McDonalds Facing Lawsuit For Happy Meal Toys 145
cosm writes "Looks like personal responsibility died a little bit again today. From the article: 'A watchdog group says giving away toys with Happy Meals contributes to childhood obesity, and threatens to sue. The [watchdog] organization on Tuesday served the fast food giant with a letter expressing its intent to sue if toys are not removed. The letter is legally required in several states before lawsuits can be brought under consumer protection statutes. ..."McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children," Stephen Gardner, litigation director for the advocacy group, said in a statement. "McDonald's use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children's developmental immaturity."'"
If you are that fat (Score:5, Funny)
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I second that opinion. That kid looks like he could inhale a couple supersized bigmac combos in a few seconds.
People need to learn not to overfeed themselves and their kids. It's not the toys fault, it's the DUMB PARENTS. They're raising an entire generation of people who will be lucky to live to 30.
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This level of bio-engineering should be made illegal.
I do not think that they employ anything complicated like that. It's more like "serial manufacturing" or "mass production" (compare to "cooking").
Occasionally when I get something from fast food, I get the feeling that their food is simply "empty". One feels full for a short time - often very short time - but the food apparently contains close to 0 of what my body actually needs. Why shortly after I feel hunger again.
If I were in the environment where there were no other choices but fast food, I'm su
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I work for McDonald's, at the corporate offices. This is not an official statement in any way by McDonald's. That said...
I have sat in presentations by the head chef and company and department meetings with our high level executives. As a company McDonald's really does care about freshness, nutrition, and good health. It is not just public relations.
Complete - stunningly complete - nutritional information is available both in the restaurants (as a brochure) and on the web site.
McDonald's food ingredients ar
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I work for McDonald's, at the corporate offices.
That explains a lot. (*)
Two of my friends had McJobs in past so I know for a fact that what you say is not completely true and rather naive. (E.g. dehydrated onions story or how to sell a day old hamburger.)
And even if the info from the friends is outdated or they (unlikely) lied to me - I personally still cannot go against the verdict given to the food by my own stomach.
(*) I went now through couple of large companies and, as a software developer, I was always surprised about the level of delusio
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"produce" at McD's. Yeah right...
Produce at McD's is GARNISH. The bulk of what's at McD's is cheap white bread, potatoes, high fat meats and psuedo-cheese all fried or deep fried.
Those complete nutritional disclosures tell the tale very well.
Most people simply don't bother.
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> McDonald's food ingredients are the same or better quality as those most people would buy at the grocery store, from companies like Kraft and Tyson.
That kind of says it all right there.
Most of ConAgra engages in the same nonsense as McDonalds. So it's not terribly interesting to say that one is a lot like the other.
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That kid looks like he could inhale a couple supersized bigmac combos...
He is so grotesquely obese he probably has problems inhaling air. He has fat segments flowing over his wrists! They should just throw him whole into the fryer were he can dissolve and be recycled.
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Well, the issue isn't so much overfeeding as it is allowing a screaming child who "wants a TOY!!!!!" to overrule parental judgement. So far as I'm concerned McDonalds has done nothing wrong, in fact adding carrots as an option over fries was a GOOD thing. But parents can be weak and so it's not so much that they overfeed as it is they cannot say no.
That said, a McD's small hamburger is 250cals, with cheese 300 as I recall. The small fries add say another 150-200cals. To a parent, or someone like me on a die
Re:If you are that fat (Score:5, Insightful)
Is it better? It costs us in the food resources that are being wasted over the lifetime of the morbidly obese, medical costs, and dedication of medical professionals to help with patients who aren't willing to help themselves. Consider the other additional problems, where ambulances have to be made larger to accommodate the oversized patients, larger tools (everything from stretchers to MRI machines), and even when they pass, oversized accommodations must be made at the cemetery.
