Parents Too Embarrassed To Bring Their Kids To McDonald's
McDonald's has been working for years to try and project a much healthier image to the world, introducing a variety of alternative food choices that are meant to capture the more health-conscious consumer.
They've even tried to implement their healthier approach into their toy selection that they give away in their Happy Meals. Last year, the company included a variety of fitness trackers in their happy meals, those were later withdrawn over concerns allegedly related to skin irritations.
Another idea they've come up with to try and switch things up, at McDonald's in New Zealand, is offering books now with their Happy Meal; as an alternative for those who don't want a toy.
They continue to press for solutions that might help to repair their family-friendly character; trying to establish a more positive reputation.
McDonald's is a place that families have been going to for decades to get a cheap bite to eat, but it's alleged that an increasing number of parents are becoming too embarrassed to bring their kids to the golden arches for a meal.
Market analysts suggest that now Starbucks has surpassed McDonald's in the way of offering an option to them for fast food convenience that doesn't have the same negative associations that McDonald's has; they feel less shame in taking their children there for a bite to eat.
Can apple slices, yogurt, and limited drink choices turn things around?
There does seem to be a growing number of people who are trying to turn away from fast food and they are looking for more healthier options for themselves and their loved ones. But there are still millions who are content going to McDonald's and other fast food locations on a regular basis. Fast food still remains a large part of the average American diet.
Eating healthy is a great goal for someone to have, and it's one that some feel so passionate about that they in-turn feel justified in getting force involved; to try and make other people submit to their version of what healthy eating should be.
Just recently,
Berkeley passed a new law that is going to require restaurant locations there to include only milk or water as a beverage option with their kids meals; the option for soda has been removed.
So for those who want to go to McDonald's to grab a soda with their Happy Meal, they're going to be out of luck.
Lawmakers there say that they are hoping to promote health and nutrition, with force, by moving to attack the soda beverage option that has traditionally been provided with the Happy Meal. And this isn't the first place in the US that has sought to acquire this sort of restriction as to what drinks can be included in the price of a kids meal.
There is a movement across the US to introduce a variety of taxes and restrictions on soda and other drinks that are deemed to be unhealthy, like energy drinks, sweetened coffee, some tea products, sports drinks, and more. The changes have been forcing some shoppers to have to go outside of their normal jurisdiction in order to try and find products to buy where they won't be hit with the tax. The changes have also fueled a legal battle, a number of retailers say that the tax is unconstitutional.
When we try to use force to get other people to eat healthy it can get a little bit tricky. One of the reasons being that the term “healthy” and what is to be considered healthy is a highly contentious subject, opinions vary widely as to what healthy eating should look like.
Aside from that main issue, these restrictions also limit personal freedom. If people are free then they should have the freedom to make their own choices about what they do with their body so long as they aren't hurting anyone else and therefore they should be free to consume whatever food that they wish to.
Pics:
AP Photo/Keith Srakocic via Business Insider
MentalFloss via mentalfloss.com/article/69309/14-unusual-ways-mcdonalds-did-business-60s
CBC via cbc.ca/news/business/mcdonalds-kale-calorie-questions-1.3423938
The Office via Giphy
The information that is posted above is not intended or implied to ever be used as any substitute for professional medical advice, or diagnosis or treatment. The above is posted for informational purposes only.
Sources:
http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/17/health/mcdonalds-removes-fitness-tracker-happy-meal-step-it/index.html
http://lifehacker.com/5283646/five-healthiest-foods-at-mcdonalds
https://www.engadget.com/2016/08/16/mcdonalds-activity-trackers-happy-meal/
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20140906/ISSUE01/309069980/mcdonalds-has-a-new-generational-problem-kids
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-mom-sneaks-kids-to-mickey-ds-amid-fast-food-backlash-wont-tell-dad-2015-4
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/08/10/berkeley-requires-kids-meals-include-milk-water-not-soda/
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11898506
http://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/08/10/berkeley-requires-kids-meals-include-milk-water-not-soda/
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/opa/nr/Pages/Restrictions-on-sugar-sweetened-beverages-in-children's-meals.aspx
I think the bigger problem of McDonalds is that they finally need to start offering those burgers that they are selling on the pictures. For years now they are selling these terrible things that are supposed to be burgers.. They look nothing like the pictures at all. Maybe if they increased their food quality, people would have renewed interest. And it would probably be healthier too. There is tons of stuff to be found online where people have found 1 year old McDonalds hamburgers and even after a year there was zero rotting process... tells you something about how natural the ingredients are..
lol!!!
well i'm 52 years young and never had a macdonalds burger and i will never eat that stuff and proud of it
how did you manage to avoid Mickey Ds for 52 years??? Do you live in the Alaskan tundra? The moon?
wow!
