Lose the Happy Meal, or we’ll sue

Liz says:

07:22am | 28/06/10

It’s a symbol of unhealthy eating and approaching obesity.

Adam Diver says:

08:55am | 28/06/10

Yes parents have responsibility and the law suit is obviously junk. But do not uderestimate the power of thier advertising and marketing on children. It is incredibly effective and definately targeted at very young kids.

I definately will never suggest that its not the parents fault, but don’t be so naive to think that the company does not have a marketing team that thinks of ways to attract young children and build a strong loyatly through thier entire childhood.

Sarah says:

09:10am | 28/06/10

We never take our 2 kids to McDonalds. We won’t eat there ourselves. The “food” is rubbish, and WE decide where the family will eat, the kids don’t. Since when should dinner choices be determined by a 6 year old?

It my job as a parent to do things that are good for my kids, not to do the things that they want. I’m their mum not their mate.

If your kids are “forcing” you to go to mcDonalds, make sure you order a large serve of Harden Up and then go to a parenting class.

We’re no hippy spoilsports, but there’s nothing redeeming about McDonalds.

Jackie says:

09:36am | 28/06/10

I have 4 children & while I would never subsitite McDonalds for a proper dinner it is occassionally used as a special treat on a saturday after sport. I expect we visit quartely & my kids see it as “sometimes food”. The little ones tend just to eat the chips & play with the toys. Its crap food but is it really “evil”?

Lisa says:

09:54am | 28/06/10

As a parent, I really don’t enjoy going to McDonalds because after you eat it, you know it is not “food”, I always feel sickly, but in saying that, I take the kids on occassion (my middle kid whines and begs for it)  because it is the only ‘place’ to eat where it is cheap, and the kids can play.  As my kids are getting older, we are going less.  I suppose the main thing it comes down to is that it is a corporation vs the health of the children in the world.  What is more important?

NEFFA says:

01:06pm | 28/06/10

The problem is the somewhere along the McDonalds went from being a treat to being a meal.
McDonalds is not food and should be labelled accordingly.
When i was a kid we had Maccas once or twice a year. Kids these days its once or twice a week.

Lily says:

03:17pm | 28/06/10

My kids like happy meals, and I am not ashamed to say it.  The husband and I also enjoy a maccas meal every now and then. None of us are obese.  As parents we take full responsibility for our choices - if we buy McDonalds for our family to eat, that is our choice and we don’t blame the company or the advertising for “making” us do it.

Mick says:

05:14pm | 28/06/10

Im sure McD’s private response is, “be our guest we have 20 high priced lawyers with nothing better to do then to crush your little lawsuit”.  Got to love the no blame attaches society. It’s not MY fault ,its got to be the big rich faceless company’s fault, they made me do it!!!! Harden the heck up and tell your little deamon spawn no. Yeah theyll whinge but theyll get over it. No I dont have kids, by choice.

mum of three says:

05:38pm | 28/06/10

I have a few kids under 5 and they think McDonalds is the dude with the farm.  I have been fortunate enough to never be caught in the tractor-beam drive through or kidnapped into one of their establishments.  Which is great, because it is apparently saving me a fortune in lawyers fees.

James Hash Brown says:

05:44pm | 28/06/10

took the kids to maccas last saturday morning for hash browns and a play on the covered play equipment. they loved it and I was happy reading the papers. Then we ran around the park for two hours. the people suing are probably the morons who go to maccas every day and do no exercise in between

bigbang says:

06:36pm | 28/06/10

I’ve heard a story of how kids were lured into an amazing place where people could fly and animals could talk. Where after a couple of hours, everyone could tuck into cakes and biscuits but if you did something bad you would burn in hell with your flesh torn from your bones by a horned beast who carried a pitchfork. It was called sunday school. Let your kids have a happy meal once or twice a year. It’s far more humane.

SkepDad says:

09:04pm | 28/06/10

HTFU and learn to say no.  Once in a while, say yes.

That wasn’t hard, was it?

DJ says:

01:02pm | 29/06/10

I don’t see a problem with it as long as it’s not every day, We usually only have Maccas when they have their charity nights where the money goes towards Ronald McDonald House.

Sara says:

01:55pm | 27/07/10

I think we’ve got to worry about how much we try to turn the world into a ‘nanny-state’. I appreciate that companies like McDonald’s have incredibly targeted marketing practices but honestly, at the end of the day, the parent needs to say ‘no’ and ensure that Maccas is an occasional treat instead. Removing the toy is not actually going to stop children from nagging for fast food and to be honest, I always thought it was a good bonus that when you do the occasional treat at Maccas, your child also gets a little toy which adds to the experience.
I had Maccas as a very rare and much loved treat as a child but otherwise lived a very healthy and active life. I don’t even like Maccas any more - thank god for a mother with the strength to be a real parent! What’s next? Banning M&Ms; because they are represented by cartoon characters?
Seriously!

Anna says:

09:30am | 09/08/10

I have worked at McDonald’s for two years here in Australia.
I’ve seen a lot of children throw tantrums when they’re not allowed what they want in a happy meal.
We have healthy alternatives to the happy meal and I see that those parents who are in control of their children say no to fizzy drinks and whatnot.
A lot of parents get what they want for themselves and just buy the toy for the child seperately. The kids just seem to want the toy, not the happy meal itself.