Deep thoughts from the promotional minds at McDonald's:



Interesting angles in this new move. The first and formost being advertising to children, where the questions stands: If cigarette and liquer companies can't do it, should fast food be able to? I'm actually going to lean towards yes. There's a line to be drawn and I find it interesting that it tends to be with children. Sure they are the new market, and parents are going to take there kids somewhere, but the parents eat there as well. The problem with cigaretts, etc in theory is that kids get them without parents knowing. And maybe McDonald's shouldn't do direct campaigning to kids, but what is the distinction between "family friendly" adds vs. children targetted adds. Should McDonalds not be allowed to included gifts in its kiddie meals because it would be held responsible for them wanting to come there? I think its too slippery a slope.

The second isse is if exercise is deflecting their food treatment, and I say yes. But I guess its a step in the right direction. Its better than nothing, and I don't care if they are only doing it because of industry downturn. Thats why most companies do things. I don't expect them to be socially responsible heh. I think the adds at least promote fitness, and if someone runs a couple miles everyday, or plays tennis, or swims, or does yoga, then hell, they can have french fries from time to time. Do I think those french fries shouldn't be as unhealthy as they are? I guess, but they are french fries, its deep fried potatoes anyway you cut it, so I'm not losing sleep over it. I think this will change too by the way, if the market pushes it in that direction. McDonalds adds are a cheap way of trying to address a big problem, if the problem continues, than they will take more drastic measures. If it doesn't, power to them. There has been a rise in "casual dining" with Starbucks on the scene, so McDonald's is going to have to deal with the fact that more and more people go for coffee and a sandwich to a place they can actually sit at and enjoy for an hour. Fast Food is out because people aren't really in a rush. In fact alot of people go sit with a book or paper or friend and like to take their time. SO McDonald's only has its "economic" factor, and I think $5 for a big mac is crumbling even that facade.

Yes, I think these adds are good. They're not great, but I think its fine that they are trying them. I'm shocked at the stars that support it though. None of them are poor, the William's sisters can promote milk, or anything else in the world by now, so why they want to continue encouraging people that look up to them eating fast food is beyond me. Look at them! They're clearly never touched the stuff in their life!

dolce, the parents are really to blame. They don't set standards for their children regarding food. My wife has a niece who is 13 years old that weighs 178 lbs. and she is an exact replica of her dad with regards to her looks and eating habits.

We can't blame Mcdonald's. Yes, garbage probably has more nutrition value than the food they serve. Unfortunately their shit sells. It is upto the people to make those choices.

eat mcDees twice a week. eat a bit of anything too much and you'll be sick. mcdees can be a part of a healthy diet too!

Insulting their customers isn't a smart way for them to make money. That campaign is going to backfire.

yes but would you rather be entertained by watching a commercial trying to piss you off

or mcdees telling you that you're loving it.

Honestly .. tell .. what would be more fun.

This is America. Majority of the people would not even know that they are being insulted. :wink:

Yeah, that's why I think its odd to make the distinction between marketing to kids and marketing "family friendly" restaurants, parents are such a large part of this I don't see how the adds really do it. When push comes to shove, if you're a little kid, your parents pick where you eat. About their stuff selling, I think its not as much because of the rise of such chains as Panera. That's why they are doing this. They've been getting the obesity rap and the lawsuites forever now and are trying to find quick fixes to the problem. By promoting exercise. That's not too bad actually, better than nothing.

@bABA...exactly, and you're a healthy skinny minnie. Anywho, the point is I don't have McD's twice a week, but I do have the equivalency of it (French fries, candy, ramen noodle soup, whatever) but I also walk miles everyday (w00t Public transportation). So at one point its also about moderation and balance. Pushing for exercise I guess is a step towards the balance part (though not the moderation part yet, but again, li,ke jb said, that's when parents step in too).





Ouch Archie! I didn't even pick up on the insult. I guess I'm just like the American majority.

my friend is in great shape. lifts 2 plates. eats mcdees thrice a week if needed. once a week atleast though.

I don't mind the i'm loving it commercials. Some are lame but some are good.

They should bring back the "you deserve a break today" campaign though that they used in the 80s, it worked well.

But telling its customers to spend less time with the TV? It's very insulting, who the hell are they? They have had two top guys die of heartattacks. Maybe they should say "whatever you do don't work for McDonald's, our corporate culture is a stress-inducing killer" if they want to save their customers lives.

