What a “Kroc” of BS! – – – I know, terrible joke . . .
Anyways, the lady who filed suit against McDonalds seems like the type of person who won’t take ownership over anything. Always the victim??? Real cute . . .
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says they are a nutrition advocacy group . . . It seems like they have over-extended their reach here and are fighting for different marketing tactics as opposed to different menu items for children.
The litigation attorney who said “What is different about this motion is that McDonald’s has chosen to blame the victim — saying that it’s all Monet Parham’s fault if she doesn’t force her daughter to ignore the onslaught of McDonald’s marketing messages” is the root of the problem . . .
“…if she doesn’t force her daughter to ignore the onslaught of McDonald’s marketing messages.” In other words, it forces this woman to actually be a PARENT. Apparently being a responsible parent is just way too much to ask of this lazy woman.
This is such a waste of time and money.
If your children are fat and unhealthy beacuse you give in to their every want instead of providing them with what they need to be healthy then shame on you for bad parenting.
Part of being a parent is saying no when what the child wants isn’t the best for them. Blaming McDonalds for your poor parenting skills is disgusting.
This seems to go along with the “it’s not my fault I am obese, I’m a victim marketing ploys” attitude that’s going around. You know what you should and should not eat or eat in moderation. This is just crazy. What’s wrong with people today!?!?
Whatever happened to a parent just saying “no”? Poor parenting, not McDonald’s, is to blame here. Too bad that a suit like this is allowed to further clog the court system.
Happy Meal toys appeal to children who are still young enough to be completely dependent on their parents – it’s up to the parents to choose one of the healthy options (sliced apples, yogurt, juice, etc.) if they’re not ‘adult’ enough to say ‘no’ to McDonald’s in the first place. Let’s hope this suit doesn’t waste too much of our judicial system’s time and resources.
As a mom, I say no to all kinds of things…that is what GOOD parenting is all about. Setting limits. Not giving in to every request. Sounds like this “mom” doesn’t want to accept the responsibilities of being a parent and wants McDonalds to do it. Yes, I buy kids meals at different restaurants (even sit down restaurants make concessions and give toys or placemats to color etc). Where I choose to take my kids and what I choose for them to eat is MY choice – NOT the government or MickeyDs or anyone else. If I do not want my child to eat at MickeyDs – I dont take them there!
Real Mom – You are spot-on. Also, saying no to requests, such as McDonald’s, also provides parents with teaching moments, where opportunities exist to better your children’s understanding of health, diet, exercise, and how to balance one’s life.
Two things:
1. You’re the mother – tell your kids “no.” McDonalds may market to the kids, but it’s up to the parents to say “too bad, we’re not going.” Last time I checked, a six year old cannot swipe a $20 from moms purse and drive the car to McDonalds.
2. Yes, child obesity is out of control in America, but that isn’t McDonalds’ fault. Again, that is the fault of the parents for a) taking the kids to McDonalds, b) not encouraging physical activity from their kids, and c) being lazy parents.
This whole lawsuit is crap. The last time I checked, every toy, doll, and videogame advertisement out there is targeted towards kids. If this lawsuit goes forward I’m suing Samsung for making that 65 inch 3-D LCD TV I want and advertising it during sporting events. After all, how can I ignore the onslaught of that marketing message.
This is quite amuzing…my oldest son never cared that much for happy meals; he liked the toys a bit, but he preferred burgers from a competitor…when it came to McDonalds, he was always happy with his Happy Meal when it contained a hamburger and apple dippers instead of fries…so there the parent has another choice to choose a healthier alternative to the fries…seriously, a hamburger and apple slices, if we all ate that way, we’d all probably be in better health, so perhaps McD’s should be suing us for not making better choices…I’m disappointed I didn’t get to see a picture of this whacko who filed the suit…her kids ask her for things…just curious, but wonder if her first boyfriend asked for things, too…did she say no or file suit against him?
I think its sad that parents have to start blaming the restaurant that THEY are choosing to take their children too. They are the parent and they have the ability to SAY and ENFORCE NO. I know in MN you can just buy the toys for a couple of dollars. So if that toy is that big of an issue for your child BUY THE TOY or BUY THE HAPPY MEAL and throw the food out. Nobody is forcing you to feed your children the food.
I’m obese… I think I’ll sue the governemtn for not legislating this problem much sooner. If I can’t get the money from McDonalds, I deserve some compensation from someone right?
On a related note, a local Georgia man filed a similar lawsuit in Bacon County. Plaintiff Bubba “Rusty” Finger alleges that as a regular customer of the Waller Hollow, GA restaurant operated by national franchise Whooters, he was fully entitled to an Extra Happy Meal on each visit.
In his complaint, Finger points that the restaurant had a joint advertising campaign with filmmaker Seymour Butz, and that bobble-headed dolls or action figures were supposed to be free with every 4lb swiss bacon mushroom burger, The Clogger. On repeated visits, Finger stated that the restaurant had run out of the promotional items. He asks in his lawsuit for a year’s worth of free dining for him and his pet orangutan, Little Bubba. Or pehaps some Drain-No to get rid of LAST years’ burgers.
A spokesperson for Whooters would not comment on Finger’s pointing but did state that the allegations might have a degree of merit although it required a little wiggle room. “Fortunately each of our sites HAS a litle wiggle room, right out back, so if Bubba wants to drop the suit, we’ll find some way of accomodating him”.