I went to the doctor recently, and joked that I am fat (I'm 155 lbs at 5'8"). He laughed, but pointed out that they had a new scale. The old one only went to 400 pounds. My doctor personally sent a person to a large animal hospital, because they couldn't find an MRI machine that could take anyone that size. Even if you look at the high end of a height/weight chart, someone who's 6'8", the high normal weight should be 216. We're not talking about extremely muscular athletes, we're talking about people who can't see their own shoes to tie them, because too many fat folds are in the way.
Even someone very muscular, like Arnold Schwarzenegger when he was winning body building trophies was only 250lbs at 6'2". There's no excuse for anyone to be 350+ pounds.
We're going to kill ourselves, and that's not just the morbidly obese. They are putting a huge demand on the food supply, which hurts everyone who wants to eat. When you hear about the morbidly obese and their diet, they eat enough in a day to feed a normal healthy person for a week (or more).
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You see morbidly obese people.
I see a self-propelled food supply with an integrated anti-spoilage mechanism.
For when a comet hits, or something like that.
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Nah, your food supply would degrade too quickly. No food makes your supply shrink, either through internal usage or failure of it's support mechanism.
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People prefer lean meat, which means more muscle and less fat....
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Bacon hater. :p
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I love bacon, but then I also like it crispy meaning most of the fat is cooked off, also you'll notice the cheap bacon in the store has lots of fat, but the good stuff has much less.
Fat isn't the part people eat, it's the muscle that we all enjoy so much.
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"Even if you look at the high end of a height/weight chart, someone who's 6'8", the high normal weight should be 216."
This is utter nonsense. I have a cousin who stands at 6'8" and isn't especially athletic. He is quite fit: he watches his diet, works out three days a week, and barely has any visible fat on him. His weight? 235 pounds. Likewise, I'm 6'1" and if I weighed what those idiotic charts say I should weigh, I'd be skin and bones. At my lowest adult weight, I was 205 lbs and had a 30 inch waist belo
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No, actually you're arguing the finer points of the charts. I was simply referencing where the lines were drawn the the "experts".
You mention folks over 6', with weights in the low to mid 200's. My complaint was where weights were frequently exceeding 400 pounds, and sadly if you've spent any significant time people-watching, you'll see that they aren't always even near 6'.
I was underweight for most of the first 20-some years. Then I bounced over to "overweigh
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Another is to go round chucking bricks through windows.
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He's definitely the exception to what I said, not the rule. I've known people like him. They're great to have beside you in a bar fight. Not so great to be the one angry at you.
"No sir, your girlfriend wasn't all over me. That was another girl that looked a lot like her, I promise."
[runs away quickly]
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Both IMDB [imdb.com] and Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] list him to be 6'2". While Wikipedia can be questionable, IMDB is pretty accurate with their information, often maintained by the celebrity (or their agent).
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I'll pick on anyone, I'm an equal opportunity offender. I'll pick on fat people because they are fat. There are genetic reasons to be overweight, but for the majority of people, it is not a genetic disorder. It is a decision. They decide to eat more than they can burn, and the excess is stored. If you're overweight, and eat like you aren't, you will find that your weight will drop. It's as simple as that. The part that isn't easy is that modern society makes food readily available to
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The Happy Meal is the gateway drug.
You get hooked from the shiny toy and the burger. Next thing you know, you're hossin' down the super-sized double Big Mac combo with a side of cheeseburgers like El Gordo there.
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You are eating two happy meals.
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Is there such a thing as an ecstatic meal?
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Old News (Score:3, Insightful)
Didn't that guy bring this up with Supersize me like years ago? Haven't they already had to face lawsuits because "Eating McDonalds makes you fat"?
I swear, is no one responsible for their own actions anymore? Don't get me wrong, I don't think what McDonald's does is right, but if you play the "I'm not in control of what I eat" card, you deserve to become obese.
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I'm not saying there's no such thing as personal responsibility ...
But, it's cheaper to eat McD's that actual fresh food from a grocery store -- both in terms of $$, and time. And, in Super Size Me, he actually went through withdrawal when he didn't have that crap. Your body starts to crave the high sugar/high fat.
