McDonald's Putting Toy Hummers In Happy Meals - NYT

WHEN General Motors introduced the three-ton, 11-miles-to-the-gallon Hummer H2 four years ago, it redefined American extravagance. But now, with gas prices hovering at $3 a gallon and threatening to go higher, sales of Hummers are declining as Americans become increasingly conscious of gas mileage. McDonald’s, however, appears not to have gotten the message. This week, the restaurant chain started putting toy Hummers in children’s Happy Meal boxes, calling it the “Hummer of a Summer” promotion. Television and radio ads, which started running this week, feature a family riding in a Hummer on the way to a McDonald’s.

With enough visits to McDonald’s, children will be able to collect eight different Hummers in a variety of colors, including two versions of the H1, the original and most monstrous member of the Hummer family, which General Motors stopped making in June. The promotion runs until the end of August and is aimed at young boys. Girls can choose to get Polly Pocket fashion dolls in their Happy Meals instead.

Not surprisingly, environmental groups are appalled. Brendan Bell, an energy policy analyst at the Sierra Club, says that Hummers in Happy Meals are about as responsible as “dipping a Big Mac in the fry oil and serving it to your kids.” Mr. Bell says that McDonald’s is trying to make Hummers look cool, but that the vehicles are anything but. “The technology is passé,” he said. “For the H1 and H2, they’re running it off an engine that hasn’t been fundamentally redesigned since the 1950’s. What the next generation needs is better technology in our vehicles so that we can cut our dependence on oil and curb global warming.”

In a written statement, Bill Lamar, McDonald’s chief marketing officer, said the promotion was intended to bring “the fun and excitement of Hummer vehicles” to “McDonald’s youngest guests.” The company did not make anyone available for an interview.


EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/business/media/10adco.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Mickey D's is pimpin' for Team Arnold.

what if boys want one? How come girls can choose, but boys get no choice?

I think I am going to write an angry letter to McDonalds (even though I never eat there anyway) over this part.

it is an inaccuracy by the NYT

are they QUOTING MCD's policy that only girls are offered this choice?

i tend to think this was a bit of implicit sexism on the part of the writer, because i see it so frequently

let's see the mcdonald policy that only offers the dolls to girls

didn't mean to make fun of the Prophet Ronald.

is subversive to the great prophet ronald, hallowed be his name

don't make me sic the hamburglar on you

he's stealthy and vindictive

if you smell cheese... run

McDonalds is to your cardiovascular system.

Along with many others like:

1) crappy, unhealthy food (see "SuperSize Me")
2) predatory marketing practices aimed at children (see story above for example)
3) deforestation of the Brazilian rainforests:

"This crime stretches from the heart of the Amazon across the entire European food industry. Supermarkets and fast food giants, like McDonald's, must make sure their food is free from the links to the Amazon destruction, slavery and human rights abuses" said Gavin Edwards, the forests campaign co-ordinator for Greenpeace.

Greenpeace has targeted the chain in a new campaign launched in Britain, plastering McDonald's restaurants with posters of Ronald McDonald carrying a chain saw.

Citing the importance of the issue, McDonald's has already issued a response to the allegations in the report. Keith Kenny, senior director of quality assurance for McDonald's Europe, told Reuters, the Associated Press, and other news outlets that the company was launching an investigation into Greenpeace's claims.

"Worldwide, we take our supply chain and environmental responsibilities very seriously. We believe that the claim made by Greenpeace relates to the GM-free soya used in chicken feed," Kenny is quoted in the Guardian. "We can confirm that we will be investigating this claim fully and will review it for consistency in line with our existing policy not to source beef from recently deforested areas. McDonald's in the UK sources the majority of its food from the UK and Ireland. In 2005, over 17,000 British and Irish farmers supplied the company with ingredients."

--more--
http://news.mongabay.com/2006/0406-greenpeace.html

4) Ronald McDonald himself refuses to eat there

FORMER CLOWN BASHES BIG MACS
Geoffrey Giuliano - a former Ronald McDonald - launched his own brand of Big Mac attack. And it was directed at his old employers, McDonald's Restaurants of Canada. "Meat is murder," the ex-hamburger clown told a crowd of about 150 animal-rights activists demonstrating in front of a McDonald's restaurant at 192A Bloor St. W.

A vegetarian since the 1970s, Giuliano lashed out at the burger giant for "the senseless killing of animals for food."

Sold out "tell the readers of the Sun Ronald McDonald says it's naughty to eat meat," he said. Giuliano, 36, played the popular clown in Toronto from 1980 to 1982. A graduate of "Ronald McDonald University" - the chain's training school - he was one of several Ronalds working throughout the world. "I sold out when I was Ronald and I'm deeply sorry for that," said Giulano, who is now a successful rock biographer living in Upstate New York

Giuliano also played the Magical Mystical Burger King for Burger King restaurants in the Northeastern U.S. in 1978-79 and is currently working on a book titled Confessions of a Corporate Clown. He made $50,000 a year, had a private chef, limo service, and an office with a personal secretary during his tenure as Ronald McDonald.

--more--
http://www.thenazareneway.com/vegetarian/ronald_mcdonald_is_now_a_vegetar.htm

A Happy-Ending Meal?