BTW, as we all watch lawyers, special interests, and NGO’s jump on the “obesity epidemic”, let us not forget our government’s part. This article, while an opinion piece, expounds upon the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, which was chaired by famous leftist George McGovern, and issued food guidelines in 1977. Please do more research beyond this article, as it is the government nannies themselves (the exact same meddlers now aiming at the “obesity epidemic”) who created this epidemic, using faulty and undproven (now disproven completely) “science”. Doesn’t that have the familiar ring of “global warming” or “climate change”? Of course. But then, leftist meddlers in government NEVER take responsibility when they are wrong. They just tax us more. Here’s the article (once again, do your own research):
Dear Mike – what does the “N” stand for – a Germanic, mid-century acronym for the Social Democratic Workers Party, perhaps?
I thought all good conservatives were in favor of government staying the HECK away from business – caveat emptor and all that. No one forces these customers into the store unless they’re getting brainwashed by Alec Baldwin on those Hulu commercials.
“What is different about this motion is that McDonald’s has chosen to blame the victim — saying that it’s all Monet Parham’s fault if she doesn’t force her daughter to ignore the onslaught of McDonald’s marketing messages,” Gardner said.
Okay Mr Gardner, what about the cereal companies? They sell Sweetened cereal with a toy inside a color cartoon made box. How do we stop them from their onslaught of our children? Let’s even go further. The Playstation and Xbox do not allow any exercise for our children, yet they market games to them. This is an outrage.
Mr Gardner, I say I hope you spend every cent of your lawfirms money and then you lose everything. You took a case because it went after a large corporation. Next we’ll find that this lady who is filing this suit probably works for or has alot of stock in Burger King.
I also believe one city in CA already has banned toys being given out from McDonalds. Our government is going to far. I guess it’s okay for the government to give out free welfare checks, but not okay for McDonalds to give out free toys.
Baxter, great point about the cereal companies. This lawsuit, if won on the part of the demented parent, would open a pandora’s box of frivilous lawsuits against the cereal companies citing the very same thing. Then suits against Cracker Jacks would be next.
first of all, what is wrong with the word NO! are you so unhappy that your kids cry because you said no? come now! when you go to the grocery store and where do you find the candy? right next to the cashier! your kids ask, but don’t you say NO! you have choices to make and happy meals is a choice you chose for your kids to eat. now, you can probably ask them not to put in a toy and they would ablige. agreed with the video games, because they do target kids as well. when it comes to xmas and many times you see glasses being offered. did you say no then?! probably not because they were cute and fit your house for the theme. McDonalds is just like any other business, they have the right to advertise and at least they protect the consumer because they have told you about the toy in the meal. you as a parent need to understand what is meant by consumer protection. you make a choice and need to show kids that sometimes choices are hard to make but sometimes are for good reasons. imagine what you teach now and how much they will ignore your word later in their growth. what will that word mean if you can’t say NO, now?
All the comments so far have been pretty much dead on, funny how all of us in the real world see how ridiculous this is, and yet things like this are still allowed to continue. This notion of blaming McDonald’s marketing should have been laughed at when it was first mentioned and it should stop there, end of story. I lived in California for many years and I do think there’s a strong culture of complacency there. It seemed like many folks wanted the government to take responsibility for them, and individual accountability is an old-fashioned idea that must have been forgotten long ago.
It seems like McDonalds has generally been ahead of the curve when it comes to healthy-ish offerings on its menu. I generally despise McD’s food but it is possible to construct a meal that isn’t terrible for you, and the happy meals come with options now. I would stop short of calling anything on their menu “good for you” though.
Agree that the lawsuit is ridiculous, but there seems to be a lot of precedent for the regulation of marketing aimed at children (cigarettes and booze, etc), and we all seem to be fine with that. How can you say this is NOT a natural extension of that logic?
Youngin, I don’t think we are all fine with the regulation of marketing. We have an over zealous government, where “We the people” feel as though our voices are not being heard. Look at the number of comments left just on this subject, then look at the number of “Likes and Dislikes” buttons pushed. I have never seen as many number of replies. Obviously “we” are not happy with this type of regulation. And if you left it up to the people, we wouldn’t have a problem with booze or cigarette commercials, since they are legal vices. But it seems those in government want to tell us what’s best for us. How in the heck did we all ever make it through our own childhoods?
That’s interesting. I’ve never met anyone who disagrees with banning the marketing of cigarettes to children before.
Blaming the gummint is lazy and ignorant. These regulations are the direct result of the will of the people – the people who make their voices heard, that is. It is our own fault. We blame the gummint for meddling in our lives, then when something bad happens, we want to know where was the gummint? We are hypocrites.
Special interest groups are the ones that push these types of laws, and have passionate members who are willing to call and write their representatives every day, are willing to compile the research and show up to legislate bodies and (metaphorically) scream at the top of their lungs for change. Where are their libertarian counterparts? Griping on internet message boards.
I think that the lawsuit is a good thing. My son Gustov has been growing quite large lately and I simply could not understand why?? It seems that these parents are facing the same dilemma that I am facing. I believe that Mcdonalds is enticing our children to eat not only food that is bad for them, but also eat the toys that they put in the happy meal. How is Gustov to know that this toy in his box of food is not edible? I think they should start making toy vegitables and put them in happy meals. Its the only way Gustov will not continue to eat them.
so GUSTOV, willy wonka’s factory and all of it’s chocolate is not good enough? afterall, they say that chocolate is actually good for you. they never said that plastic was edible, and if eaten your system will just reject it at the other end of the input cycle…
You’ve got to be kidding! You can’t stop your overweight son from eating the toy out of the happy meal? What is wrong with you? Does your son drive himself to Mcdonalds and order for himself? I think not. Here’s an idea.. you want your kid to stop gaining so much weight?!?! TRY EATING RIGHT AND EXERCISE… you know OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. WOW your comment makes me laugh so much. Thank you.