You start giving a four year McD's on a regular basis, putting it into schools and whatnot, you're going to end up with this proble
Re:Old News (Score:5, Insightful)
But, it's cheaper to eat McD's that actual fresh food from a grocery store -- both in terms of $$, and time.
Definately NOT in money. At least not here in Canada.
Spaghetti noodles: $3
Extra Lean Hamburger meat: $5.50
2 Cans of Tomato Paste: $3
Stock of Celery: 89 cents
2L juice: $1.50
Grand Total: about 15 dollars after Tax.
This will easily get you 5 full meals, more than any meal you can buy at McDonalds with any combo.
There are TONS of easy meals you can spend 20 minutes cooking and have microwavable leftovers for the rest of the week. Chicken and Rice with any veggies you want is another great combo.
Just most people would prefer going through a drive thru 5 times a week as opposed to spending 20 minutes cooking 2 nights a week. It baffles me.
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I still don't get people who try and tell me that eating out is cheaper than cooking. I make something that my Dad calls chicken surprise (the surprise is there's no chicken) for about $10 which gives me lunch all week and 4 dinners. I can't afford to eat unhealthily.
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Hmm.
Ten McDoubles == $10.
Five small fries == $5.
Five big meals for $15, from McDonalds.
Next?
(I'm ignoring the health aspects, on purpose.)
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Mmmm... Those 15 minutes each day spent queueing instead of cooking sure were worth it.
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The topic is money, not healthfulness.
My argument is that it is equally cheap to get five meals from McDonalds as it is to make five meals with of spaghetti using a previously-posted recipe.
If you want to discuss healthfulness, you'll have to find another thread.
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Well if the topic were MONEY I'd suggest the 69cent instant noodles you can get from any supermarket. A meal for under $2
Or even just a box of Rice, will last you for like 2 weeks.
I was trying to show that if you are willing to spend as much money on groceries as you are on fast food, you can actually eat Healthy.
However, if you are trying to eat cheap, home cooking is DEFINATELY cheaper than fast food, I guarantee.
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Cheap and fast doesn't have to be unhealthy. Example: Here in the UK, the cheapest McDonalds burger costs 1 pound.
A packet of Sainsbury's basics or ASDA noodles (that's walmart for you people across the pond) can be had for about 9 or 10 p. Preparation time is about 4 minutes. To make it a proper meal, upgrade it: For example with an egg (15p), half an onion (5p), a tomato (10p) and half
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If the topic is MONEY, then you just replicate the food faithfully and you end up spending less. You can replicate the food and improve it's nutritional content considerably and still pay less.
Potatoes are dirt cheap. Even ready made fries aren't very expensive.
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You including a beverage? Because I am.
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Hmm I can get each family member (6 of us) a burger and fry for $2 each.. $12 total and they are all bitching at me 2 hours later because they are still hungry..
Or I can feed all of them for $5-10 and about 30 minutes of my time. As a bonus I still have leftovers I can take to work for Lunch the next day.
Now for single people I'll have to admit.. cooking for one person sucks.. You either make way to much or there isn't enough material in the pan to cook properly.
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There's also the fact that a lot of people don't even know how to cook something as simple as some noodles anymore...
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The proper way to cook noodles is, of course, in a toaster.
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You're wrong of course. Hamburger Happy meals are $1.99 here in Florida. That's 7.5 meals for $15.
Not that I'd ever advocate eating at McDonalds.
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What are you talking about? Big Mac combo is about $6.50 in Seattle. A deluxe combo is about $7.50. A happy meal is about $4.50. It's more expensive to eat at McD's than it is to eat at home. My average home cooked meal costs between 75 cents to $5 depending on whether I'm eating spaghetti or steak. For a child under 12 it's even lower.
You have to know where to shop to get it under $3 a meal. Here we have a few stores: Costco, Bargain Mart, Cash & Carry, and Walmart. Typical prices at Bargain Mart on 4t
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BZZZT wrong. A hamburger Happy meal is $1.99, right now, where I live.
