JohnG@lt wrote:
Uzique wrote:
JohnG@lt wrote:
A Happy Meal was a treat for me as a child. It might happen on a Saturday morning that my mom or dad would take me to get one. Did the world end? No. Did I get fat from it? No. Did I want fast food for the toy? No, I liked the soda/orange drink. All the toy did was convince me as a child that I wanted McDonald's over Wendy's or Burger King. That, and the play lands and Grimace and Ronald McDonald etc were all appealing as a child.
ding ding, the marketing strategy of mcdonalds that i spoke about.
"that i wanted mcdonalds over wendy's or burger king".
"ronald mcdonald"
these are all carefully researched and constructed artifices that exist only for the purpose of sowing seeds in impressionable and developing children's minds. this is the sort of tactic that the legislation is trying to ban. whether or not you want to admit it, the fact that you even look back on experiencing of mcdonalds with happy-nostalgia is testament to the fact that their strategy works. in today's market, anything making someone predisposed or inclined to buy something unhealthy or not-to-their-best-interest should be banned. let mcdonalds lure you into their chains with appetizing images of their glorious cuisine... not a happy smiling clown brandishing free balloons and worthless gimmicky toys.
Of course they are. But you missed the entire point that it was a special occasion that didn't happen very often. If I whined or cried that I wanted McDonald's there was no way in hell they would take me. It was a treat. All the marketing did was help choose between which fast food restaurant to visit. It didn't dictate that I was going to eat there every day.
where did i say eat everyday? i have maintained from my very first post that i am not interested in the issue of (child) obesity. don't give a shit.
my point was that the marketing they use(d) influences children to buy from mcdonalds without any second thought.
it's influencing people who are not mature or independent enough to make any intelligent, informed decision.
it's underhand, cheap marketing, in any business sense. the only reason they got away with it for so long was because it was beneath the cheery, faux-innocent veneer of a child's happiness. the intent and the corporate motivations behind it are pretty sinister, and their profit margins are at the expense of your child's lifestyle choices.