Seriously…parents need to take control over their children and start actually being the ‘parent.’ Why do some people expect the world to accommodate them. Put your big girl pants on and say NO to your child and assume the responsibility of being a parent!
This is one of the most retarded lawsuits for our court system to undertake. Does California beat to a different drum or what? You don’t like Happy Meals, then don’t buy them. She stated she tells her kids “no”, well good. What part of “NO” don’t her kids understand? So under this lawsuit mentality it’s time for the courts and the government to micro-manage our lifestyle because parents are too damn lazy to raise their kids? If I’m McDonalds, I’d close every damn franchise in California and open new McDonalds right on the bordering states, smack dab on the border. You know maybe the State of California should look into the parents who filed this lawsuit. If they can file a stupid lawsuit because they cannot properly raise their kids, maybe they don’t deserve to be parents?
This is the most ridiculous lawsuit I’ve ever heard of. What kind of parent are you that you can’t say no and stick with it. Are you the parent or is your child the parent? Everyone is always looking to blame someone else. Parents, it’s your own fault!
Marketing to children and obesity is no one’s fault except the parents. When you get into a car accident, do you blame the insurance company becaus you saw an add that demonstrated an accident. NO!
Why is your child sitting in front of the TV watching the ads? Take them outside to learn something, not watch cartoons. Your child wants a hamburger, how about the concept of grilling a hamburger at home instead of stopping for one. It takes minutes!
And for the record, yes, I have a child who has never had a bite from McDonald’s. And I am aware that unless I introduce it or say yes, it will remain that way!
i can’t agree more. it’s like stating that if i see someone fire a gun, that i will fire one as well. or i have seen the on tv, and it shows an accident because i listen only to the tom-tom without verifying with my eyes my direction. our society does not want to take personal accountability of our actions but rely to place blame on others. in this case, it’s mcd’s fault that i DROVE my car to the restaurant and purchase that happy meal because MY KIDS wanted that toy but it was a unhealthy meal. WHAT?! so the next time you see a kid born with faults, you can reject them because you don’t want that child. i thought it was about time as a parent to take responsibility and teach (TEACH) our kids from right and wrong. make good decisions about life and to contribute to society and not take away from it.
This suit certainly seems like a stretch. I agree with McD’s on this one.
That being said, marketing does have a significant impact on consumer behavior especially in children, and I think we do ask an important question when we consider whether or not it’s a good idea to use the lure of toys to sell kids cheap processed food.
Raise your hand if you know that the new “healthy” breakfast option oatmeal w/ brown sugar at McD’s has as many calories as an egg mcmuffin and as much sugar as a Snickers bar. They don’t mention that in the commercial.
You know what Matt, who really cares what the commercials say. All roads don’t lead and end at McDonalds. As parents we need to take some responsibility for what we feed our kids. We don’t buy Trix or Lucky Charms cereal even though there is a great marketing campaign for a neat rabbit or cute Leprochan. If you cannot tell your kids “no” means “no” why is it McDonalds fault? Maybe Obama and Harry Reid can pass yet another law making McDonalds illegal for children under 15 yrs old, then charge parents with child endangerment if you’re found to feed your kid a cheeseburger? a bit of sarcasm, but whether it’s 1951 or 1961 or 2011 there is some personal responsibility on our part as parents.
This story is so biased against McDonald’s, it borders on ridiculous. …restaurant operators, which are largely self-regulated… Of course they are. It’s called free enterprise; the private sector. How about suing all of the irresponsible parents for feeding their kids too much junk food? I’m sure the kids that like happy meal toys aren’t ordering and paying for the food themselves!
You mentioned bad words – “Free Enterprise”. How dare you! You will torment the liberals/progressives/socialists (whatever they call themselves these days). Those words (Free Enterprise)do not exist under this current administration. In addition, the public has to battle the liberal/progressive/socialist (whatever they call themselves these days) activist judges who don’t throw out these insane lawsuits.
I’m pretty sure they don’t call themselves socialists. That’s what conservative/republican/teabaggers (whatever they call themselves these days) call them.
TAR, you need to get over yourself. You’re one of those that likes to make everything a political argument. Okay, I give up. You’re right. Surely Obama and the “liberal/pogressives/socialists” are to blame for everything that’s wrong in this country, or world, or heck, probably the entire universe.
I didn’t politicize this argument my friend! It’s time to stand up to yous guys who like to demonize the Tea Partiers. I haven’t participated in a Tea Party event, but it seemed pretty clear they were very effective in 2010 election. Do I believe Obama and his socialmarxist agenda is to blame for a lot of our woes today, yes. and I will defend my opinion. This lawsuit is just another example of the lack of responsibility people are taking. It always has to be someone else’s fault, the parents just couldn’t say no, that was too easy. That seems to be the liberal/progressive/socialist mentality (or whatever you want to call yourselves). So I espouse a more conservative view, I just cannot understand how McDonalds, a private corporation, who spends their own money to advertise. A private company who did not seek government intervention to mandate they provide Happy Meals to all kids under a certain age, eat their product. Anyone can file a lawsuit in America, but these type of suits are ridiculous and you question the mindset of the individual lodging the complaint.
You most certainly DID politicize this argument. For someone who claims to believe in personal responsibility, you certainly blame a lot of “others” for the state of this country.
April 27, 2011 at 10:04 am
TAR says:
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So you want to continue, fine. I don’t have a problem taking personal responsibility. How is it I’m blaming others? Because I and others do not agree with the liberal agenda and mindset in this country, that somehow renders our opinion invalid?
