Keep the happy but lose the crappy in happy meals

NESLIHAN KUROSAWA says:

05:51am | 10/04/11

Hi Tory and Shannon,

I just wanted to say like wise!!  The feeling is mutual, I also enjoy the topics you choose to write about.  It makes us all think which happens to be great.  All the best wishes for the future and good luck.  A job well done to all the Punch Team as well!!

Steve Putnam says:

01:31am | 11/04/11

I had a great idea for educating children about the dangers of unhealthy eating. To get their attention It featured two cartoon characters named “Runny Mc Dunny” and “Turdburgler”, but for some reason no-one would touch it.

stephen says:

10:09am | 09/04/11

Yer gotta swallow, mate.
Or don’t they teach you that at ballroom dancing classes ?

Davo from St Kilda says:

10:48am | 09/04/11

@ Alcotrel - if you hate McDonalds so much, why do you eat there? You don’t seem very bright, champ.

If you don’t like eating hamburgers or meat in general, then don’t. You are a part of the insignificant minority who would rather eat tofu than chow down on a t-bone.

Today I’m having a BBQ with my neighbours under a beautiful Melbourne sky. You can go sit in your darkened room eating mushrooms while the rest of the world enjoys a perfectly cooked steak.

Pass the beer and the sausages, please.

Keen Observer says:

11:35am | 12/04/11

Davo, I think he is saying that the meat is shit, and I happen to agree. It is a long way from a decent t-bone. Maccas is some terrible food.

Amy says:

11:35am | 12/04/11

That’s really great Davo, good for you and your steak. You’re so true blue and manly. Too bad what acotrel said had nothing to do with being “part of the insignificant minority who would rather eat tofu than chow down on a t-bone.”

I have re-read the comment a few times and there’s no mention of vegetarianism or preferences to meat substitutes. Perhaps instead he isn’t saying to eat meat substitutes but to eat meat that isn’t terrible quality. Hey yeah, pretty sure that’s what he meant.

So suggesting he “sit in your darkened room eating mushrooms while the rest of the world enjoys a perfectly cooked steak” is a bit random. He’d probably enjoy a perfectly cooked steak too! Don’t leave acotrel out of the BBQ :(

You enjoy your beer and sausages, maybe stick to the BBQ and not the internet.

Brian W says:

07:26am | 09/04/11

Nanny state! Nanny state!

James says:

08:36am | 09/04/11

I’d support a tax on junk food (with revenues going to subsidise healthier foods) but not outright banning of the stuff…

Joan says:

09:55am | 09/04/11

Yep… the call for a Nanny State. The new PC -the preciously correct. ... the promoters of the `wrapped in cotton wool society`. Happy Meals are dangerous meals -as if all Ozzie kids sit in Maccas stuffing faces with Macca buns three times day. .... force fed like geese before Christmas. Parents no longer capable of decision making- parents now expect government take responsibility for all, the government to say no instead of parent saying no….  the government   for new child care rules, call for new Macca rules,,, rules for everything, belt up shut up - there is a fine waiting ... or someone ready to you to court cos they don’t like. .. Sad- what happened to our freedom to choose,  to do and to live without constant government control?

Bev says:

03:48pm | 09/04/11

Typical control freak, social engineer answer.  Tax it, ban it or regulate it out of existence.  Oh and create a well paid army of public service enforcers feeding off the public trough to police it.

TimB says:

07:11am | 09/04/11

There’s a bit of an urban legend floating around that the only reason the pickle gets added to the Big Mac is to stop the burger from being legally classed as confectionary (given the high sugar content).

...Might not be too far off the mark .

acotrel says:

08:01am | 09/04/11

@Brian Taylor I never eat sugar, or have it in my drinks etc.  Those Macca’s buns are revolting.  The trouble with sugar is that if you are used to it you must have it in everything.  The kid’s taste must be totally destroyed, if those buns appeal to them?

