McDonald's Happy Meals

[Cornflakes]

Yahoo! news item regarding new McDonald's lawsuit

 

Please read the article, then vote in the poll.

 

The plaintiffs allege that McDonald's intentionally deceives kids into eating unhealthy burgers and fries by packaging their Happy Meals with fun toys.

 

There are a lot of issues here to debate: Is fast food really that unhealthy? Will taking the toys out of Happy Meals actually encourage kids to eat healthier meals? etc.

 

But we'll start off simply: Has McDonald's willfully used deception to get kids to eat their food? Discuss. :)

[Noog]

There's this certain word that I love called "No". Tell it to your children.

 

You're telling me that your child drove themselves to McDonalds? They also paid for their meal? NO. They asked you. You said yes. You should have said no. If you think McDonalds is making them fat, stop taking them to McDonalds and stop buying them food from there. OH NOES MY KIDS ARE FAT FROM MCNUGGETS. No, YOU GAVE THEM THE MCNUGGETS WHEN THEY ASKED FOR THEM.

 

McDonalds should, however, make their food a tad bit healthier, and by a tad bit I mean a lot. If you don't know what I mean you should look at their nutrition facts for their whole menu. You would be amazed if you saw exactly how bad most fast food is.

 

*And for the record, a county in California has already banned most Happy Meal toys from what I understand. They set a certain amount of calories, and if the meal surpasses that amount then it can't have a toy. Don't ask me which county because I heard it on the radio.

[Viridian]

Of course they get kids to eat their stuff with toys, that's what they are for!

 

However, I don't think they mean to get the children fat, that is a little bit too much in my opinion. I personally always loved the happy meal, but only because of Disney toys (I love disney movies!)

 

I think if you don't go to mcdonalds regularly, say just a couple of times a year, I don't see it being unhealthy. It's totally up to the parents whether they bring their child to the Mc or prepare dinner themselves for once <_<

[Girl at the Rock Show]

There's this certain word that I love called "No". Tell it to your children.

 

You're telling me that your child drove themselves to McDonalds? They also paid for their meal? NO. They asked you. You said yes. You should have said no. If you think McDonalds is making them fat, stop taking them to McDonalds and stop buying them food from there. OH NOES MY KIDS ARE FAT FROM MCNUGGETS. No, YOU GAVE THEM THE MCNUGGETS WHEN THEY ASKED FOR THEM.

 

McDonalds should, however, make their food a tad bit healthier, and by a tad bit I mean a lot. If you don't know what I mean you should look at their nutrition facts for their whole menu. You would be amazed if you saw exactly how bad most fast food is.

 

*And for the record, a county in California has already banned most Happy Meal toys from what I understand. They set a certain amount of calories, and if the meal surpasses that amount then it can't have a toy. Don't ask me which county because I heard it on the radio.

 

I totally agree with the first paragraph.

It does entice young children, but in NZ you can buy the toys separately so its no excuse for the parents.

Especially if you take them to that place in the first place!

I've heard of loads of cases where people sue Macca D's for making them fat. I mean have some self control!

 

Unhealthy food is nice because of the added fat and sugar content. I don't think we should get it rid of it completely. I mean I like it but I only have it once in a while.

Domino's pizza is insane. Pretty much your recommended daily intake of calories is in one pizza. Like that should be how much you eat all day! Haha.

 

But yeah I'm more for public education rather than restricting laws.

[Quark]

Man, people always take fast food way too seriously. I had Happy Meals as a kid, the toys were fun of course, but I don't think they did any harm. Plus, Happy Meals offer apples now instead of fries and milk instead of soda. Although I doubt that most parents get that for their kids when they order it on the go, the option is available.

Honestly, I don't think fast food is that bad for you, there's a lot worse that we endure and ignore on a daily basis. "Everything in moderation" is my motto and I think my occasional Happy Meal with a cute little toy inside when I was a kid was fun and harmless. (Heh, I still order kid's meals at fast food places.)

