: This one is hard to resist...: : McDonald's food is a treat for kids. It is something that they enjoy.
: I'm sorry for your kids. They enjoy it because it they get cheap toys and food full of suger and salt, which makes unhealthy food worse, but taste better.
: : It is no different from candy that is marketed for them.
: Candy is not marketed to the billion dollar extend McDonalds is. There's also little saturated fat and cholesterol in candy (which are far more hazardous to health than sugar). Less beef production (and deforestation) occurs in candy production incidentally.
: :The food is not going to hurt them in moderation.
: To an extent this is true. But how many cigarettes will you let you children smoke before it is too much? How much alcohol can they drink? How much heroin? In moderation these can also be argued to be benign.
Excuse me, heroin in moderation, benign? Allow children to smoke cigarettes and drink alcohol because you allow hamburgers? Who is supposed to be the rational, decison-maker here?
And don't tell me food is different. What about the scare with saccharin causing cancer. That was common in foods a while back (including some McD's would've sold). Diets based on high fat (saturated) and salt cause a variety of serious health problems, including obesity, coronary heart disease and cancer. It is simply a matter of where you draw the line.
Exactly, no reasonable individual would be disputing this point.
: :It is the parents' responsibility to place reasonable limits on what their children can have and when they can have it.
: Yup. But McDonalds do not market their products for 'occasional' use. "Have you had your break TODAY" suggests it's great every day.
Today doesn't mean everyday. You get to decide when and if. Remember,
you are the grown-up and get to make the decisions all by yourself.
Look at the McSpotlight site for more on this - the section in the 'Factsheet' that was the focus of the McLibel trial featured this too under the heading 'The Normality Trap'.
: I think I am fairly responsible - I do/will not allow my kids to eat at McDonalds. When they are older, they can decide for themselves - but I shall do my best to continue educate them about the tricks and effects of advertising, and everything else that is wrong with McDonalds as soon as they are old enough to understand.
Good for you. That is what a parent is supposed to do.
: : McDonald's is directing their marketing to the right group
: A point I agree with - at least they know how to make money - oh I forgot - that's the American way - make money, anyhow, even at the expense of others, and you're an all-American hero.
: Marketing to the right group doesn't make it right, though.
: :They are not evil people that want to poison our children.
: We disagree again. The food is bad for you. It has the potential to cause serious health problems or even induce premature death. This is the definition of poisonous. We must assume that the company officials know the effect of a diet based on food such as theirs - thus by continuing to sell it as is rather than change it, then they must want to poison their customers.
Sorry, have to disagree here. The food is the same stuff you buy at the grocery store. It's meat, potatoes, vegetables, etc...
And before you even start in, you should know that the beef is leaner than what you can buy for yourself. (That's why Wendy's can advertise such a juicy burger, because of their high fat content)
The menu HAS changed in response to consumer demand. So long butter, hello margarine. No more whole milk, its 2% for you. No more cream, only Half&Half. Even the fried stuff is fried in vegetable oil, to name a few of the changes.
So when do you start to vilify the people who make their own hamburgers , or fry their own potatoes, or God forbid, drink a soda in the privacy of their own homes?
The tobacco industry is now getting to the point where they are having to own up to the fact that they have killed millions of peolpe over the last few decades. Something similar may one day happen to McD's (I hope) - unless they shape up, in case I'd applaud them.
Sheesh, cigarettes you don't need to survive. Food is a necessary evil.
: There is not as much diffence between these two industries as some might lead us to believe - and the bosses at McDonald's know this. This is why they spend so much on advertising (misinformation) and silencing critics (McLibel). But for the good of our children and theirs, lets hope their days are also numbered.
None.