Bev says:

10:28am | 09/04/11

As I understand it beside adding sweetness it increases the volume and softens the dough.  The purpose of this would seem to be to produce a roll more like fairy floss than bread and leave the customer feeling empty.  They are then open to upsize their chips and buy other products like thickshakes etc as otherwise you dont feel like you have had a meal.

TChong says:

07:37am | 09/04/11

Not “The Erick”
Damn straight dude, we celebrated the “Festival of Erick “yesterday .
Hope your not trying to bask in any undeserved reflected glory.

acotrel says:

07:56am | 09/04/11

So controlling the quality of food and other products being sold to us is all part of the ‘nanny state’?

Lucius says:

09:26am | 09/04/11

TChong, if you think Erick has “glory” you have another thing coming. Like yourself he’s just another loser troll who lives online 24/7 posting in forums. Perhaps if you actually got outside into the real world once in a while you wouldn’t have such inflated interwebs egos.

Jason Todd says:

10:57am | 09/04/11

Depends what you mean by “control” Acotrel. If you start restriction and regulation of one particular facet of junk food, it makes it easier and easier to restrict and control others. I don’t frequently partake of Macca’s myself, but I will admit that sometimes (usually after a few drinks), a Big Mac goes down a treat. Ultimately, I would prefer it if we left it to people to control their own fate and parents to teach their children good habits while young to set them up for later in life. I mean, is there really anyone out there that thinks Maccas is health food? If you eat it frequently, its going to be bad for you. Everything in moderation.

austin 3:16 says:

05:08pm | 09/04/11

“Ultimately, I would prefer it if we left it to people to control their own fate and parents to teach their children good habits while young to set them up for later in life”

Good thoughts Jason, so how about restrictions on advertising of junk food ?

acotrel says:

08:29am | 09/04/11

@Garthiepo
’ no one forces parents to visit McDonalds.’

So the combination of advertising, and kid’s tantrums doesn’t constitute ‘force’?

Shelly says:

10:54am | 09/04/11

@alcotrel - nope. Not force. Exercise the power of “no” parents - amazing how good it makes you feel. Actually the easiest thing is to not go there in the first place. Don’t do the lazy option and have McDonalds birthday parties. Cook meals, take healthy snacks when you go out, and buy decent quality food for your kids. If they’re used to eating real food then McDonalds tastes like the crap it is.

Garthiepoo says:

12:17pm | 09/04/11

@ Acotrel,

To me, No, a combination of advertising and tantrums does not constitute the forcing of parents to visit McDonalds, especially when there is just as much media focus on how unheathly fast food like McDonalds is. If a parent is going to give in so easily to their kids and allow them to eat something that will damage their body in the long term just because they are throwing a tantrum then they are gonna need a lot of help when their kids become teenagers.

Outraged says:

03:48pm | 10/04/11

@ alcotrel: if you can’t say “No” to a child, then you shouldn’t be a parent! Stop denying other people a treat because of your poor parenting skills!

Ange says:

01:43pm | 12/04/11

You’re forgetting one thing Garthiepoo…that most of the parents who take their kids to McDonalds are probably not there under duress and are more than likely obese junk food addicts themselves. Seeing a family waddling out with an armload of sugary crap, you just know that the kids see that as normal…as will their kids and their kids…

acotrel says:

08:33am | 09/04/11

@Kate You’ve obviously never eaten a chicken wrap from Macca’s.  I was stuck for food late one night in Benalla, and had the misfortune of buying one.  I might have well just gone to the pub, had a beer and played the pokes.  I’d have got better value!

Lisa H. says:

03:47pm | 09/04/11

I love Thai food, just not sure whether it’s the automatic ‘healthy option’ with all that coconut milk/cream (saturated fat).
A lot of home-cooking isn’t really always that healthy either, if we want to be honest with ourselves.

Emma says:

07:24pm | 09/04/11

I tried asking for a seared chicken wrap with no sauce, fruit bag and water - for my daughter for a happy meal - they had run out of fruit bags and not because they’re so popular - I was told they don’t stock very many because they go off - no one asks for them.