 

I think people are too paranoid about "evil corporations" using psychological tactics on us. Subliminal messages are a lie, and although humans are very easy to manipulate through blatant advertising a great deal of us can think for ourselves.

[Alberto of Meridell]

Fat children are fat because their parents control what they eat and cater to their every wish (like bringing them to McDonald's). We need to teach parents to be more assertive.

[Hannah B.]

I agree with everyone above. I don't know about you guys, but when I was really young I barely even paid attention to the food. I would have like two fries and a bite of my burger because I was too busy playing with this awesome toy.

 

I don't see how someone could possibly see this as some devious trick being played by McDonald's to get kids addicted to their food. It is true that children will be devious and try to grasp any kind of control they can, namely by yelling and screaming that they want McDonald's and not stopping until they're in the drive-through. But I'd say that's probably less due to the kid wanting the toy than actually wanting the food. Let's face it, eating fast food is satisfying because we're wired to like eating foods that are high in fat and sugar because they provide a high amount of energy. Hence why kids can easily start to crave fries and pop in the place of healthier foods like fruits and vegetables.

 

Too many parents give in to this because it's easier to get their kids to shut up by giving them a Happy Meal than actually disciplining them and saying NO and following through with it. That's a common scenario in life, and I bet McDonald's counts on that fact of life bringing them revenue, in a way. But is it their fault that parents are lazy and unwilling to properly discipline their child and teach them the values of self-control and eating healthy? That's a big fat no (pun not intended, ahah).

 

McDonald's does a good thing (at least in Canada anyway, not sure about other countries) by putting the daily recommended values on their packaging, and how much of what you're eating contributes to that daily total. Even if an egg McMuffin does give me 1/3 of my daily recommended intake of sodium, that's fine--I just like to know. I don't eat them every day, and on days that I do I try to not eat anything else that's fat- or sodium-laden.

 

EDIT: I just wanted to add one more thing. I disagree SO much with this statement:

"At some point parents get worn down," Jacobson says. "They don't always want to be saying no to their children. We feel like an awful lot of parents would be relieved if this one pressure was removed from them."

 

As if kids would stop asking for Happy Meals if there were no toys inside them. And as if McDonald's should be responsible for the pressure being put on parents. It's like suing the LCBO (liquor store in Canada) for someone being an alcoholic! ARGH IT'S SO STUPID :grrr:

[Big Brother]

It would be a no because thye don't really do anything to you if you don't go there as much, like most people the should only go on occasion or if you just didn't want anything else, which doesn't happen much. But just don't let them hit Africa.

[Ro-]

Oh, yes, how dare they give you added value for your money and force you to buy their food for your children. Wait, no. It's a choice and it's marketing. Doesn't look like I'm the first with these thoughts though - does anybody agree with the lawsuit?

[Cornflakes]

Of course they get kids to eat their stuff with toys, that's what they are for! However, I don't think they mean to get the children fat, that is a little bit too much in my opinion.

 

I agree...the reason why I wanted to hear y'all's opinions on this in the first place is because that special interest group was basically trying to convince the nation that McDonald's is evil and intentionally deceptive. It's like the higher-ups at McD's are all sitting around this 30-foot table in some high rise somewhere, scheming world domination through making people obese. "Let's put as much unhealthy stuff in our food as we can. But how will we market it to children? We have to get our hooks in them while they are young, that's the ticket!" ..."Well why don't we include a toy. Kids LOVE toys." Then they share an evil laugh. "Muhahaha! The world is ours!"

 

Unhealthy food is nice because of the added fat and sugar content. I don't think we should get it rid of it completely. I mean I like it but I only have it once in a while.

 

Another excellent point. Fast food didn't make people obese. People made people obese. There is no exercising or hard work anymore. Most things are done by computers and robots nowadays. Even farming, that old labor-intensive occupation, is now done entirely by machinery. The farmer just points the harvester in the right direction and GPS does the rest. He doesn't even have to steer the thing.

 

And, I love fast food. On days that I want to splurge, McDonald's fries make me sublimely happy. Fats and sugars are bad for you but oh-so-tasty. But I don't eat fast food everyday. I think it's just common sense that you don't want to do that.

