I meant to get to this item earlier in the week — The New York Times editorial page recently weighed in on the lawsuit recently filed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest against McDonald’s over the use of toys in fast food meals.
After noting that 37% if children rank McDonald’s as their favorite fast food restaurant and that 10% of McDonald’s enormous ad budget is directed at the Happy Meal (including the use of the toys), the paper concludes that “[t]he Happy Meal is up for some well-deserved scrutiny,” and ends on this note:
Parents are responsible for their children’s diet. And they certainly could do a better job: almost 17 percent of American children are obese, three times as many as in the 1970s. But it would be easier for parents to do their job if they didn’t have to push back against the relentless tide of marketing aimed at their children.
I continue to feel ambivalence about the strategy of going after the Happy Meal toy as a means of combatting childhood obesity, a strategy that has been adopted via ordinance in San Francisco, as reported here a few weeks ago. But clearly the CSPI feels it’s getting some traction with this approach, and the New York Times apparently agrees.
[hat tip: Jen Maidenberg, aka, The Wellness Bitch]