A Happy Meal Makeover?

Photoology

I know there is always rumors about fast food chains changing up their menus but I found this article about McDonald's changing up their Happy Meals...

http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2011/07/26/happy-meal-gets-a-makeover/?hpt=hp_p1&iref=NS1

thoughts?

As happy as I am to read this article and see a change (no matter the size), but it frightens me to think that McDonalds actually does have a large enough impact on families daily that this change with one company can be a big deal.

Angel1066

They do this in the UK already but i think you should just teach your child about healthy choices.

devilwhiterose

Never bought a Happy Meal anyway. Overpriced for a 2 cent toy.

My personal thought? Everything is good in moderation and if parents made their kids get off their hind ends, turn off the video games and go outside to play, we wouldn't need to do this. Maybe if people didn't give their child kid a Happy Meal (or fast food) every.single.day, childhood obesity wouldn't be so bad.

SoCalSwimmerDude

The way I see it is that McDonalds has kept the price the same and made portions smaller. So the kid is eating about 5% less bad stuff and McDonalds is making about 5% more money... and they get good pub for it.

TiniTurtle

LOVE that they're doing this! i hadn't heard about it till now. i usually have the kids i watch get the apple choice instead of fries anyway, but it makes the apples more appealing when the happy meal will come with both, so the kids don't feel like they're missing out by choosing the apples. unfortaunately mcdonalds has been sued more than once (partially because american's are sue happy & blame everyone else for our own problems) because of obese children where the families have won, when in reality the parents didn't have to be buying their kids fast food so often or at all if they were so concerned with their child's weight.

Eve1972

They've been doing this in Europe for years.

lbgano

LOVE that they're doing this! i hadn't heard about it till now. i usually have the kids i watch get the apple choice instead of fries anyway, but it makes the apples more appealing when the happy meal will come with both, so the kids don't feel like they're missing out by choosing the apples. unfortaunately mcdonalds has been sued more than once (partially because american's are sue happy & blame everyone else for our own problems) because of obese children where the families have won, when in reality the parents didn't have to be buying their kids fast food so often or at all if they were so concerned with their child's weight.

The only lawsuit I"m aware of against McDonalds for this issue was dismissed - Pelman v. McDonald’s Corp. Would you mind telling me the names of the cases you are referring to in which families have actually been awarded damages? I would love to read the opinions and see what the court's reasoning was. I'm not surprised that lawsuits were brought but am very surprised that they suceeded.

riverweed

I think it's lovely they are at least attempting to change to include healthier options... at least Macs can now be associated not just with greasy fries but 'apple slices'... or teaching kids the difference between the types of milk there are. Personally when I'm having a real bad craving for fast food I buy myself a happy meal just because it's got smaller portions, is cheaper, and does wonders for damage-control! x

Lyadeia

The way I see it is that McDonalds has kept the price the same and made portions smaller. So the kid is eating about 5% less bad stuff and McDonalds is making about 5% more money... and they get good pub for it.

I was thinking the same thing.

McDonald's is being made out to be a hero for adding apples and reducing the amount of fries to their greasy, fattening, crap in a box. They are doing nothing but reducing the cost to make the meal, thus making themselves more money...and it does nothing to change the obesity problem since the kids are still going to be munching on their cheeseburgers everyday because parents are too lazy to buy or cook something else more nutritionally worthy.

I remember when I was a kid, and the chicken nuggets Happy Meal came with 6 nuggets and some fries. They "lowered the calories" of this by giving you 4 nuggets instead of 6 and by decreasing the fries portion. They were praised. And even then, people didn't seem to notice that the price didn't change, so Ronald McDonald was screwing people then also. And yet they got praised for it because 2 less nuggets is "healthier."

lissarv68

I made a comment on an AP site on this article and got flamed....*sighs*.

All I said was that I was happy to see that some fast food chains are giving healthier options. You wouldn't believe the hate I received back for that comment "If you were at all concerned about healthy options then you wouldn't be eating at McDonalds."

I just let it go, I didn't want to engage the trolls.

Here's my thinking on all that (and I think I actually read this here by a brilliant poster who made me nod in agreement). We are trying to live in the world and not be a part from it. We are also trying to teach our children the same thing. They will encounter situations where they have to make choices, sometimes those choices will be at fast food places. I want my son to be able to look at a menu and decide what is the best healthy option.

That is why we go to McDonalds and places like that. He, at 8, can look at a menu and decide what would be the best option and it is because we do take him to fast food places and then go over the menu with him so he can hear our point-of-view and learn about nutrition.

Anyways, I was sort of surprised at the amount of nastiness such an innocent comment received.

joanneeee

it's like $2 for the sliced apples. i can get 1kg of apples for $2. it's healthier but i never see any kids opting for the apple slices anyway. i remember a while back they reduced the size of the fillet-o-fish. no one saw it as ~being healthier~ rather that they were being ripped off as they're paying the same amount of money but for half the burger. we've had this in australia for years but yeah, uh, if i wanted an apple i'd just buy one from the fruit market/coles/woolies when i'm at a shopping centre.

CrimsonHellkite

its just another ploy to make people think mcdonalds is healthy....i dont care what they do they are in no way healthy....