 

 

Fat children are fat because their parents control what they eat and cater to their every wish (like bringing them to McDonald's). We need to teach parents to be more assertive.

 

Absolutely - parents are buying the food and not cooking for their children anymore. It's a travesty. Not only do the kids need nutritious foods, they also need the structure of sitting at the family table every night and talking about their day. Parenting and the family unit are in a shambles these days.

 

 

Too many parents give in to this because it's easier to get their kids to shut up by giving them a Happy Meal than actually disciplining them and saying NO and following through with it. That's a common scenario in life, and I bet McDonald's counts on that fact of life bringing them revenue, in a way. But is it their fault that parents are lazy and unwilling to properly discipline their child and teach them the values of self-control and eating healthy? That's a big fat no (pun not intended, ahah).

 

I have a ten-year-old, and I can assure you that he becomes a whiny, sassy little monster when he wants something. But I have this great word: NO. I'm not afraid to say no to my kid, no matter how much he pesters. I think parents in general want to spoil their kids because it seems to be in vogue. Spankings have become taboo, parents work too much to feed their children healthy, home-cooked meals, and society has taught us that not giving your child everything s/he wants is equal to child abuse. :sad02:

 

But just don't let them hit Africa.

 

I think any food everywhere should find its way to Africa. They're starving over there. Let's start with all the food used in eating contests. I say we cancel those ridiculous eating contests and just send the food to Ethiopia. :)

[Chu]

-__- It seems like all parents are trying to blame the world for their mistakes in raising their kids these days. I'm sorry but I'm so tired of people blaming fast food chains for their weight problems. Obesity is caused by the sedentary lifestyles that most people in our nation have. The unhealthy food certainly doesn't help the matter, but they're mixing up the cause and the result here.

 

But one thing that we all have to realize is that it's MUCH easier to blame a faceless company than it is to blame ourselves. Why take responsibility when we can scapegoat someone (or some group) instead?

 

Laziness laziness laziness. That's what it all boils down to, no matter where we take this debate. Parents are too lazy to cook so they opt for fast food. They're too lazy to use proper parenting (which takes a lot of work) so they consistently go back to fast food. They're too lazy to take responsibility so they blame the company. They're too lazy to take initiative to lose weight (or get their kids to lose weight) so they wallow in their own fat.

 

The toys? Of course they're a marketing technique - I think that's pretty obvious to everyone. But to go to the extent of saying that McDonalds intentionally creates them to make kids eat unhealthy food goes a bit too far.

 

 

@Cornflakes: Addressing the issue of parents never saying no: There are other reasons for that. My mom spoils the hell out of us because she grew up very poorly - rape, abuse, foster homes, the whole nine. As she puts it, "I want to give you all the life that I never had. Enjoy your childhood while you're still a kid." While commendable, at least in theory, it boils down to bad parenting in practice, and sadly, this is what many parents want to do. My theory is that this trend started with the baby boomers who grew up with nothing. Once the economy got better and they had kids, they figured that they should give their kids everything in the world to compensate for their own missed childhoods. This mentality was passed down through generations because it's a very romantic ideal to grant your children their lazy care-free days of youth, but when you look back on it, it only leads to infantilization, which I'd be happy to discuss in another topic.

[Unstream]

I agree...the reason why I wanted to hear y'all's opinions on this in the first place is because that special interest group was basically trying to convince the nation that McDonald's is evil and intentionally deceptive. It's like the higher-ups at McD's are all sitting around this 30-foot table in some high rise somewhere, scheming world domination through making people obese. "Let's put as much unhealthy stuff in our food as we can. But how will we market it to children? We have to get our hooks in them while they are young, that's the ticket!" ..."Well why don't we include a toy. Kids LOVE toys." Then they share an evil laugh. "Muhahaha! The world is ours!"