Got that right
woah, that is so much different. But I would say the mc donald in South East Asia looks better.
the magic of marketing!:)
lol, yes exactly my point. Also, I have been served worse burgers than the one on the right. I would say if you got the one on the right, you actually got lucky! Worse yet is that they cost the same as burgers in other places which are a lot better..
It is so gross, indeed! Other fast food places are taking at least some initiative. Mc Shits, has been on my X list for a decade, cuz right after I eat there I have to do just that. And that is the bodies way of expelling toxins. BOOM!
oh my goodness, that is awful about the year process :( yuk.
Reminds me that Michael Douglas movie Falling Down haha, so true. I forget how these companies get away with it. I mean the burgers in the photos are real, they are just prepared extremely delicately, unlike in a real store.
Funny thing with this article, I grew up when kids would occasionally get taken to McDs for a treat, it was a really nice place to go. Many kids at that time including myself would even have a birthday party there and everyone had fun, the bill was cheap for the parents too. I guess the 80s were a lot different.....
Lol, well said.
Thanks for sharing
McDonald's, for good or for bad, serves a very important purpose. Yeah, the food is horrible for a person. I never eat (ok maybe French fries occasionally... no one makes a fry like they do), but for people with very little money: they can eat there. In my very early adulthood a lot of my friends could ONLY afford dollar menu items from places like McDonald's and Taco Bell. I try to educate my child about food and nutrition. He's little so sometimes we'll do McDonald's. Kids like that junk, but we treat it as a treat and not as normal food. As for sodas, parents shouldn't be letting little kids drink them. Unfortunately, a lot of parents do. It wouldn't be a bad idea for milk/juice/water to be options for happy meals. Kids can still get a soda, but it could be extra (which would make parents less likely to give kids soda). I'm torn here between we need freedom and we have an epidemic of obesity in this country.
Axially one of the thing i like they done in Singapore is to give you a choice to opt for a cup of corn instead of fries.
most corn is GMO, better off without it
Isn't potatoes too?
mcdonalds is all poisonous! Alot of the products contain silicones and other toxic chems!
Agreed. It is toxic to put all of that shit that McDonald's puts forth as food into our bodies. Better to stay away.
McDonalds is not food! Nothing nutritious about any of their 'food' ... i would'nt give it to my dogs.
My friend saw something in his sandwich where he ordered a breakfast sandwich.
what
May I say it AGAIN. My friend found something nasty in his breakfast sandwich at McDonald. yes, depending on where you live, you will find nasty things in your food
Well it wouldn't be meat
Children do not have the life experience to be expected to eat healthy, especially after being bombarded from birth with advertising etc...
It is your responsibility as a parent to ensure that your children eat what they need and not what they want, when parents can not or will not do their job government is always willing to step in.
You know what? I get together and eat lunch with my mom every week and last week for some reason instead of going to a nice place we decided we would just go to McDonald's. It really wasn't bad at all. It was clean. The food is inexpensive and tasted fresh and good. Was it healthy? Of course not. But once in a while eating at McDonald's is OK and it's certainly nothing to be ashamed of.
You said it yourself, "of course it isn't healthy". So if parents feel as though it is their responsibility to make sure that their child eats healthy (as best that they can) then no wonder they would feel shame taking their children here 😆
I really do think McDonald's is a heck of a lot better than the frozen chicken nuggets you get at Walmart. I'd wager every family around here is feeding those nuggets to their children and they're only maybe 50% chicken at best. I guess they can do that from the safety of their own home though so they don't have to be ashamed of it.
If a parent personally believes that what they are feeding their child is unhealthy toxic garbage, then it's understandable that they would feel shame; if they believe their actions are contributing to potential harm for the child. Doesn't matter if it's serving them mcdonalds or serving them sugary cereal and pop tarts every day for breakfast etc.
if this was the only food (is it ok if i call it food?) that was available, i would choose to starve.
i suppose we cannot avoid all the toxins in this world, but deliberately adding it to your diet is rather....silly
I get that the world is changing, and with social media everyones trying to be a bit healthier and have that " image " that we're trying to eat healthy. At the end of the day who cares where you eat as long as you're happy!
sure happy is what we all want and desire. it is my right to eat clean and healthy food that serves my body, giving me reason to be even more happier, than food creating dis-ease
I'm glad to see that they are trying to make their meals, especially for kids, healthier.... but they still have a long way to go.
they will never get there, its not the focus to create clean food.
Which will make them lose even more customers. I'm so happy to see the world making a change towards healthy and clean foods. It's so important for us!