or buy groceries. So it's MacDonald's fault.
See how easy that was?
Cripes we are in trouble.....
Some day these same kids will run for office.
Frightening isn't it!
No marketing is more powerful than a parent's "No." None. Kids can whine, threaten, and plead all they want, but the parents have the vehicles and the wallets. Don't want the kids to eat Mickey D's? Don't take them there or go pick up that food for them.
But, you know, that requires the parents to act like adults, which is, sadly, a skill that some lack.
CSPI (one of the worst purveyors of junk science in the world) tries this silly stuff every couple of years. They do it to justify their so-called "non-profit" tax-exempt status, and get more donations. One could safely ignore them but for 2 reasons:
A). Remember the old lady who spilled hot McDonalds coffee in her lap a decade ago, and sued because the coffee was "HOT"? She got a few million out of that, if I recall, and you see warning labels on coffee cups now.
B). MICHELLE OBAMA WANTS TO "STAMP OUT CHILDHOOD OBESITY" and what the Obama's want...
Great Blog you've got here, man. Will be back.
what is this I don't even
SERIOUSLY. The kids are not the ones with the money, the parents are. And if the parents can't even hammer it through the kids' heads that no means freaking NO, then it's no way, shape, or form the fault of McDonald's.
I'm losing more and more faith in humanity by the day.
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