Happy Meal Toys Banned in San Francisco

[madviking]

I don't think it's necessarily that its the toy, maybe it just tastes so damn good! :yummy:

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

Got it. Ban all fatty acids, mono/disaccharides, and salts.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

salts.

Except that salt is needed to live. Its excessive salt that kills.

 

[civ_king]

Children order happy meals because they want the toys, this is a very good idea to ban the toys because it reduces the chance of damning the child to obesity

 

[Xanikk999]

Children order happy meals because they want the toys, this is a very good idea to ban the toys because it reduces the chance of damning the child to obesity

I agree actually. Libertarians be damned! It would do our nation tons of good and I love fast food.

This actually might have an effect on the obesity rate in the U.S in the long run if it was nation wide. Oh well.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Come 2012, kids in San Francisco will not be getting a free toy with their McDonald’s Happy Meal.

Oh good. Adults can still get them?

 

[Tee Kay]

Oh good. Adults can still get them?

I know someone who collects Happy Meals toys.

 

[NYHunter]

I agree actually. Libertarians be damned! It would do our nation tons of good and I love fast food.

This actually might have an effect on the obesity rate in the U.S in the long run if it was nation wide. Oh well.

Except that it is stupid because there is still a way around it. The ban appears to affect meals that come with free toys, so just create a new menu item called "kids meal with toy" and charge it at a higher price; probably 25-50 cents more.

 

[Evil_Abe]

Parents are still going to be lazy, and still buy their children happy meals all the time because A: they don't feel like cooking a proper meal, and B: they want to get their child to stop screaming "I want chicken nuggets!" from the back of the car and don't know how to stop them without giving in to their demands.
Childhood obesity is a result of bad parenting, not the evil McDonald's corporation.

 

[Patroklos]

Children order happy meals because they want the toys, this is a very good idea to ban the toys because it reduces the chance of damning the child to obesity

No, children don't order anything. PARENTS order happy meals. Children want all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, it is no harder to say no to their happy meal than it is to playing under the kitchen sink.

But I like your reasoning. Obviously we should ban bright attractive colors from products because they attract an adults attention irrespective of the products quality. All boxes are required to be flat grey. Fancy letters? Nope, that might make them attractive to a customer without actually informing as to quality. Black block letters for everything. You say your Vegimite is delicious? According to who? All adjectives are to be banned from labeling.

This is the EXACT logic behind this current ban.

 

[amadeus]

No, children don't order anything. PARENTS order happy meals. Children want all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, it is no harder to say no to their happy meal than it is to playing under the kitchen sink.

But I like your reasoning. Obviously we should ban bright attractive colors from products because they attract an adults attention irrespective of the products quality. All boxes are required to be flat grey. Fancy letters? Nope, that might make them attractive to a customer without actually informing as to quality. Black block letters for everything. You say your Vegimite is delicious? According to who? All adjectives are to be banned from labeling.

This is the EXACT logic behind this current ban.

 

[Camikaze]

I would've thought parents would be happy about this change. Far less kids nagging and nagging to get such an unhealthy option because they want a small toy. It allows parents a greater choice in the diet of their child by removing a gimmick designed to annoy them into buying the unhealthy option.

 

[Tani Coyote]

McDonald's sells food, not toys.

And if you know little children, you bet the parents are going to fork out an extra 50c just to get them to shut the hell up.

Well, why should we try to control the choices of the parent and the corporation? Influence is one thing, control is another. McD's is free to offer toys in addition to their food, just as people are free to buy them or not. Just make the toys separate and let the parents decide from there whether they want the negative association.

Selling food contaminated with poison is harming others.

Not everyone will be informed, and there will be people who unknowingly eat the food, getting sick as a result. And who do you blame in such a scandal? The government.

Precisely why I said for practical reasons, preventing the sale of arsenic is good policy. Since not everyone would take the time to read the labels, and so rather than expect the people to change - hint: they won't - it's better to just ban the arsenic.

Now, McDonald's food is only a problem if you eat it consistently, but that's no reason to ban it - eating anything day and night, week after week, will likely poison you, make you sick, etc. This decision needs to be left up to the people, unless we're going to impose more and more limits on what we can and can't do.

A tax to make healthy food preferable is one thing; outright forcing that same food down everyone's throats is another.

