To me it seem like a nanny state move. If I want to feed my kid a happy meal thats my perogative. @theregulator The whole meal is banned until it meets nutritional requirements or the toy is removed. Reading about a spokesperson's response to this neither seems likely.
I think if you do remove the toy a lot of 4 year olds will pout and throw a fit. So I would like to see them improve the nutrition of the food. You've got to admit their food is unhealthy. McDonald's needs to step up its game.
*shrugs* this is rather idiotic if you think about it. No one is forcing the parent to buy the Happy Meal. I'm all for nutrition, but when we boil it down, who cares?
You know this is kind of stupid and intelligent at the same time. Of course, you should always promote good nutrition, especially in America, where we're a bunch of fatties, but people will eat at McDonald's until the world ends. I would start small and make my way up, advertise, etc. No one can defeat McDonald's, and I'm not joking.
I understand why they're doing it, it's a psychological effect. The child sees they get a cool toy every time they eat this or that, so they ask for it more often, leading to an 'instinct' to always go to McDonalds, BurgerKing, Wendy's etc.
By making this law, the city has effectively reduced the amount of children that will choose McDonald over either homecooked food, or something such as subway or another 'healthier' alternative.
well really i agree because i loved the happy meals when i was a kid but really i only wanted to collect all the toys so i think they made a great idea.
This is my problem with the issue. Even IF happy meals DO promote unhealthy eating to kids, it should not be the government's place to raise children. It should be up to the parents.
If parents don't want their children getting happy meals, they don't have to drive their children to McDonalds. This law may as well be saying "Hello, parents. We think you are doing a ****ty job as a parent and that you are unable to raise your children without our help."
It would seem to me that the number of parents blaming McDonalds for their childs obesity may in fact be a determining factor in why the government is getting involved in the first place.
I absolutely agree that it is the parents responsibility for what goes in the mouths of their children. While i'm certainly not a corporate cheerleader, I dont believe that McDonalds should "healthy up" their food at all. People should know by now that fast food in general is unhealthy. I mean...have you LOOKED at a BigMac lately?! The bloody thing looks like a first-class ticket on the coronary express!
As far as the toys are concerned...well, no child can walk behind a McDonalds counter and get one. The parent must first buy the meal. So again...parental responsibility.
I can imagine were it not for so many people blaming McDonalds for their childrens obesity, rather than their inability to say "NO" to their child, this would not be an issue that any level of government would have to get involved in. This country has enough problems without worrying about fast food...
Since I don't have a parental mindset, I can't be accurate on what they're thinking. But, I imagine most parents like to make their kids happy, and if it's something as trivial as a $5 meal at McDonald's they'll go for it. Problem here is, that this starts happening more and more often, and since it's a gradual increase parent's just don't notice how many times they're going to eat at a fast food restaurant every week.
I don't think it's right for government to get involved in what the people do with their lives. However I also think that this was a well thought out decision, and frankly what's wrong with making fastfood a little healthier?
The question is, will McDonald's make their Happy Meals healthier just so that the toy can be put with the meal so that more people will buy it? It would depend on their supplies. They would have a bunch of unhealthy junk to use for either making more chicken nuggets but possibly having less customers or selling them to buy nutritional ingredients to use to make healthier meals so that they can include the toy so that they will still have many customers.