The thing is, that's probably what actually happened. Minus the evil laugh and the world domination part. The toys were offered so that it would attract kids to eat there. It's an intentional marketing effort. But the aim isn't to make kids fat, the aim is to make a profit. And, well, they're a business, so they're all about profit. So I'm confused, how is this illegal? o_O

[Cornflakes]

@Cornflakes: Addressing the issue of parents never saying no: There are other reasons for that. My mom spoils the hell out of us because she grew up very poorly - rape, abuse, foster homes, the whole nine. As she puts it, "I want to give you all the life that I never had. Enjoy your childhood while you're still a kid." While commendable, at least in theory, it boils down to bad parenting in practice, and sadly, this is what many parents want to do. My theory is that this trend started with the baby boomers who grew up with nothing. Once the economy got better and they had kids, they figured that they should give their kids everything in the world to compensate for their own missed childhoods. This mentality was passed down through generations because it's a very romantic ideal to grant your children their lazy care-free days of youth, but when you look back on it, it only leads to infantilization, which I'd be happy to discuss in another topic.

 

Awwww, I can see that. I'm sorry your mom had a hard life. :( I kinda do the same thing because I had it rough too. Probably not as rough as your mom had it but my ex-dad (I don't call him "dad" anymore) made our lives an utterly joyless, meager, horrible existence. While I tell my kid "no" all the time, he still gets a lot more "yes"es than I ever got. And naturally, my son is now lazy, has a horrible attitude, and won't lift a finger to do anything for himself. It sucks that the balance between raising a good kid and raising a spoiled kid is so difficult to achieve. But anyway, yeah...I agree with you 100%.

 

The thing is, that's probably what actually happened. Minus the evil laugh and the world domination part. The toys were offered so that it would attract kids to eat there. It's an intentional marketing effort. But the aim isn't to make kids fat, the aim is to make a profit. And, well, they're a business, so they're all about profit. So I'm confused, how is this illegal? o_O

 

I know right! It cracks me up that some people in this world start boycotting a company because of some asinine reason. People start companies to make money, yes? It's like "Boooo McDonald's for trying to profit off of kids' meals. Boooo Microsoft for trying to make as much money as they can by simplifying computer utilization for the average non-tech person." It's ludicrous. Sure, anti-trust laws are a good idea, don't get me wrong...but every time a company starts making some serious cash, there's always some jealous hater around to start squawking.

[Tyler.]

it's been said but there is a magic word called no

And if the parent will do whatever their kid asks, then I question the quality of their parenting skills

[CAV of Gang Green]

It seems like I'm going to be the one where people are going to go on me with this, because it seems as though I'm the only one that thinks that they should lose this case.

 

Now, I don't think it's McD's fault alone, because ALL major fast food franchises do this. Burger King, Wendy's, and others followed this trend. But it is true. Back then, no one gave toys, and that's when no one was majorly obese. But now, a huge amount of people are overweight. And I've actually seen it with MY OWN EYES, kids yelling at their parents to get happy meals because they want toys. So before you say I'm lying or anything like that, just think about what I said.

 

And I agree with Tyler when he says that's the parents fault, but also note that the parents usually want McD as well.

[Chu]

You're completely right, CAV. I've seen the same thing. I still can't come to agree with the plaintiffs though. There should be more self restraint and discipline on the part of families that purchase McDonalds if they're going to complain about it.

 

 

For me, Unstream hit the nail on the head here:

But the aim isn't to make kids fat, the aim is to make a profit.

 

And Cornflakes here:

It's ludicrous. Sure, anti-trust laws are a good idea, don't get me wrong...but every time a company starts making some serious cash, there's always some jealous hater around to start squawking.

 

 

Those two quotes sum up my opinion on many debates, actually. XD

[CAV of Gang Green]

The aim isn't to make them fat, and to make profit. But McD is the largest food franchise in the world. I'm sure they make enough profit without happy meals.

 

Besides, I never figured out WHY the kids want the toys. They're all crappy.

[Big Brother]

It's only the little kids that want them, but sometimes when you're bored you just play with them.