David says:

02:56pm | 09/04/11

Crikey, I had to get this far down to read something from someone with commonsense (though the guy celebrating T-bone steak and beer came close)!

I believe strongly that what one eats is a matter of personal choice and promoting healthy choices is far better than proscribing unhealthy food.

I like the saying, “There’s no such thing as junk food, only junk diets!”

If parents don’t have the foresight, commonsense, fortitude, etc to deny their children an excessive amount of Maccas, then our society has much bigger problems than a few fatty-boombahs!

acotrel says:

05:05pm | 09/04/11

@Craig Me
The trouble is that a fter a couple of years we forget just how bad Macca’s is, and being hungry we buy the garbage with false expectations.  This happens particularly after you’ve had a Hungry Jack’s burger.  You simply believe Macca’s couldn’t still be that bad, in the face of such competition!

Bev says:

03:37pm | 09/04/11

Agree.  However when I was studying in the US in the early seventies KFC had not been around very long.  The chicken was tender, had taste and was deviod of oil and was quite delicious.  It has been so modified in order to keep costs down and profits up it is what we see now, tastless and oozing fat and oil.  The colonel disowned KFC before he died stating they had completely corrupted his original recipe.

optimist says:

02:33pm | 09/04/11

Ah yes Shane, and who’s to say in years to come, when ordering a ‘happy’ meal, we’ll be asked, “want speed, ice, crack, hash, lsd, double dip serve,............and FRIES, with that?  Hey, look what this could do for the economy! Only jokin’, I think…..

Outraged says:

03:41pm | 10/04/11

@ optimist: it’s funny how you leftie’s are the first to advocate “Legalise all drugs!”...yet when it comes to junk-food you use drugs as the scare-mongering benchmark of “Won’t somebody think of the children!?”...

St. Michael says:

11:10am | 09/04/11

RSL Club perhaps, or maybe a local community centre? Oh, that’s right, too many pokies.

McDonald’s don’t actually give a damn about you or your cheap-arse latte.  What they want is an association between your child’s good memories and Ronald McDonald.  Which you’re giving to them on a silver platter.

Craig Mc says:

04:22pm | 09/04/11

St.Michael’s logic is “Give me the child until lunchtime, and I will give you the man”, which puts him several years ahead even of the Jesuits.

Who gives a crap what other people eat on their own dime?  Oh that’s right, little tin-hitlers like St.Michael.  It really bothers them that other people have freedom of choice over important national concerns such as their personal lunch menu.

St. Michael says:

09:49pm | 09/04/11

Awwww. Craig Mc.  And here was me thinking you cared.

I actually don’t give a crap what people eat.  All of you can head down the road to early heart attacks with your taste buds singing for all I care.  Just thought I might point out why McDonalds loves it when morons like you assert their Freedumb To Eat Whut Ah Like.

It’s because their entire marketing strategy is geared towards taking your supposed freedom and making you a repeat customer, which on McDonalds’ own admissions is where the majority of their trade comes from (per Ray Kroc himself).  It’s done by securing your business when you’re not actually thinking logically or with regard to the consequences, rather when you’re rushed, tired, or are driving somewhere—as with overwhelmed parents.

Try reading “Chew On This” by John Stossel for more about that, Craig.  You’ll like it, it’s got lots of pictures and it’s pitched at adolescents.  Or alternatively “Fast Food Nation”, which is the adult version.

Actually, maybe you should just trying reading a book to start with.  You’ll find it much less aggravating than calling people Hitler.

St. Michael says:

11:13am | 09/04/11

Then you need to blame:

(a) Local Councils for shutting down playing fields and selling off infrastructure to big developers;
(b) The media for suggesting there’s paedophiles hanging around every open park;
(c) Morons who sue their local councils because their kid is stupid enough to go into the area which has big signs around saying “Danger, don’t go in here, it’s kind of dangerous.”

For all these reasons we keep our kids home.  That’s what the PS3 is popular.