The liberal mindset, in both the GOP and Democratic parties are the cause of the problems we face in this country today! Including our judicial system, which is what this entire thread is about. At one point we on the East Coast thought California marched to a different drum, but that mindset has polluted the rest of the country and including our judicial system, as well as our political leaders of both parties who apparently do not believe our U.S. Constitution stands for much these days. The further we move away from our Constitutional Republic the faster this country will spiral out of control, in my opinion. From Johnson’s creation of Medicare, to Carter, to both Bush Presidencies and now the failed Obama Presidency can America recover? Not by adopting more and more of the liberal social agenda, in my opinion.
April 26, 2011 at 7:17 pm
SoCalJasonland says:
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What is next? Are people going to complain that McDonalds pays poorly?
Oops your liberalism is exposed Youngin. Following the party line with the term “teabagger”. Our Founding Fathers kicked British butt with the “Tea Party”. But remain in denial, 2012 is around the corner.
Irony and sarcasm are apparently lost on you, TAR.
FTR, I generally disagree with liberals on a number of social and fiscal issues and find them generally a pain in the neck. However, the clowns who have been leading the conservative movement in this country for the past 20 years make me reluctant to embrace republican candidates. That’s probably just as well, since it forces me and others like me to research and vote on individual candidates instead of voting on a party line. I am encouraged by the effect of the Tea Party on the GOP and hope that social conservatives continue to be marginalized – not because I disagree with them on social issues, but because they are not legitimate conservatives.
Thanks. My overall point is that the “public” in this country “expects” big government. If there is to be a legitimate small government movement in this country we have to be politically active even if it makes us unpopular.
Yes, I agree it is the liberal mindset that has driven many of the problems. Also agree that it has affected both parties and is not a problem unique to those who associate with liberal politics, i.e. many conservatives are also very liberal, just about different issues than liberals. The social/religious conservatives have big agendas just like progressive/liberals; Bush was a clear example of that. The only authentic conservative agenda should be to have a smaller agenda.
Youngin; I’m a Roman Catholic, we tend to be a bit more liberal on social issues as a whole. But my question to you: you’ve mentioned the “religious conservatives” a couple of times as being the problem. What is it in your opinion that troubles you which you see as a potential threat? It seems as though, to me, the progressive social agenda has been far more successful making in roads to each and every facet of government, including our court system.
The way I see it, social/religious conservatives seek to regulate behavior in much the same way as progressives do, only they focus on behavior that they view as morally right/wrong, where progressives focus on behavior that is socially desirable/undesirable.
Social/religious conservatives also seem to be warmongers. Rather than focus on fighting terrorism on our own soil, we spend a ton of money going overseas to play terrorist whack-a-mole. On top of that, the so-called conservatives slap a liberal-sounding “fighting oppression and spreading democracy” type rationalization on it, to make the wars seem legitimate and worthwhile.
A true conservative is able to face the fact that sometimes bad things happen. The government cannot prevent all bad things from happening, and we need to restrict our prevention efforts well before we reach the point of diminishing returns.
These conservatives of the past 20 years are OK with bad things happening to poor people but not OK with bad things happening to middle class people. But, then again, that is and always has been the American way, I guess.
Respect! Good articulation Youngin! We’d have a difference on the warmongering issue. Think GWB was misguided into thinking he could change the hearts and minds of the middle eastern countries that ideology in my opinion cannot be changed.
Why the “class” comment about the middle class? In what way? I don’t think you are playing the class warfare card, reciting the liberal talking points. But I believe most of the conservative movement, including the Tea Party movement stems from the Middle Class rising up. Is that where you are going?
Not engaging in class warfare as trying to point out hypocrisy and self-serving nature of a lot of conservative opinions. I think a lot of my comments apply to liberals as well, only less hypocritical since they usually admit their actual beliefs. Conservative reasoning is too squishy and only applied when convenient.
They are against big government spending, with the exception of most of the federal budget. They are against murdering unborn babies but it’s ok to murder criminals and terrorists. When poor people can’t find a job it must because they are lazy, but when middle class people can’t find a job it must be because the marginal tax rates on the upper income brackets are too high.
April 27, 2011 at 1:01 pm
TAR says:
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Wow a bit jaded on Conservatism? It’s not just marginal tax rates on the upper income, which appears to be a bit closed minded statement. The middle class is quite broad and depending on who’s talking depends on it’s definition. I suspect that most small businesses (approximately 63% of businesses nationwide) are Middle to Upper Middle Class. We’ve not seen a friendly Congress since probably Gingrich that go out of businesses way and let us do what we do best – employ, create and produce. Obama Admin has been the most adversarial admin, especially with Pelosi and Reid leading Congress. So, you’re not for the death penalty. Are we to coddle terrorists and treat them as just common criminals? Terrorists want to kill us, change our way of life. I don’t equate the murdering of an unborn with putting a terrorist, child killing rapist or a cold blooded murderer to death. You are not going to reform a child killing rapist or terrorist, in my opinion. Especially if the terrorist is a Timothy McVeigh or a muslim such as Nidal Hassan Major in U.S. Army, a true believer in islam. They despise our way of life, despise us since we are non-believers. True in some respects about Conservatives in Washington. It seems they are afraid to be conservative and stand their ground. Appeasement seems easier than standing on one’s convictions and adhereing to the U.S. Constitution.
May 3, 2011 at 11:12 am
Fred Hayes says:
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What ever happened to parents being in charge. It is obvious that in this case that the parent doesn’t have control of the situation. If you don’t like the way McDonalds advertises, don’t put your dollars in their coffers. Don’t blame others for your inabilities to parent effectively.
What a “Kroc” of BS! – – – I know, terrible joke . . .
Anyways, the lady who filed suit against McDonalds seems like the type of person who won’t take ownership over anything. Always the victim??? Real cute . . .
The Center for Science in the Public Interest says they are a nutrition advocacy group . . . It seems like they have over-extended their reach here and are fighting for different marketing tactics as opposed to different menu items for children.