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Maybe he's posting from the past. I don't think Happy Meals have been that cheap for a LONG time.
Re: the card played (Score:2)
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By definition, any business that produces and/or sells a non-essential product is abusing stupidity. Buying non-essential products could also be easily considered as stupidity, especially if you favor them over essential products.
Those parents teaching their kids about responsibility by letting them loose and not educating them about product quality is blatant stupidity. It's like opening a checking account for your kid and then handing them the checkbook without another word of advise. Is the kid seriou
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I swear, is no one responsible for their own actions anymore? Don't get me wrong, I don't think what McDonald's does is right, but if you play the "I'm not in control of what I eat" card, you deserve to be euthenased.
FTFY. Being in control of what you eat is easy. When you see the sale on a jumbo pack of 72 pancakes with some of that lovely high-fructose corn syrup you love to drizzle over, don't buy it. Walking past a $2.99 all-you-can-eat fried food buffet? You bet! Walk straight past! Grab a banana.
Unless you are tied down to a chair and being spoon fed can after can of refried beans Gluttony-scene-from-Seven style, you are in control of what you eat. Get some willpower. And if you're doing this to your kids, you de
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Don't worry, kids are birthing other kids long before age 20 these days.
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Not if they look like that kid they're not.
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Oh, I'm quite sure that there's a 12-step program for those people that starts with something akin to "I admit that I am powerless over my food addiction and only someone else can save me".
What really blows is that these people have SO low self esteem that they can't even fathom they they, and nobody else, beat the habit. They accomplished that. Nobody else. But that won't work. They would never believe that they, and they alone, got anything done right. And instead of giving them a self esteem boost during
Parental responsibility anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Parental responsibility anyone? (Score:5, Insightful)
The sooner your child learns to accept "no" for an answer without whining about it, the better off they are going to be in life. In marriage, we learn to expect "no" for an answer!
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Spoken like a true non-parent.
How do you explain calorie balance, saturated fats and the like to three-year old?
A fair proportion of adults wouldn't have a clue.
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"How do you explain calorie balance, saturated fats and the like to three-year old?"
You don't, you impose (gentle) discipline. They don't get the reasons for the orders they are given until they can understand them. I got to see the results of a wide variety of child-rearing methods among recruits in the USAF and in community college where I work. The key to happily competent SELF-discipline is early, IMPOSED discipline (no, not Lee Ermey in Full Metal Jacket if you are dealing with a child, though his char
Re:Parental responsibility anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)
No, you can't have McDonald's again today.
Why?
Because you had it yesterday.
Why can't I have it again?
Because it's not good for you.
Why?
Because it has things in it that will make you fat.
I wanna be anorexic when I grow up!
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My boys get their choice of restaurant foods once a week. It's usually McNuggets and apple slices from McDonald's or a grilled cheese sandwich and banana from Sonic. Our choices are limited here, so that's really all they know that they like. They've been told that having too much food from places like that is bad, but that's all they've been told. I for one am not going to create body image problems in my 3- and 5-year old sons by telling them that they'll get fat if they eat too much. I simply control what they eat so that they develop healthy appetites.
Children do need to learn to accept that their parents understand things that are above them. I do my best to answer all the questions my kids have. They are already both considered gifted and are well above their age levels on education, but some things are beyond their comprehension and I'm not going to tell them something that might result in them completely misunderstanding my answers.
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So that my five-year-old who already has issues with death (he lost a dog, a great grandmother, and a great uncle all in the past year) can spend the next six months freaking out about whether or not the food he's eating will kill him.
I think "it's bad for you" is a sufficient answer for young children.
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A 3 year old is perfectly capable of understanding "stuff that makes you grow" versus "stuff that makes you fat" or "stuff that gives you energy". You don't have to patronize young humans. They've got much more inherent talent than older people who do nothing but make excuses.
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But I want the Sudetenland! I want it! I want it!
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Typical "American exceptionality" thinking...