I'd rather ban stupid parents. Can we do that?

Unfortunately, no. How to deal with the subpar quality of some parenting is a matter of concern.

No, children don't order anything. PARENTS order happy meals. Children want all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, it is no harder to say no to their happy meal than it is to playing under the kitchen sink.

Precisely. Most parents, if caring enough, won't feed their kids fast food 24/7. It's common knowledge it's harmful. Many are too lazy, but there's probably better ways to tackle their subpar parenting than punishing everybody else.

 

[Mr. Dictator]

No, children don't order anything. PARENTS order happy meals. Children want all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, it is no harder to say no to their happy meal than it is to playing under the kitchen sink.

But I like your reasoning. Obviously we should ban bright attractive colors from products because they attract an adults attention irrespective of the products quality. All boxes are required to be flat grey. Fancy letters? Nope, that might make them attractive to a customer without actually informing as to quality. Black block letters for everything. You say your Vegimite is delicious? According to who? All adjectives are to be banned from labeling.

This is the EXACT logic behind this current ban.

Am I the only one who really wouldn't think its the end of the world if this happened

 

[Patroklos]

I would've thought parents would be happy about this change. Far less kids nagging and nagging to get such an unhealthy option because they want a small toy. It allows parents a greater choice in the diet of their child by removing a gimmick designed to annoy them into buying the unhealthy option.

Lets be honest here. Parents are not deciding to feed their kids fast food because of happy meals. They were going to feed them fast food anyway, the happy meal just dictates which fast food then are going to choose. Unless someone can provide numbers that people with kids eat fast food more than those without it will be very hard to dispute this.

And at that point the whats the difference between a happy mean and just nuggets and fries? the happy meal items are probably less bad for you than many of the other normal menu items.

 

[Camikaze]

Lets be honest here. Parents are not deciding to feed their kids fast food because of happy meals. They were going to feed them fast food anyway, the happy meal just dictates which fast food then are going to choose. Unless someone can provide numbers that people with kids eat fast food more than those without it will be very hard to dispute this.

And at that point the whats the difference between a happy mean and just nuggets and fries? the happy meal items are probably less bad for you than many of the other normal menu items.

Yeah, that's certainly the case. But there are healthier fast food options, and due to this change, they will become relatively more attractive. Even if the change is not that large, there will be some effect. If happy meal sales go down 10%, and only 10% of those customers go for a healthier option, then positive change has occurred. Combined with the positive impact in terms of reduced appeal for fast food in general (because even if most parents will buy fast food anyway, not absolutely all would), then this is a positive move.

 

[Tee Kay]

Note that, when advertising fast food to kids, McDonalds almost always advertise the toys rather than the food. It's the toys that causes kids to go to their parents and bug them.

 

[Patroklos]

The fact that the kids bug their parents is irrelevant to this discussion. There is no link to a higher occurrence in fast food eating between those with kids and those without. It only affects brand choice.

 

[Masada]

I would love if someone could point to me a single instance where a child became obese from eating McDonalds.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

So it's not a case over small parts are a choking hazard? This sounds like a stupid and idiotic ban to me. What's next, the government telling us what and what not to eat?!

I don't need the government to tell me I CANNOT HAVE TOLL HOUSE PIE!!!!!

Do you get a toy with those?

That was what I thought when I first read the title. AFAIK Kinder Surprises (these are chocolate eggs with a capsule inside holding a little toy) are banned in the US for that reason even though the capsules are too big to swallow and so much of a pain to open that it cant pop open by mistake while still in the egg.

Actually, they should sell the toy and ban the chocolate - it tastes horrible!

Also, I'm not sure what the effects of prohibition on fast food and sweets - staples in every day life - would be. Probably negligible; you'd just criminalise another industry and give more power to mobsters.

I can just imagine. Gang wars over stacks of chocolate bars and pies and police breaking into houses to confiscate burgers.

The old science fiction show Sliders had an episode where they slid into a world where there were mob wars and underground speakeasys... places people went to for a hit of delicious, prohibited... sugar! These places didn't serve alcohol; they served coffee!!!

What's next, legislated morality?

You already have that. "Thou shalt not kill."


I wonder how much of the price of a Happy Meal is actually to pay for the toy. As a consequence of this ban, the price of Happy Meals in San Francisco should go down, right?