Out here in CA, the Santa Clara County board of Socialists just banned fast food resturants (= MacDonalds, Booger King, etc) from including a toy in their "Happy Meals". I'm serious. It is now a county regulation. Not applicable inside incorporated city limits, but in the un-incorporated parts of the county. Unreal, huh? They're concerned about kids being obese, and blame the resturants and toys for making kids fat. The arrogance of shit like this just blows my mind,and the obsessive need for control frightens me.
Be careful using phrases like "Booger King" in public, you could be sued by that corporation under "veggie libel" laws.
Well obviously it is not the parents' fault! After all, if their kids want to eat at MacDonalds, what can the parents possibly do to stop them?! LOL
Looks like someone didn't find a toy in his happy meal today. And what is wrong with trying not to incentivize impressionable children to eat crap? How do parents compete with the daily media onslaught aimed at their children? You do realize, of course, that obesity is a serious problem among a growing proportion of young children today, as is high blood pressure and diabetes. Kids don't know any better. Parents shouldn't have to compete with corporate giants to win the hearts and minds of their own kids when it comes to matters of health.
I sure hope so. There is too much salt in restaurant meals and packaged foods. The alternatives are few among these choices. Let idiots add their own salt. That way, they can have a more direct hand in their own demise.
A good parent will teach his/her kids to excercise and eat properly to not become obese in the first place. Blaming MacDonalds because they put a toy in with their meal for kids is a cheap cop out. Anyways, I think you missed the bigger issue here of more government control.
I can only assume that you're fairly young. Yes, parents are key. But there is the small matter of corporate responsibility. I refer to a moral component, certainly as it relates to the welfare of young, impressionable children. The toy is an incentive for children who don't know any better to eat crap. It shouldn't have to come down to a competition between parents and corporates on such a fundamental issue. But it does. And by the looks of it, the corporates are winning. (Are you going to bring up the "invisible hand" argument?) I see the bigger issue. The one where corporate giants should not prey on innocent children.
Prey on innocent children?! My god, man. It's a toy! It's not like this is Marlboro giving out free GI Joe's with every cigarette pack, it's a happy meal! Is the odd happy meal for children really that big of a threat that we need government to step in to stop these companies?