Like most mothers I like to think of my kids as having wisdom beyond their years. Still, I was surprised to discover that my 9-year-old son completely understands the irony of Ronald McDonald telling kids to live a healthy lifestyle. I'll admit that this came in the context of a quick stop to Burger King yesterday on our way back from a weekend in Massachusetts, but, he paused for a moment before ordering his plain cheeseburger (he eschews french fries ever since his first grade teacher told him they were bad for him), and said, "Mom, I saw this commercial the other day where Ronald McDonald was telling kids to eat healthy. That's pretty stupid since McDonald's is the least healthy restaurant in the whole country." Touche, little one. Now if I could just find a fast-food health-food store for those trips back and forth to Massachusetts.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Kids not buying what Ronald McDonald is selling
Like most mothers I like to think of my kids as having wisdom beyond their years. Still, I was surprised to discover that my 9-year-old son completely understands the irony of Ronald McDonald telling kids to live a healthy lifestyle. I'll admit that this came in the context of a quick stop to Burger King yesterday on our way back from a weekend in Massachusetts, but, he paused for a moment before ordering his plain cheeseburger (he eschews french fries ever since his first grade teacher told him they were bad for him), and said, "Mom, I saw this commercial the other day where Ronald McDonald was telling kids to eat healthy. That's pretty stupid since McDonald's is the least healthy restaurant in the whole country." Touche, little one. Now if I could just find a fast-food health-food store for those trips back and forth to Massachusetts.
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4 comments:
my kids (11 and 7) are similarly turned off by all things Golden and Arch-y. Panera is where it's at man! Greek salad and homemade lemonade is the new big mac and a shake. and good for them. i've noticed they're not big fans of the fizzy pops either. bad news for coke. yay!
You know anonymous, attitudes like yours scare me far more than Ronald McDonald's marketing machine.
Everything in moderation.
The more we make fast food, ice cream and candy the forbidden fruit, the more kids will gorge themselves on it.
I see it often enough when my kids have friends over whose parents think an apple is dessert (or lemonade and a Greek salad is a treat) and the kids can't shove the M&Ms and potato chips into their mouths fast enough.
People get obese from eating McDonald's five times a week. A once a month visit never hurt anybody.
A friend of mine, marcus, has discoevered similar wisdom with his kids. This makes for some really nice and short posts: http://marcus-brown.blogspot.com/search/label/The%20strategic%20thinking%20of%20Children.
toad,
it's not me pushing my philosophy on my kids. that's the amazing part. they genuinely love panera. and don't like McDs. it's entirely their choice. of course they eat ice cream and chocolate. they're not weird. and i'm not a vegan by any stretch. trust me ;-)
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