Protip: It doesn't make you achieve anything, except a misplaced sense of entitlement
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You sound like one of those parents that have to beg children to behave.
Why get personal? Did it hit a raw nerve because I advocate reasoning rather than authoritarianism? :-)
Children don't have developed reasoning
Oh, children are very receptive to reasoning, and it can be formalised quite early if you're willing. Modern state education won't give you that, but the brain is there for training.
and thus can't always be convinced.
Unlike the average 40 year old, the perfect model of reason.
Telling your child "No" to McDonald's with an explanation that too much can make you fat should be enough.
You're insulting your child.
Most children can continuosly reply with "but why?" regardless of what you say. You can't convince that.
Most adults have given up on asking "but why?" to everything, instead developing a series of unquestioned assumptions and prejudices. It's
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As a father of two four year old girls, all I can say is : either you're extremely lucky, or you never had kids ... and you definitely never really watched ads targeted at kids.
The kids I know (that's including my daughters, nieces, cousins and the other kids in the kindergarten ) are very receptive to logical arguments, they understand them, and they don't give a fucking damn. All they want is the miniature shrek. And once they've seen that there are fries coming with it they'll want those too. Thankfully,
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I prefer to think I raised my daughter well to simply being lucky.
My daughter said something a few years back that made me smile. She may have been 7 or 8 at the time. Out of the blue, she very matter of factly stated that "Companies make things on commercials look better than they really are, just to make you want to buy them."
I couldn't have been more proud.
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> As a father of two four year old girls, all I can say is : either you're extremely lucky, or you never had kids ... and you definitely never really watched ads targeted at kids.
It's pretty simple really. You understand the situation and the dangers. Simply don't let it happen. Yes, don't let them be subjected to that propaganda to begin with.
If they start acting like they've bought into TV commercial propaganda then threaten to yank their TV watching priveledges.
If you let a kid walk all over you, they
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Kids are only coercive and manipulative when they've been indoctrinated into hierarchical thinking. In (very rare, isolated) non hierarchical societies, where kids are not beaten regularly, don't have their genitals mutilated, are held until they don't want to be anymore, and never sleep alone, they do not rebel and do what adults want them to without being beaten into it. Think about it, what is the evolutionary advantage of untrained, unskilled young humans rebelling against the wishes of their elders? No
Bad analogy (Score:2)
Re:Bad analogy (Score:4, Funny)
Right. He's not trying to make them fat, he's just trying to stuff them!
Reality check (Score:5, Insightful)
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Stupid Stupid Stupid (Score:2)
1. The kids are not the ones buying happy meals; the parents are. If the parents are not strong enough to say "No" there is a much bigger problem.
2. Happy meal toys are a good thing. They give the kids something to do while the parent is eating their meal. Kids get bored fast.
3. Today's Happy meal can be quite healthy. http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/meal_bundles/happy_meals.html [mcdonalds.com]. A bit low on vegies but not all that bad.
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That's what I was thinking. The Chicken McNuggets meal with milk and apple slices has a combined total of 400 calories, 15 grams of fat and 18 grams of protein. Not bad for an entire meal.
it's the parents that buy a Happy Meal and a few extra burgers and fries off the Dollar Menu for their kids that are doing it wrong. Maybe they'll sue McD's for offering affordable $1 pricing?
McDonald's undercuts parental authority? (Score:3, Interesting)
If you think McDonald's undercuts your parental authority then you had no parental authority to start with, and as much .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtwMRnc_oU0&feature=fvsr
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"If you think McDonald's undercuts your parental authority then you had no parental authority to start with, and as much as I dislike McD's I must say I'm pretty sure your fat kid isn't their fault."
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You fucked up the link too. Just sayin'.
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Yeah, exactly.
There's this little thing that parents seem to forget these days called "saying no".
When my daughter would ask to go to McDonald's, I would say no. She may have thrown a fit the first few times, but I didn't let it get to me. Eventually, she stopped asking.
