Save Ronald McDonald -- Fire Parents!
Julie Clark Robinson on 20 May 2011 at 11:00am
Over 500 organizations and healthcare professionals have banded together to implore Mickey D’s to can the clown.
Apparently they feel that using a clown in their advertising manipulates kids to eat junk food. Also to blame is the word “happy” in “happy meal”. Because Lord knows our little darlings are mindless and they couldn’t find anything to be happy about if not for the nuggets and fries inside a cardboard box with cartoons on it, right? I dunno, it seems to me that the little buggars are pretty darn joyful when they’re eating grapes, goldfish crackers and string cheese too.
Putting Ronald among the country’s unemployed, is only part of the so-called solution. Last year, the city of San Francisco banned Happy Meals in an effort to but the kibash on childhood obesity within their golden gates. "We're part of a movement that is moving forward an agenda of food justice," said San Francisco Board Supervisor Eric Mar.
Food justice? Really?
Of course kids will beg for a Happy Meal because they know there’s a certain toy they’ve just gotta have inside that magic cardboard flap; but are we to believe that children are so monstrous that parents are afraid to say no?
What if parents who drive the fam through the golden arches more than once a week are mandated to watch an episode of ABC’s The Biggest Loser. Just seeing what adults go through in order to turn their lives around should give them the gumption they need to stand up to the pleading of their little darlings.
Dr. Richard P. Rand weighs in. “…childhood obesity is a form of child abuse. Parents can largely control their child's diet and should be held accountable for much of the nation's obesity problem. This may sound extreme but parents should be made aware of and be held responsible for the destruction of their child's lives that comes from obesity both in its physical as well as its psychological consequences.”
I’m with the doctor. Thoughts?
See the full story in the Chicago Tribune.
Photo Credits: David Berkowitz, Calgary Reviews and happymealy on Flickr.com
While I agree with Blair, I have to note that even with the clown mascot and toys included, McDonalds has made a big effort to offer kids healthier options with apple slice sides and milk/juice/water instead of soda.
If they want to attack friendly mascots selling crap food to kids, they're going to have to go after Kellog and General Mills with torches (surgared cereal, anyone? I don't care how much "whole grain" it supposedly has).
Veggie Tales tried to make vegetables relatable and cute (for Christan kids, anyway), but that obviously hasn't done much. I think as long as Mc D's is offerning some healthier options, it's definitely up to the parents. And I say this from late-night drive-thru experience: the apple slices and milk aren't any more expensive!
While childhood obesity can certainly be a product of home environment and parental influence, built environment (the areas where one lives, works and plays) has an enormous effect on the food choices that parents and children alike, are able to make. The presence of healthy options can vary greatly even at the city-level. Additionally, the food environment itself does have some influence on consumer choices, for example if the menu board includes calorie information or healthier items are highlighted. The clown as a fast-food restaurant's mascot may be doing more harm than good.
Something to consider, children often mimic the eating patterns of their caretakers- so avoiding the drive-thru line all together and cooking more meals as a family may be a better step in the right direction than firing Ronald. And if that's not an option, some fast-food restaurants have toyed (no pun intended) with the idea of including a toy with the kid's meal only if a healthier option is chosen. Do you think this could affect their choices?