Ancedotal "I eat McDonald's twice a week and I am thin stories" can easily be matched by "I eat McDonald's twice a week and I', 300 lbs stories." My boyfriend coudl eat mcDonald's at every mea. and still be in excellent shape, whereas if I did that I;d gain 40 lbs.

People have varying diet and exercise needs, and the problem is not McDonald's but the overall attitude towards food/exercise in this country and the body expectations people have.

I do not eat fast food because I am not that fond of most of it, but you can eat a burger at home that is just as unhealthy as one you got at McDonald's. I spent a good portion fo my life failry overweight (from my middle teens till like last year, I weigh a good 70 lbs less then the last time Tim saw mw, but I digress). I picked up poor eating habits from home, growing up, not from McDonald's ads. I grew up in oen of thsoe order pizza, get burger kind, eat a terrible unheathy frozen food families...terrible from a nuitrional point of you and bad for a person.

The suit against McDonald's just smacks of not taking responsbility. Its a resturant advertising to families, sure the kids wants to go there to get the toy, but we need to draw a line in the sane somewhere.

The obseity problem in this counrty my be aided by how prevalent McDonald's are, but it is certainly not the fault of the company.

Most fast food places, have both menu items that are heathy and unhealthy, you decide what you want to eat and there are repurcussions.

Maybe if when we went to McDonald's we were happy with a small fry and a burger instead of a triple and a biggie fry the size of the state I live in, it would be less of an issue.

[/end rant]

McDonald's spokesperson Loyalfromlondon has been quoted stating:

"This article is an gross exaggeration of the truth and flat-out outrageous! People need to be more aware of what they are consuming and in what quantity. McD's can also be part of a nutritionally balanced diet when paired with a healthy lifestyle and exercise. Look at me.....healthy, verile, and I'm loving it!!" "McDonald's...the breakfast of champions!!" "Boo-ya"




:laugh:

It is ironical and has been the butt of late night comedians' jokes.

quite true. thats why you can make mcdonalds 'part' of your healthy diet.

ANd loyal looks healthy too.

Precisely, quite frankly anything can be part of a heathy diet...it is really person specific, some people can eat McDonald's everyday adn look like Arnie in his prime, others cannot.

It just irritates me that people actually think they have the right to blame McDonald's for their obesity.

To compare this to smokign is BS, smoking wa smarketed as beign good for you 40 years ago, when you joined hte miltary they handed out free cigarettes to soldiers.

No one ever suggested eating burgers at McD's everyday was going to make someone into Adonis.

Also, this goes into a pet peeve I ahve with anti smoking commericals now, there is one with a women who died at 29 due to smoking...my sympathy is not with her and anyone in my generation or younger who started smoking, The information on how bad smoking is readily available, anyone who picks up the habit now does so with full disclosure.

While marketing to teenagers is one thing, this society seems toi be strivign towards blame for alot of things. Whatever happened to saying now tot he bucket of fries or to the cigarette...does no one have self control anymore?

Yes, so its about learning yourself. But you're getting there \/



I think the rise in sort of casual dining is great. I think the killer was the microwave meal. People's expectations about how quick they should get food and what it should consist of in the age of the tv dinner set us down the wrong path. I have freinds that are members of the slow-food gorup (or whatever that movement is called) and while I'm not like that, if someone wants to sit on a burger anf fried for two hours and chat with a friend, go for it. It makes you full and makes an event out of it. Its the speed of consumption that also makes people hungry two hours later and leads to snacking that is a killer.



I noticed the loss, but wasn't going to say anything because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. I lost about 30 or 40 poinds since I was a freshman in college and still can't handle a compliment about it, so I didn't know if you could. Anyways, you look great and I'm glad you found a balance in your lifestyle that makes you happy and healthy. I agree with the poor eating habits not related directly to fast food, hence my comments on microwave food and tv dinners.

[quote]
The suit against McDonald's just smacks of not taking responsbility. Its a resturant advertising to families, sure the kids wants to go there to get the toy, but we need to draw a line in the sane somewhere.

The obseity problem in this counrty my be aided by how prevalent McDonald's are, but it is certainly not the fault of the company.

Most fast food places, have both menu items that are heathy and unhealthy, you decide what you want to eat and there are repurcussions.[/quote]

Yeah, some of the problems they've had with "hidden" calories are that the "healthy items aren't." My sister was stuck eating there alot this year when on the road, and she said even the salads had stuff in it that tripled the calorie count. She doesn't look at this stuff slowly, she just noticed stuff they put in to alter taste and of course, small things like using light greens (lettuce) rather than dark greens (spinach) which still make the salad completely nutricionally void. Very odd, the dressings and all. But I heard they started using Newman's Own dressings, etc, so they are making a move to be a bit better.



