So says Parentcentral.ca. For those of you that don’t know:
For Happy Meals, U.S. customers can already choose between apples or fries. But only about 11 per cent of customers were ordering apples, the restaurant said.So by the beginning of next year, McDonald’s will instead include a half-order of apples and a half-order of fries. Customers can get all fries or all apples if they ask.
This is an improvement, but I think a better option would be to include apples by default and only provide fries if the customer asks for them. Also, I would like to see McDonald’s making healthier meals for kids in general, and aim to have a certain percentage of the adult meals be healthy, too. I think the chain could do this and still be very successful.
In theory this sounds good but should we really be telling companies what to sell, etc. I’m all for the healthy thing for kids too but isn’t that up to the parents to make sure they get healthier meals. I believe the message will get through to the companies by not purchasing what isn’t good. My product isn’t food but I really don’t want anyone telling me what I should and shouldn’t sell. I guess that’s my 2 cents for today!
Sure, companies that sell us things that we ingest are told all the time what to sell, be what they sell drugs or alcohol or tobacco or food. Also, you are setting up a false dichotomy: it isn’t one thing or the other. It is up to the parents, but it doesn’t have to be solely up to the parents. I don’t want my kids to smoke, and I tell them that, but I am also glad that the government makes it hard for the tobacco companies to sell them cigarettes. Likewise, I want them to eat junk food in moderation, and I am glad that the schools make it harder for them to eat junk food.