The litigation attorney who said “What is different about this motion is that McDonald’s has chosen to blame the victim — saying that it’s all Monet Parham’s fault if she doesn’t force her daughter to ignore the onslaught of McDonald’s marketing messages” is the root of the problem . . .
“…if she doesn’t force her daughter to ignore the onslaught of McDonald’s marketing messages.” In other words, it forces this woman to actually be a PARENT. Apparently being a responsible parent is just way too much to ask of this lazy woman.
This is such a waste of time and money.
If your children are fat and unhealthy beacuse you give in to their every want instead of providing them with what they need to be healthy then shame on you for bad parenting.
Part of being a parent is saying no when what the child wants isn’t the best for them. Blaming McDonalds for your poor parenting skills is disgusting.
This seems to go along with the “it’s not my fault I am obese, I’m a victim marketing ploys” attitude that’s going around. You know what you should and should not eat or eat in moderation. This is just crazy. What’s wrong with people today!?!?
Whatever happened to a parent just saying “no”? Poor parenting, not McDonald’s, is to blame here. Too bad that a suit like this is allowed to further clog the court system.
Happy Meal toys appeal to children who are still young enough to be completely dependent on their parents – it’s up to the parents to choose one of the healthy options (sliced apples, yogurt, juice, etc.) if they’re not ‘adult’ enough to say ‘no’ to McDonald’s in the first place. Let’s hope this suit doesn’t waste too much of our judicial system’s time and resources.
As a mom, I say no to all kinds of things…that is what GOOD parenting is all about. Setting limits. Not giving in to every request. Sounds like this “mom” doesn’t want to accept the responsibilities of being a parent and wants McDonalds to do it. Yes, I buy kids meals at different restaurants (even sit down restaurants make concessions and give toys or placemats to color etc). Where I choose to take my kids and what I choose for them to eat is MY choice – NOT the government or MickeyDs or anyone else. If I do not want my child to eat at MickeyDs – I dont take them there!
Real Mom – You are spot-on. Also, saying no to requests, such as McDonald’s, also provides parents with teaching moments, where opportunities exist to better your children’s understanding of health, diet, exercise, and how to balance one’s life.
This can’t be a lawsuit…it just can’t be.
Two things:
1. You’re the mother – tell your kids “no.” McDonalds may market to the kids, but it’s up to the parents to say “too bad, we’re not going.” Last time I checked, a six year old cannot swipe a $20 from moms purse and drive the car to McDonalds.
2. Yes, child obesity is out of control in America, but that isn’t McDonalds’ fault. Again, that is the fault of the parents for a) taking the kids to McDonalds, b) not encouraging physical activity from their kids, and c) being lazy parents.
This whole lawsuit is crap. The last time I checked, every toy, doll, and videogame advertisement out there is targeted towards kids. If this lawsuit goes forward I’m suing Samsung for making that 65 inch 3-D LCD TV I want and advertising it during sporting events. After all, how can I ignore the onslaught of that marketing message.
Perhaps McDonalds should just sell the toys and offer a free Happy Meal….
McDonalds will sell you the toy with NO food; you only have to ask. Done it plenty of times!!
This is quite amuzing…my oldest son never cared that much for happy meals; he liked the toys a bit, but he preferred burgers from a competitor…when it came to McDonalds, he was always happy with his Happy Meal when it contained a hamburger and apple dippers instead of fries…so there the parent has another choice to choose a healthier alternative to the fries…seriously, a hamburger and apple slices, if we all ate that way, we’d all probably be in better health, so perhaps McD’s should be suing us for not making better choices…I’m disappointed I didn’t get to see a picture of this whacko who filed the suit…her kids ask her for things…just curious, but wonder if her first boyfriend asked for things, too…did she say no or file suit against him?
McDonalds being responsible for childhood obesity is like saying pencils are responsible for misspelled words….
Don’t we have something better to use our courts for?
I think its sad that parents have to start blaming the restaurant that THEY are choosing to take their children too. They are the parent and they have the ability to SAY and ENFORCE NO. I know in MN you can just buy the toys for a couple of dollars. So if that toy is that big of an issue for your child BUY THE TOY or BUY THE HAPPY MEAL and throw the food out. Nobody is forcing you to feed your children the food.
I’m obese… I think I’ll sue the governemtn for not legislating this problem much sooner. If I can’t get the money from McDonalds, I deserve some compensation from someone right?
On a related note, a local Georgia man filed a similar lawsuit in Bacon County. Plaintiff Bubba “Rusty” Finger alleges that as a regular customer of the Waller Hollow, GA restaurant operated by national franchise Whooters, he was fully entitled to an Extra Happy Meal on each visit.
In his complaint, Finger points that the restaurant had a joint advertising campaign with filmmaker Seymour Butz, and that bobble-headed dolls or action figures were supposed to be free with every 4lb swiss bacon mushroom burger, The Clogger. On repeated visits, Finger stated that the restaurant had run out of the promotional items. He asks in his lawsuit for a year’s worth of free dining for him and his pet orangutan, Little Bubba. Or pehaps some Drain-No to get rid of LAST years’ burgers.
A spokesperson for Whooters would not comment on Finger’s pointing but did state that the allegations might have a degree of merit although it required a little wiggle room. “Fortunately each of our sites HAS a litle wiggle room, right out back, so if Bubba wants to drop the suit, we’ll find some way of accomodating him”.