I see so many parents say something like "Well I don't think that's a good idea..." the kids then throw a fit and they give in to avoid the screaming. All this does is teaches them that screaming gets them what they want. It's bad for you an
Australia does it different (Score:2, Interesting)
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It's not 'Maccers' fault, it's the parents. Just saying that kids are smart little bastards, and very capable of working the system to get what they want. Best to just teach them what's good and bad, and explain why, then let them make the decision (And by that, I mean "eat the red berries" yourself and eat healthy food
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Over here in Australia 'Maccers' is giving out shrek ear toys in happy meals only if the kid has 'ogre apples' (cut up apples, should be onions imo) instead of fries. Seems they are realising the only way to make kids healthy is buying them off.
Actually, I think that this is a good solution to the problem. The kids are still eating the burgers/nuggets which are not exactly healthy, but at least you are putting something healthy into the mix. And yes, I do think that Apples are healthy ;-)
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That's assuming the kid eats the apples.
At least they won't be eating the fries...
but if i can't blame everybody else (Score:2, Insightful)
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** notice from reality ** (Score:5, Insightful)
1. The brain is a biological organ like any other, able to be manipulated and programmed - "personal responsibility" is a philosophical fiction with a certain limited degree of practical application (e.g. to legal principles) but which cannot be applied to a scientific analysis of animal behaviour;
2. Few /.ers may be in kids' advertising, but it works and it works and then it works some more - if you think there is no problem with encouraging bad behaviour "because no-one's forcing you to do it" then you ought to question your premises;
3. In particular, if you think anyone should be able to make a buck as long as they're not putting a gun to your head, your position is one of self-interest and your opinion is motivated by creating a world full of people fucking each other over;
4. "Parents need to acquiesce less to kids' demands" and "McDonalds should stop pounding kids with advertising to help them get fat" are not mutually exclusive. If you wonder why everyone's eating out and getting fat, perhaps you should cut through the screen of political correctness and check out how families were generally arranged 30 years ago - who isn't at home now to make the meals?
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Bullshit.
One of the major problems with the country is the lack of willpower exhibited by supposed adults. It's even worse when we are talking about parents. I don't fault McDonald's in their efforts, I do fault parent's inability to say no. It's not hard, certainly not hard when your child understands that YOU are in charge.
Who do you propose we put in charge of monitoring companies? A government agency? That's never a good answer, as most government agencies couldn't find their ass with both hands.
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Yes, yes. We get it. What you're really saying is, "Look at me! I have my shit together! I'm smarter and stronger, and everybody should strive to be me!"
So, fine then. Good for you! Here's a gold sticker! You should be praised and patted on the head.
People who rail on about personal responsibility are often the least aware people on the planet. They really, honestly, truly believe that they are indestructible, that they are immune to mind programming.
But if I were to take you and strap you down and
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Except...I'm not being strapped down, force fed bullshit. It's advertising, and I have the option of walking away from it. The will power argument applies here, strictly BECAUSE it's one's choice whether they pay attention or not.
Nice straw man though.
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Except...I'm not being strapped down, force fed bullshit. It's advertising, and I have the option of walking away from it. The will power argument applies here, strictly BECAUSE it's one's choice whether they pay attention or not.
Yes, you are VERY special.
You probably have a healthy brain, were probably fed well as a child, you probably had authority figures in your life who placed importance on critical thinking and passed those values on to you, you probably had access to books and time and space to develop a strong will and the ability to discern lies from truth.
A great many people do NOT have those benefits.
You are working from a state of high benefit to condemn those who are not as smart as or as gifted as you as though these a
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If you want to boil it down to such a question, then yes; it is morally and ethically OK to trick a person ( not a dog, straw man again ) when they have a choice otherwise.
Unless you want to argue that only a small subset of people in the world ( or this country ) are responsible for their own choices, and as such only those can be held responsible for their actions. That's not a road I want to go down, nor is it sustainable in any sense.
Stupid people will make stupid decisions, but it's their choice and n
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Stupid people will make stupid decisions, but it's their choice and no one else's; hence their responsibility.