[takarifreak]

Now, I don't think it's McD's fault alone, because ALL major fast food franchises do this. Burger King, Wendy's, and others followed this trend. But it is true.

 

And it's not even just fast food places either that do it. Take cereals for example. There is a reason that the sugary cereals marketed for kids are in bright colors. People in advertising for anything make big bucks because they KNOW how to get your attention and make you want to buy their product, even if you don't see outright just how they manage to do so. Subliminal advertising does work.

 

 

 

Is McDonald's (among other places) marketing to children? Sure they are, because they know it works. That's part of how business and marketing work. Welcome to the western world.

 

I've noticed a tend with the generation of kids growing up now...the parents do not know how to say NO and actually follow up on it, so they kids have no comprehension of the meaning. Back when I was a kid, going out to Wendy's was a TREAT, not a lifestyle.

 

McD's and other unhealthy food only 'makes' one fat if you continue to patronize them frequently, and that is a CHOICE. NO ONE is shoving it down their throats. This isn't like some radiation in the local water giving people brain cancer or anything out of one's own hands.

 

ANYTHING can make you fat if you eat in more than you can handle. Some foods do increase that process, yes, but everything in moderation. It's not rocket science.

[Blah Blah Blah]

I agree with you all. The toy is for the kid's amusment, making them want a kid's meal more. It isn't McD's fault. Their aim is for a profit, not to make kids obese. They are like any other company, aiming for a profit. Parents are so lazy nowadays though, too. Parents buy their children those foods, making their children fat. If they spent maybe 10 minutes to make their kid a sandwich or something simple, they probably wouldn't be obese right now. As a kid I loved the toy. But my mom, growing up in a poor country, her own mom raised her the right way. She didn't spoil me at all, because she wasn't spoiled. I got McD's maybe once a month because we (me and my brothers) were being good. And other unhealthy foods, like pizza, she only got for me and my brothers when she was TIRED, she worked 12 hours a day, I don't blame her. I am not fat now, thank goodness. But parents really need to learn to disipline their children.

[PhilosophicalkiD]

I've decided to just go ahead and answer all the questions in the first post :laughingsmiley: .

 

Is fast food really that unhealthy?

Yes, i personally think it's the most unhealthy thing to eat.

After i eat at mcdonald's, or any other fastfood place i just feel really gross/unhealthy.

I definately eat it more than i should and think it's the least healthy food choice for people in general.

 

Will taking the toys out of Happy Meals actually encourage kids to eat healthier meals?

No, i remember as a kid i loved eating those happy meals and could care less about the toys.

Sure they were a nice bonus, but the food is what i craved.

 

Has McDonald's willfully used deception to get kids to eat their food?

In terms of willfully, i would definately say yes they are using toys to get kids to eat their food.

But, the fact that kids are eating to unhealthy should not be blamed on mcdonalds and should fall onto the responsibility of the parents.

It's clearly not the child's decision whether or not they eat that food, when it all comes down to it, the parents are the ones who decide.

[Ro-]

Ironically, I bet those same parents would foam at the mouth over the idea of a nanny state.

[kathleen_a_b]

Fast food is definitely super unhealthy; you can watch the movie/documentary Supersize Me if you want to see for yourself. A guy eats McDonald's everyday for 30 days to see how unhealthy it is. If you only eat it rarely, though, it's not gonna make everyone obese, i agree that people can exercise some self-control.

 

As for the deception question, I don't see how it's deceptive. They say you get a toy in a happy meal, and then they give you a toy with the food. They're not lying about anything.

[DiamondZ]

I don't eat at McDonald's my self anymore since of the stuff I heard and saw there. But they are doing nothing wrong Parents don't like then don't go but instead they go there anyway.

[Princess_Megan]

In my personal opinion, I love them! I'm well over the age they are aimed for but I find them just enough to make me full. I don't think they are teaching the kids bad things.

 

Think about it, if they don't have the kids meals to choose from they could be getting the large #3 with everything! If anything having the toys is preventing the kids from eating the bigger, more unhealthy meals because they DON'T come with a toy.

 

(did that make any sense?!)