BTW, as we all watch lawyers, special interests, and NGO’s jump on the “obesity epidemic”, let us not forget our government’s part. This article, while an opinion piece, expounds upon the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs, which was chaired by famous leftist George McGovern, and issued food guidelines in 1977. Please do more research beyond this article, as it is the government nannies themselves (the exact same meddlers now aiming at the “obesity epidemic”) who created this epidemic, using faulty and undproven (now disproven completely) “science”. Doesn’t that have the familiar ring of “global warming” or “climate change”? Of course. But then, leftist meddlers in government NEVER take responsibility when they are wrong. They just tax us more. Here’s the article (once again, do your own research):
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/265056/government-makes-poor-physician-mona-charen
Dear Mike – what does the “N” stand for – a Germanic, mid-century acronym for the Social Democratic Workers Party, perhaps?
I thought all good conservatives were in favor of government staying the HECK away from business – caveat emptor and all that. No one forces these customers into the store unless they’re getting brainwashed by Alec Baldwin on those Hulu commercials.
Unless you changed your name from Rosie?…..
“What is different about this motion is that McDonald’s has chosen to blame the victim — saying that it’s all Monet Parham’s fault if she doesn’t force her daughter to ignore the onslaught of McDonald’s marketing messages,” Gardner said.
Okay Mr Gardner, what about the cereal companies? They sell Sweetened cereal with a toy inside a color cartoon made box. How do we stop them from their onslaught of our children? Let’s even go further. The Playstation and Xbox do not allow any exercise for our children, yet they market games to them. This is an outrage.
Mr Gardner, I say I hope you spend every cent of your lawfirms money and then you lose everything. You took a case because it went after a large corporation. Next we’ll find that this lady who is filing this suit probably works for or has alot of stock in Burger King.
I also believe one city in CA already has banned toys being given out from McDonalds. Our government is going to far. I guess it’s okay for the government to give out free welfare checks, but not okay for McDonalds to give out free toys.
Baxter, great point about the cereal companies. This lawsuit, if won on the part of the demented parent, would open a pandora’s box of frivilous lawsuits against the cereal companies citing the very same thing. Then suits against Cracker Jacks would be next.
first of all, what is wrong with the word NO! are you so unhappy that your kids cry because you said no? come now! when you go to the grocery store and where do you find the candy? right next to the cashier! your kids ask, but don’t you say NO! you have choices to make and happy meals is a choice you chose for your kids to eat. now, you can probably ask them not to put in a toy and they would ablige. agreed with the video games, because they do target kids as well. when it comes to xmas and many times you see glasses being offered. did you say no then?! probably not because they were cute and fit your house for the theme. McDonalds is just like any other business, they have the right to advertise and at least they protect the consumer because they have told you about the toy in the meal. you as a parent need to understand what is meant by consumer protection. you make a choice and need to show kids that sometimes choices are hard to make but sometimes are for good reasons. imagine what you teach now and how much they will ignore your word later in their growth. what will that word mean if you can’t say NO, now?
All the comments so far have been pretty much dead on, funny how all of us in the real world see how ridiculous this is, and yet things like this are still allowed to continue. This notion of blaming McDonald’s marketing should have been laughed at when it was first mentioned and it should stop there, end of story. I lived in California for many years and I do think there’s a strong culture of complacency there. It seemed like many folks wanted the government to take responsibility for them, and individual accountability is an old-fashioned idea that must have been forgotten long ago.
It seems like McDonalds has generally been ahead of the curve when it comes to healthy-ish offerings on its menu. I generally despise McD’s food but it is possible to construct a meal that isn’t terrible for you, and the happy meals come with options now. I would stop short of calling anything on their menu “good for you” though.
Agree that the lawsuit is ridiculous, but there seems to be a lot of precedent for the regulation of marketing aimed at children (cigarettes and booze, etc), and we all seem to be fine with that. How can you say this is NOT a natural extension of that logic?
Youngin, I don’t think we are all fine with the regulation of marketing. We have an over zealous government, where “We the people” feel as though our voices are not being heard. Look at the number of comments left just on this subject, then look at the number of “Likes and Dislikes” buttons pushed. I have never seen as many number of replies. Obviously “we” are not happy with this type of regulation. And if you left it up to the people, we wouldn’t have a problem with booze or cigarette commercials, since they are legal vices. But it seems those in government want to tell us what’s best for us. How in the heck did we all ever make it through our own childhoods?
That’s interesting. I’ve never met anyone who disagrees with banning the marketing of cigarettes to children before.
Blaming the gummint is lazy and ignorant. These regulations are the direct result of the will of the people – the people who make their voices heard, that is. It is our own fault. We blame the gummint for meddling in our lives, then when something bad happens, we want to know where was the gummint? We are hypocrites.
Special interest groups are the ones that push these types of laws, and have passionate members who are willing to call and write their representatives every day, are willing to compile the research and show up to legislate bodies and (metaphorically) scream at the top of their lungs for change. Where are their libertarian counterparts? Griping on internet message boards.
I think that the lawsuit is a good thing. My son Gustov has been growing quite large lately and I simply could not understand why?? It seems that these parents are facing the same dilemma that I am facing. I believe that Mcdonalds is enticing our children to eat not only food that is bad for them, but also eat the toys that they put in the happy meal. How is Gustov to know that this toy in his box of food is not edible? I think they should start making toy vegitables and put them in happy meals. Its the only way Gustov will not continue to eat them.
so GUSTOV, willy wonka’s factory and all of it’s chocolate is not good enough? afterall, they say that chocolate is actually good for you. they never said that plastic was edible, and if eaten your system will just reject it at the other end of the input cycle…
You’ve got to be kidding! You can’t stop your overweight son from eating the toy out of the happy meal? What is wrong with you? Does your son drive himself to Mcdonalds and order for himself? I think not. Here’s an idea.. you want your kid to stop gaining so much weight?!?! TRY EATING RIGHT AND EXERCISE… you know OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES. WOW your comment makes me laugh so much. Thank you.
