Unhappy Californians Boot the Happy Meal
By Tiffany
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Comments
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November 8th, 2010
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November 8th, 2010Trackback from : Unhappy Californians Boot the Happy Meal « Rooted In Sustainability
This is a step in the right direction, but I don’t know how effective it will be initially. What would stop companies like McDonalds from just charging extra for the toy and not including it as part of the meal? They have been quite unethical about always targeting children with their clown mascot, toys, playrooms, etc. They realize they can brainwash the kids into wanting to eat there. Really they should be forcing parents to learn more about nutrition as they are often the main problem.
To be quite honest, I don’t think this is fair at all to the restaurants. It is not the restaurant’s fault that the parents and/or general population of the USA is obese, overweight. People make choices, people can choose to go wherever they want, it’s up to the parents to lead their child into a good healthy path. It is really unfair when regulation like this puts a stranglehold on business. This is not going to solve childhood obesity and it is totally the wrong approach to solving the problem.
If they want to solve the obesity and overweight problem of America you have to change the mindset and thinking of Americans.
Till then,
Jean
This move has to be very careful, since they are opening up Pandora’s Box here. They are moving towards establishing more control on what people eat.
Thank you everyone for weighing in on this. As you can tell, it is a highly debated issue. Keep in mind its intent was twofold: to both address childhood obesity and direct-marketing toward children by the food industry.
It will be interesting to see if it is adopted elsewhere and how it plays out for the northern California food companies. If I learn more, I will be sure to share. Thank you all for your thoughts and for adding to the discussion.
Yes kids are more susceptible to advertising, but SEO Miami has a point about this opening up Pandora’s Box. Does this mean that all fast food companies and junk food companies will be limited from targeting kids with advertising? Seems unfair to target an entire industry with such legislation. They are basically saying that people aren’t smart enough to make diet decisions on their own.
@Aluminum, it is definitely unfair, unfortunately that’s just how it goes sometimes in the political world…. 🙁
Another idea to help solve the issue… if thats what they really want to do… how about start with the school cafeteria food, and make that healthier. In my high school, I graduated in 2005… they had alot of fried food being offered daily to the students, like french fries!
-Jean
It’s the duty of us grown-ups to create awareness about the risks of obesity to kids and not just boot it from the fast-food joints. That is the wrong way to go about things.