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McDonald's targets the most vulnerable among us- our kids. We need to stand up for them and target McDonald's- arguably the company most active in marketing unhealthy food directly to children.
I hope you'll go now to Retire Ronald and stand up for kids and help end these practices. Our kids need us. At the press event, I'll be with my three-year old granddaughter, Josephine, as a reminder of what's at stake.
Here's my statement:
We know Ronald McDonald is everywhere. By 1998, almost 89 percent of kids younger than eight were visiting McDonald's at least once a month
Fire Ronald McDonald--Do it for our kids!
Seeded on Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:25 PM EDT
Article Source: The Huffington Post- Enjoy this article? Help vote it up the 'Vine.
- Public Discussion (19)
Ronald also tries to win the trust of gatekeepers through corporate responsibility programs like "Go Active! with Ronald McDonald," which are really just marketing by another name.
So that's where we are today: Parents can watch out for their kids. They can monitor their television use. They can monitor what they read and who they hang out with. But McDonald's marketing team continues its clever strategies to get around parents who are just trying to do their job. That's not right.
- 2 votes
#1 - Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:26 PM EDT
It's marketing; it's their job to market! It is our job as parents to control our children while we educate them on what is good and bad, right and wrong. Oh and BTW, how many "kids" pay for their own meals unless mommy or daddy are standing next to them with money to hand them?
- 5 votes
Good points. It is like kids breakfast cereal, candy, pizza, whatever. If parents don't provide the money the kids will not get the junk.
- 1 vote
It is silly to blame McDonalds. Blame parents. Or make hamburgers illegal.
- 3 votes
#2 - Wed Mar 31, 2010 10:27 PM EDTIf any of you have ever known a kid with cancer, ask the parents if they stayed at a Ronald McDonald house for free when the hospital days were long..........
- 3 votes
#3 - Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:06 PM EDTYes, there are over 100 of them now, in several states and countries.
- 2 votes
#4 - Wed Mar 31, 2010 11:14 PM EDTis anyone else tired of being the @!$%#ing united-nanny-states-of-america?
- 4 votes
#5 - Thu Apr 1, 2010 1:54 AM EDTIt is always easier to blame someone else than to accept that we were bad role models because we were too busy to pay attention to our kids needs and education.....
- 4 votes
True. The government is not the one control our children.
- 3 votes
It always comes down to parents must set and enforce rules on what children eat.
- 3 votes
Agreed all the way. Companies can market to kids, but their PARENTS are the ones with the money, and hence, are the ones who make the decisions over what their children eat. A business advertises to sell their product - that's how businesses thrive. Doesn't mean that you have to rush out and buy everything that's splattered on your tv.
Next time your kid begs for some flashy but useless product, take that time to teach him/her about media literacy. What all goes into making a commercial, appealing to the consumer, and the myths perpetrated by the commercial (like how Axe Body Spray will actually make people laugh at you for being a tool, not make women flock to you). Commercials sell two things - a product/service and a message. Even I'm not sure which one is more important to them at this point.
They are free to advertise, just as I'm free to not buy their product. Simple.
- 1 vote
We need to stand up for them and target McDonald's- arguably the company most active in marketing unhealthy food directly to children.
Stand up for our kids? That is @!$%#ing bull@!$%#! They aren't "our" kids! They are yours! I'm tired of paying for kids that have kids. I'm 27, and have planned out enough to figure out that I MIGHT be able to comfortably start a family at 32. What am I doing? Working my ass off and saving, and when I was younger I wasn't @!$%#ing everything that moved without a condom.
Oh but go on and blame corporations. Blame the teachers. Blame the @!$%#ing system. The fact of the matter is that it comes down to the god-damned parents that don't do @!$%# and, instead, champion their daughters and sons for giving them a grandchild they can't even support!
When the @!$%# did becoming a grandmother at 32 become something to smile about?!?
Here's an idea. Go to the goddamn grocery store, buy some rice and dried beans, and cook for your kids!
- 3 votes
#6 - Thu Apr 1, 2010 2:01 AM EDTMcDonalds is a treat to my kids; not a staple of their diets....
- 3 votes
EXACTLY! Moderation is key. No no no, that's no right! Expecting people to care for themselves and their families?
Government does that best, CK. You know this!
- 2 votes
I agree with both. Eating at McD is okay as a treat, a change of pace, like chocolate, but should not be considered an acceptable replacement for regular meals every day.,
- 2 votes
My kids think "Mcdonalds" as a place to play on the play ground they make for them, they don't even finish the food because all they want to do is play, so I don't mind taking them there for a snack and letting them play till they are so tired that they can only think of going to bed! Works best for me as a parent because they go to bed and sleep well and works well for them because they get to exercise!
- 4 votes
#7 - Thu Apr 1, 2010 6:37 AM EDTAgreed, I took my kids yesterday. The didn't even touch their food, they just played for an hour. Personally I can't stand McD food, its like eating plastic. But as long as they have those playplaces I'll keep going.
- 3 votes
You both make good points. For occasional fast food I prefer Burger King.
But their King commercials are dumb.
- 2 votes
But their King commercials are dumb.
you aren't kidding! The only ones who could possibly think they are high quality is the ditz mar/com manager of the company they hired as an ad firm....
Their mascot looks like a leftover Mardi Gras costume. That must be the crowd they polled for whether or not is was a good mascot; a bunch of drunk people on Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday....
- 1 vote
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