This is a stupid lawsuit. If your kid whines to go to McDonald's tell them no. If they're bombarded with commercials on TV, don't let your kids watch TV all day. If all their friends are fat because they eat at McDonald's all the time, think about moving to a healthier area. The hot coffee lawsuit was legit. McDonald's at the time had a history of keeping their coffee way above safe limits. The woman who sued had third degree burns over 6% of her body, including her buttocks and genitals. If I had to get skin grafts on my genitalia, I'd be suing too.
The junk food industry is way under regulated, especially how they advertise and market their products to children.
It's the colors. My nephew has now been taught that McDonald's is essentially an evil corporation and at 6 years old has never had any. The downside is that he now identifies the red and yellow colors with evil and is terrified of clowns. Plus he can smell/spot a McD's miles away. The whole "look" of McDonald's is just so appealing to children, especially the toys and the play rooms. Makes you feel bad saying no to them, but at the end of the day, it's better to deal with saying no than to give in to them having that junk.
If you really want to do that, you have to declare that junk food is "illegal" for kids ala cigarettes/alcohol, and therefore have the legal backing to punish companies for marketing to kids. Failing that, perhaps a law that makes McDonalds label their happy meals "eating this in large quantities can make you chubbir and 50% more prone to bullies beating you up"
This case is ridiculous. Being a parent involves saying, "no," from time to time, moron. The hot coffee case was not...and the damages awarded that you're all thinking of were limited, anyway, as I recall.
Yeah, it's really annoying that people still quote the coffee case without even understanding the simple facts about it.
Hey dumbass mom...DON'T BUY IT FOR YOUR KID IF YOU DON'T WANT THE LITTLE ****** TO EAT IT. YOU DON'T SPEAK FOR ME. I HAVE THE ABILITY TO TELL MY 2 BOYS "NO, TONIGHT WE'RE EATING HEALTHY." MY KIDS LIKE THE TOYS AND HAPPY MEALS. DON'T RUIN IT FOR EVERYONE ELSE BECAUSE YOU'RE A F***ING DIPS*** THAT CAN'T CONTROL YOURSELF AND YOUR KIDS!
Happy meal with chicken nuggets, apple dippers and milk/water is fairly healthy. Cheese burger with fries, not so much. I take my son to McDs about once a week and go healthy with the Happy Meal. My son is not fat. Like Mad Max said. It all about saying "no". I say "no" to cheese burger and fries, but yes to healthy Happy Meals with toys. My son also gets to see his dad eat a salad with grilled chicken, so he does not get a mixed message that he has to eat healthy while his dad does not.
What do yall think about Joe the Camel and how that mascot appeals to kids? The core argument is similar: Corporations using specific marketing tactics in order to exploit children's appeals while knowing that children don't have the knowledge or experience to understand what is good or bad for them. This is also in the same vein of corporations using low prices to exploit the majority's low income to sell food that is "bad" for them.
Be a good parent. Teach your kids that cigarettes are horrible for your health. Start early. Teach your kids that, food wise, moderation is the key. It's ok to have some junk food everyone once in a while. I've taught my 5-yr old about making good choices. When we go to McD's, he chooses the nuggets and apples w/ milk. He doesn't like soda. He likes juice, milk, and water. He likes to eat carrots and fruit for snacks. Yeah...he'll eat some cookies and candy if we offer it to him, but it amazes me how good he does when presented with a choice. It's not the corporation's fault if you can't teach your children the difference between right and wrong...and I'm a Democrat.
McDonald's monopoly is to adults as happy meal toys is to kids. I don't watch Saturday morning cartoons or Nickelodeon anymore, but I haven't seen a happy meal toy commercial in forever. Do they still advertise for that? Remember the McDonalds happy meal Teenie Beanie craze? good times.
So, umm, can I sue Hasbrow and other toy companies for marketing GI Joe, Transformers and He-Man with cartoons? I mean I begged and bought that stuff up as a kid. Imagne how much money I could have saved. I could be financially stable. Can I sue the NBA and NFL? There used ads to get me to buy jerseys, shoes, and sports equipment when I was a child. A class action suit against Nike for the way they marketed the Air Jordan and Jumpman brand has to have a chance in courts
Irwin Mainway: Yeah, well, look - you know, the average kid, he picks up, you know, broken glass anywhere, you know? The beach, the street, garbage cans, parking lots, all over the place in any big city. We're just packaging what the kids want! I mean, it's a creative toy, you know? If you hold this up, you know, you see colors, every color of the rainbow! I mean, it teaches him about light refraction, you know? Prisms, and that stuff! You know what I mean?
That was the pre-Obama dark ages. People are much culturally enlightened now. Well, you could maybe do those things in an ironic sort of fashion... perhaps growing a mustache first.