Exactly. Except the difference is that you are able to say it now without hate.
Feels better, doesn't it?
-FL
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2. Few /.ers may be in kids' advertising, but it works and it works and then it works some more - if you think there is no problem with encouraging bad behaviour "because no-one's forcing you to do it" then you ought to question your premises;
You're letting your kids watch television with ads, there is your first mistake.
I don't get it... (Score:2, Insightful)
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I think you misunderstand the function of marketing for non-essential products. or underestimate its power if done correctly.
It's all about creating a demand for something people don't actually need. Believing that adults are immune against it is ignoring the reality, especially if kids are used as additional leverage.
One thing I might need to make clear though is that I don't promote going with your kids to McD (nor actually going to McD yourself), but putting the blame solely on the parents is just plain
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The problem is with the way people think.. "It's always someone else's fault" is a quote that a lot of people live by.
Missing the point (Score:5, Interesting)
This summary, and even the NYT article seem to be missing the point.
The point is not that MacDonald's serves crap. We all know MacDonald's serves crap. Even MacDonald's knows MacDonald's serves crap, which is why they are constantly saying "look! We have these non-crap things on the menu, TOO!" (And even when they do that, they point to their alternative to fries -- apples you can dip in a sugar mixture. Brilliant.)
The issue is advertising to children.
To quote the article: "Citing toys aimed at promoting the latest "Shrek" movie, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that the plastic promotions lure children into McDonald's restaurants where they are then likely to order food that is too high in calories, fat and salt."
The important part of this line should be: "Citing toys aimed at promoting the latest "Shrek" movie, the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that the plastic promotions lure children into McDonald's restaurants" Because that is ILLEGAL.
Advertising to children is not legal. It's something that we, as a society, have looked the other way on for many, many years, but there are laws aimed at preventing it. When you advertise to children, you externalize the cost of advertising to the parents because the children will nag the parents until they cave. Influencing adults costs a lot more, when you do it directly, and sometimes it's just impossible. Many parents wouldn't dream of ever taking their kids to MacDonald's, but cave when they're shrilly begged for MacDonald's for the 400th time. You want to keep your children healthy by keeping them from eating that crap, but it's far, far easier to cave than to fight your kids every single day, and even if you do, their sitter or grandmother or even their teacher on a field trip will cave. It's practically an irresistible force.
I once talked to a MacDonald's ad man (a woman, in this case) who proudly pointed out to me that Ronald never eats the burgers. You see, any MacDonald's ad is broken into segments. The entertainment segments don't advertise. The advertisement is only the parts where Ronald isn't on screen. The parts where Ronald is on screen is apparently a friggin' PSA.
The toys in the Happy meal are supposedly a value item to help an adult make a judgment to buy a happy meal because it will both feed and entertain his/her child. That's value. That's also bullshit. The toy, as we all know, is there because kids will want to go to MacDonald's to get the toy.
They're advertising to children. They need to stop.
The fact that they serve crap is immaterial.
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the Center for Science in the Public Interest said that the plastic promotions lure children into McDonald's restaurants" Because that is ILLEGAL. ...
They're advertising to children. They need to stop.
Holy shit. That is the dumbest fucking think I've ever heard (including the time I heard, "Just fuckin, fuckin, fuckin, fuck you, Paul"). I'll take your word (at least for the sake of this conversation) on the fact that it actually is illegal.
you externalize the cost of advertising to the parents because the children will nag the parents until they cave
Boo fucking hoo. Might as well make it illegal to sell candy bars at grocery stores (or gas stations or baseball games or cafeterias or vending machines) because kids are going to nag parents. Might as well make it illegal to put Transformers on shoes or Sponge Bob on
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It's illegal to advertise cigarettes & alcohol to children. The fact that there are toy & cartoon advertisements on TV makes your argument complete nonsense.
Also:
"In the United States the Federal Trade Commission studied the issue of advertising to children in the 1970s but decided against regulation." --Wikipedia
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