Gee, I guess the logic here is “I can’t help but take my kids to McDonalds because of the toys”. I think I need to watch “Idiocracy” again tonight.
Only in California! Stay out there PLEASE!!!! You Dope!
Seriously…parents need to take control over their children and start actually being the ‘parent.’ Why do some people expect the world to accommodate them. Put your big girl pants on and say NO to your child and assume the responsibility of being a parent!
This is one of the most retarded lawsuits for our court system to undertake. Does California beat to a different drum or what? You don’t like Happy Meals, then don’t buy them. She stated she tells her kids “no”, well good. What part of “NO” don’t her kids understand? So under this lawsuit mentality it’s time for the courts and the government to micro-manage our lifestyle because parents are too damn lazy to raise their kids? If I’m McDonalds, I’d close every damn franchise in California and open new McDonalds right on the bordering states, smack dab on the border. You know maybe the State of California should look into the parents who filed this lawsuit. If they can file a stupid lawsuit because they cannot properly raise their kids, maybe they don’t deserve to be parents?
This is the most ridiculous lawsuit I’ve ever heard of. What kind of parent are you that you can’t say no and stick with it. Are you the parent or is your child the parent? Everyone is always looking to blame someone else. Parents, it’s your own fault!
Marketing to children and obesity is no one’s fault except the parents. When you get into a car accident, do you blame the insurance company becaus you saw an add that demonstrated an accident. NO!
Why is your child sitting in front of the TV watching the ads? Take them outside to learn something, not watch cartoons. Your child wants a hamburger, how about the concept of grilling a hamburger at home instead of stopping for one. It takes minutes!
And for the record, yes, I have a child who has never had a bite from McDonald’s. And I am aware that unless I introduce it or say yes, it will remain that way!
i can’t agree more. it’s like stating that if i see someone fire a gun, that i will fire one as well. or i have seen the on tv, and it shows an accident because i listen only to the tom-tom without verifying with my eyes my direction. our society does not want to take personal accountability of our actions but rely to place blame on others. in this case, it’s mcd’s fault that i DROVE my car to the restaurant and purchase that happy meal because MY KIDS wanted that toy but it was a unhealthy meal. WHAT?! so the next time you see a kid born with faults, you can reject them because you don’t want that child. i thought it was about time as a parent to take responsibility and teach (TEACH) our kids from right and wrong. make good decisions about life and to contribute to society and not take away from it.
This suit certainly seems like a stretch. I agree with McD’s on this one.
That being said, marketing does have a significant impact on consumer behavior especially in children, and I think we do ask an important question when we consider whether or not it’s a good idea to use the lure of toys to sell kids cheap processed food.
Raise your hand if you know that the new “healthy” breakfast option oatmeal w/ brown sugar at McD’s has as many calories as an egg mcmuffin and as much sugar as a Snickers bar. They don’t mention that in the commercial.
You know what Matt, who really cares what the commercials say. All roads don’t lead and end at McDonalds. As parents we need to take some responsibility for what we feed our kids. We don’t buy Trix or Lucky Charms cereal even though there is a great marketing campaign for a neat rabbit or cute Leprochan. If you cannot tell your kids “no” means “no” why is it McDonalds fault? Maybe Obama and Harry Reid can pass yet another law making McDonalds illegal for children under 15 yrs old, then charge parents with child endangerment if you’re found to feed your kid a cheeseburger? a bit of sarcasm, but whether it’s 1951 or 1961 or 2011 there is some personal responsibility on our part as parents.
The funny thing is if you are in the lower 48 you are never more than 100 miles from a McDonald’s restaurant
This story is so biased against McDonald’s, it borders on ridiculous. …restaurant operators, which are largely self-regulated… Of course they are. It’s called free enterprise; the private sector. How about suing all of the irresponsible parents for feeding their kids too much junk food? I’m sure the kids that like happy meal toys aren’t ordering and paying for the food themselves!
You mentioned bad words – “Free Enterprise”. How dare you! You will torment the liberals/progressives/socialists (whatever they call themselves these days). Those words (Free Enterprise)do not exist under this current administration. In addition, the public has to battle the liberal/progressive/socialist (whatever they call themselves these days) activist judges who don’t throw out these insane lawsuits.
I’m pretty sure they don’t call themselves socialists. That’s what conservative/republican/teabaggers (whatever they call themselves these days) call them.
TAR, you need to get over yourself. You’re one of those that likes to make everything a political argument. Okay, I give up. You’re right. Surely Obama and the “liberal/pogressives/socialists” are to blame for everything that’s wrong in this country, or world, or heck, probably the entire universe.
I didn’t politicize this argument my friend! It’s time to stand up to yous guys who like to demonize the Tea Partiers. I haven’t participated in a Tea Party event, but it seemed pretty clear they were very effective in 2010 election. Do I believe Obama and his socialmarxist agenda is to blame for a lot of our woes today, yes. and I will defend my opinion. This lawsuit is just another example of the lack of responsibility people are taking. It always has to be someone else’s fault, the parents just couldn’t say no, that was too easy. That seems to be the liberal/progressive/socialist mentality (or whatever you want to call yourselves). So I espouse a more conservative view, I just cannot understand how McDonalds, a private corporation, who spends their own money to advertise. A private company who did not seek government intervention to mandate they provide Happy Meals to all kids under a certain age, eat their product. Anyone can file a lawsuit in America, but these type of suits are ridiculous and you question the mindset of the individual lodging the complaint.
You most certainly DID politicize this argument. For someone who claims to believe in personal responsibility, you certainly blame a lot of “others” for the state of this country.
