McDonald's Alluring Happy Meal Toys

[Ziggy]

CSPI to Sue McDonald's If It Continues Using Toys to Market Junk Food to Children

On June 22nd of 2010, The Center for Science in the Public Interest, (CSPI), issued a press release informing the public and McDonald's that they would sue them if McDonald's continued to use toys to market Happy Meals:

Using Toys to Promote “Happy Meals” Is Unfair, Deceptive & Illegal, Group Says, Citing State Laws

WASHINGTON—Tell it to the judge, Ronald: A nutrition watchdog group will sue McDonald’s if the fast-food chain continues to use toys to promote Happy Meals. According to the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest, using toys to lure small children into McDonald’s is unfair and deceptive marketing and is illegal under various state consumer protection laws. CSPI today served McDonald’s a notice of its intent to sue, fulfilling a legal requirement of several states in which CSPI might bring the lawsuit.

http://www.cspinet.org/new/201006221.html

A response from McDonald's

Dear Mr. Jacobson:

On behalf of McDonald's franchisees and our 1.6 million employees around the world, I am writing to set the record straight regarding the misinformation that CSPI communicated about McDonald's in your June 22nd press release. I am referring to CSPI's threat to sue McDonald's within 30 days if we continue to include a toy as part of the positive and popular Happy Meal customer experience we provide.

We have a long history of working with responsible NGOs who are interested in serious dialogue and meaningful engagement; and we are open to constructive feedback. You say you want a dialogue with McDonald's, but your tactics and inflammatory rhetoric suggest otherwise. CSPI's twisted characterization of McDonald's as "the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children" is an insult to every one of our franchisees and employees around the world. When CSPI refers to America's children as "an unpaid drone army," you similarly denigrate parents and families, because they are fully capable of making their own decisions. You should apologize.

...

http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/our_c ... _cspi.html

[SpRi7e]

damn, the kids toys was what made me want mcdonalds 24/7 as a kid..

owell, I HATE mcdonalds now.. they're food is disgusting and I get a horrible stomach ache every single time I eat anything from there..

Wendy's 4 Life

[Weedguru Higher]

The damn happy meals are what funds the Ronald McDonald foundation for sick kids

[SpRi7e]

those BASTARDS!

[tweedos]

Think I might order McDonalds right about now

Gotta love McDonalds that delivers

[(weedguru)scarf]

damn you and your asian mcdonalds

[Ziggy]

I wasnt aware that mcdonalds delivered at all ....

[sugarstalker]

I really like mcdonalds' response. they are quite spot on I'd say!

[Weedguru Higher]

There is a small town McDonalds that delivers around here.The population is only 5000 and in this town there is basically only students cause there is a University, a college, a private highschool, a large regional public highschool, a vocational school, a french elementary school, an english elementary school , and a billingual preschool. it's the only fast food restaurant in the town aside from a pizzeria so no wonder they deliver...very profitable for them

[wgToonces]

If they feel they're so high and mighty as to start suing people, why the fuck are they not suing everyone else who needs to be sued more than mcdonalds?

[SpRi7e]

mcdonalds is up there on one of the worst companies regarding LOTS of things.. their food is very low grade, very fattening, and so cheap and convenient that no one cares anymore...

[logically]

Pretty much every fast food has toys with their "kids meals"

not just mcdonalds.

so they had better sue everyone.

Also it's not Mcdonalds fault that parents are too lazy to cook for their kids. People choose to eat there because it's easy. If parents learned how to say no their little children, they wouldn't eat at mcdonalds so often.

so who is to blame? Lazy parents, or a company providing a desired service?

[WeedGuru_Flow]

Erh isn't that pretty much what capitalism is based on?

You make a product and try to sell it with as much profit.

You need advertising to make your product wanted.

Kids are very influential so are the core focus of a lot of companies, giving toys or shiny trade cards has been in practice since the dawn of capitalism!


I think the further we head into the future the more limited our options become, so many things are being prohibited it seems our illusive freedom is being eaten away piece by piece.

[SpRi7e]

things will be so boring!!

[Grrrl]

mcdonalds is up there on one of the worst companies regarding LOTS of things.. their food is very low grade, very fattening, and so cheap and convenient that no one cares anymore...

So is alot of convenience food that you can buy from supermarkets, fairly recently here it was discovered that alot of the supermarkets were using hydrogenated fat with cheese flavouring instead of actual cheese to top their pizzas- Gross. And no company has the consumers best interests in mind, they are all all about profit. McDonalds are a globally recognised brand so it is easy to pin stuff on them and point the finger. Also haven't they been doing the happy meal since the early eighties? How come it has taken 20 odd years for them to decide using toys as a selling point for junk food is not ok? Why has it been accepted up to this point and now the sudden turn around?

Also if things aren't convenient nowadays people are rarely interested, technology does all but wipe your arse for you, and i dont think it will be long til thats in the pipeline Hard work, and anything remotely time consuming is a concept foreign to most people in this day and age.

Interesting post though by the way Ziggy