Yeah, what's odd to me is that people can even consume that much. I don't mean it in a condescending way, but the other day I got myself a shawarma from a place I didn't know, and it was tiny. I ate it and was still hungry but had to catch the path train. So right near the path was a mcdonalds and i said i'd get myself some fries. i got a medium and couldn't finish it. Not cause i didn't like it or anything, but the sizes are huge, and its not like a big mac is so small that there should be that much room left for the super-size stuff. I guess if I was 6 and a half feet tall, but I consider myself a pretty hearty eater, and can eat tons, so it surprises me people would consider ordering the supersize unless they were splitting it with someone.

dolce - you make some great points. The best of them all is the portion size. That has really taken our consumtion to a much higher level. I read somewhere the average pant size for men in the US went from 32 in 1985 to 36 in 2003. That can be attributed mainly to the increased meal portions and reduced physical activity.

Cian,

McD's suck. That was the first time I had fast food since watching Super Size Me. The only reason I went there in Auckland was because on our way to dinner to Rotorua, our driver called McDonald's the American Embassy. I felt it to be my civic duty to eat there and get a photograph for friends in the states. :razz:

The key to fast food is moderation.

It was an attempt at humour. I hope everyone got that! I know Loyal would. I just instantly remembered that pic and thought that this would be a great article to insert it into for a wee laugh.

Loyal looks great and has some nice pearly whites too! The wifey is probably very pleased! :wink:

so was mine. sadly. i'm a hit and miss.




no ... i'm a miss and miss.

We know it was a joke cian, don't worry. :wink: Nice to see you back in full action....now that you have thoroughly humiliated loyal (high five) even after he came to our rescue last night (you're low miru, just low) I can offocially say there are at least 9 people whom I actually enjoy on these forums (and the two of you might force it into the double digits).

jb...I am a pig. I mean it. i eat like crazy, and I still oculd not even contemplate a super-size fries. Ugh, just thinking of trying to force that much fried starch down.

Ha!! I knew you would get it Loyal!!

Btw, is that sausage anddddddddddd..... BACON???

Precisely, and I think its good that McDonald's is making health conscious ads, so so many Americans liekly won;t get good information otherwise...which is sad.



All those microwave males are like 20-40 grams of fat, and they don't like anything, just salty. Its created this culture that food shoudl be ready in 5 minutes and meal eaten in front fo the tv.



It depends on the person and the situation (some people make comments that I fidn stupid, like my new heatlhy lifestyle is meant to make me look like a Victoria;s Secret model or something insane like that), overall when it comes to compliments I'm a rather shy and reserved person. Thank you.



Exactly, I never really ate that much fast food, but I did have horrid eating habits, alot of i was microwae/frozen food. Rather then grill some chicken, I'd eat a frozen breaded chicken that was 50 grams of fat and didn't take that good...makes me wonder why, it was bad for me and not very good. I;d much rather cook myself, in fact those commercials for places like McDonalds don;t entire me to go their and try their new griled hicken sandwich as much as they entire me to make my own at home.



A sald from mcDonald's is often not muchbetter thent he burger in terms of fat..I find oen is better of trying to go to places liek subway wher eyou can atleast get turkey on wheat bread or something like that. Getting the burger, no fries, really isn;t that bad...it has protein, if you leave off mayo and cheese that takes away some fat. What a fast food palce totes as heathy may nto be the heathiest thing to eat on the menu.



Exactly, I honestly think the major problem with food in this country is portions...if you compare portions in the US to otehr countries, its jsut nuts...no one needs a Biggie Fry. In this country we are not taught to stop eating when we are full...its the clear the plate syndrome, something I grew up with. Not leaving the tabl to you finish your food sets abd precedence, some days I can eat a cow, other days I am just not hungry....this was always a problem as a child.

Yeah, some sort of meat bomb. Nice and tasty first thing in the morning before heading off into the Hauraki Gulf.

I'm fit as a fiddle minus my knee surgeries. I climbed a glacier damn it.

You mean that were were not part of The Nine before? The Dark Lord will be greatly displeased. I thought Loyal and I had that wrapped up long ago.

I actually canot eat most things at McDonald's...it makes me sick, and it has the same effect on several other members of my family.

There are some local fast food palces around here I like, we have a great hot dog chain Spike's that I like, but fast food lost its appeal for me when I got older.

The toys suck, now I;d rather go to a real restaunrant and have a filet mignon.