Freebase Dali

San Francisco Bans The Happy Meal

The Hamburgler has finally been caught, and put in jail for life.
Well... according to San Franciscan toddlers anyway.
The actual ban basically says that if you're going to sell a toy with a meal, it has to be a healthy meal (roughly translated to "healthier than a McDonald's Happy Meal") based on a specific nutritional guideline.

Um... I understand the idea behind it, but this is going to do one of two things: Kill the entire idea of the Happy Meal (because the toy really sells it anyway) or turn the Happy Meal into something not a lot of kids are going to eat. For one thing, I don't think there is a way to make ANY meal from McDonald's nutritionally sound without scrapping the entire operation. Secondly, even if an entirely different meal was offered for the Happy Meals, including fruits and veggies... let me just stop right there. Because we all know that unless it's fruit ice cream or fried veggies, most American kids aren't going to want it.
And on top of it all, toddlers aren't driving Range Rovers to the drive through and ordering Happy Meals. Fast food is a matter of convenience for most parents and they're just going to serve their kid something equally unhealthy in those scenarios anyway.

I'm interested to see what McDonald's and any other places that serve toys with meals in San Francisco does.


Anyway, underneath all this, I'm slightly disappointed that we're basically being told what we can and can't let our kids eat, but I do see the benefit of it, especially in the U.S. It just conflicts with me a little.

Janszoon

This pretty much exactly sums up my feelings about it too.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

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Dirty

Sums it up for me too.

I don't like anyone telling us what to do with our own bodies. If somebody wishes to eat unhealthy, then that is their choice. People can use common sense to determine what is healthy habits and what isn't. I don't think anyone should be able to step in.

Janszoon

This case is a little different since it's about kids, but generally speaking I agree with you.

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A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

MAStudent

I just finished some cigar butts in a gallstone sauce

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"i think that's the real issue right there. first they tell us that there's no such thing as a brontosaurus, and then they tell us that pluto isn't a planet. i think after those two let-downs most americans have just decided "frag scientists." "- oops, I forgot who I quoted. adolescent something?

cardboard adolescent

so arbitrary it strikes me as pretty awesome

someonecompletelyrandom

Further proof San Fransico smells their own farts?

Dayvan Cowboy

McDonalds grosses me out sometimes. I don't blame them.

But yet again, what if everybody's computers were confiscated because they encourage a lazier lifestyle? That's pretty much what's happening here. San Fransisco just let down a lot of people.

Freebase Dali

Heh, yea I wouldn't be surprised if 20 years down the road from now the U.S. government would have implemented mandatory daily exercise regimens and banned unhealthy food altogether. While something like that may seem far fetched compared to now, it's simply a matter of taking control of our lives little by little and we won't even notice the transition.

I don't think in terms of the government as this single entity scheming deviously in a secret conference room and planning world domination... but I do think that a lot of policies go by and their advocates unaware of the fundamental impact they may collectively have on individual rights.

Urban Hat€monger ?

And what choice do the kids have?
You think that the age range of kids that happy meals are aimed at know about all the crap that muckdonalds fill their excuse for food with?

If it wasn't for lazy parenting then this sort of thing wouldn't need to be made law, but sadly the reality is there are a lot of stupid people around.

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