So you want to continue, fine. I don’t have a problem taking personal responsibility. How is it I’m blaming others? Because I and others do not agree with the liberal agenda and mindset in this country, that somehow renders our opinion invalid?
The liberal mindset, in both the GOP and Democratic parties are the cause of the problems we face in this country today! Including our judicial system, which is what this entire thread is about. At one point we on the East Coast thought California marched to a different drum, but that mindset has polluted the rest of the country and including our judicial system, as well as our political leaders of both parties who apparently do not believe our U.S. Constitution stands for much these days. The further we move away from our Constitutional Republic the faster this country will spiral out of control, in my opinion. From Johnson’s creation of Medicare, to Carter, to both Bush Presidencies and now the failed Obama Presidency can America recover? Not by adopting more and more of the liberal social agenda, in my opinion.
What is next? Are people going to complain that McDonalds pays poorly?
Oops your liberalism is exposed Youngin. Following the party line with the term “teabagger”. Our Founding Fathers kicked British butt with the “Tea Party”. But remain in denial, 2012 is around the corner.
Irony and sarcasm are apparently lost on you, TAR.
FTR, I generally disagree with liberals on a number of social and fiscal issues and find them generally a pain in the neck. However, the clowns who have been leading the conservative movement in this country for the past 20 years make me reluctant to embrace republican candidates. That’s probably just as well, since it forces me and others like me to research and vote on individual candidates instead of voting on a party line. I am encouraged by the effect of the Tea Party on the GOP and hope that social conservatives continue to be marginalized – not because I disagree with them on social issues, but because they are not legitimate conservatives.
Nothing wrong with that Youngin! I’ll even check your “like” comment button.
Thanks. My overall point is that the “public” in this country “expects” big government. If there is to be a legitimate small government movement in this country we have to be politically active even if it makes us unpopular.
Yes, I agree it is the liberal mindset that has driven many of the problems. Also agree that it has affected both parties and is not a problem unique to those who associate with liberal politics, i.e. many conservatives are also very liberal, just about different issues than liberals. The social/religious conservatives have big agendas just like progressive/liberals; Bush was a clear example of that. The only authentic conservative agenda should be to have a smaller agenda.
Youngin; I’m a Roman Catholic, we tend to be a bit more liberal on social issues as a whole. But my question to you: you’ve mentioned the “religious conservatives” a couple of times as being the problem. What is it in your opinion that troubles you which you see as a potential threat? It seems as though, to me, the progressive social agenda has been far more successful making in roads to each and every facet of government, including our court system.
The way I see it, social/religious conservatives seek to regulate behavior in much the same way as progressives do, only they focus on behavior that they view as morally right/wrong, where progressives focus on behavior that is socially desirable/undesirable.
Social/religious conservatives also seem to be warmongers. Rather than focus on fighting terrorism on our own soil, we spend a ton of money going overseas to play terrorist whack-a-mole. On top of that, the so-called conservatives slap a liberal-sounding “fighting oppression and spreading democracy” type rationalization on it, to make the wars seem legitimate and worthwhile.
A true conservative is able to face the fact that sometimes bad things happen. The government cannot prevent all bad things from happening, and we need to restrict our prevention efforts well before we reach the point of diminishing returns.
These conservatives of the past 20 years are OK with bad things happening to poor people but not OK with bad things happening to middle class people. But, then again, that is and always has been the American way, I guess.
Respect! Good articulation Youngin! We’d have a difference on the warmongering issue. Think GWB was misguided into thinking he could change the hearts and minds of the middle eastern countries that ideology in my opinion cannot be changed.
Why the “class” comment about the middle class? In what way? I don’t think you are playing the class warfare card, reciting the liberal talking points. But I believe most of the conservative movement, including the Tea Party movement stems from the Middle Class rising up. Is that where you are going?
Not engaging in class warfare as trying to point out hypocrisy and self-serving nature of a lot of conservative opinions. I think a lot of my comments apply to liberals as well, only less hypocritical since they usually admit their actual beliefs. Conservative reasoning is too squishy and only applied when convenient.
They are against big government spending, with the exception of most of the federal budget. They are against murdering unborn babies but it’s ok to murder criminals and terrorists. When poor people can’t find a job it must because they are lazy, but when middle class people can’t find a job it must be because the marginal tax rates on the upper income brackets are too high.
Wow a bit jaded on Conservatism? It’s not just marginal tax rates on the upper income, which appears to be a bit closed minded statement. The middle class is quite broad and depending on who’s talking depends on it’s definition. I suspect that most small businesses (approximately 63% of businesses nationwide) are Middle to Upper Middle Class. We’ve not seen a friendly Congress since probably Gingrich that go out of businesses way and let us do what we do best – employ, create and produce. Obama Admin has been the most adversarial admin, especially with Pelosi and Reid leading Congress. So, you’re not for the death penalty. Are we to coddle terrorists and treat them as just common criminals? Terrorists want to kill us, change our way of life. I don’t equate the murdering of an unborn with putting a terrorist, child killing rapist or a cold blooded murderer to death. You are not going to reform a child killing rapist or terrorist, in my opinion. Especially if the terrorist is a Timothy McVeigh or a muslim such as Nidal Hassan Major in U.S. Army, a true believer in islam. They despise our way of life, despise us since we are non-believers. True in some respects about Conservatives in Washington. It seems they are afraid to be conservative and stand their ground. Appeasement seems easier than standing on one’s convictions and adhereing to the U.S. Constitution.
What ever happened to parents being in charge. It is obvious that in this case that the parent doesn’t have control of the situation. If you don’t like the way McDonalds advertises, don’t put your dollars in their coffers. Don’t blame others for your inabilities to parent effectively.