Not so Happy Meals

This week a Brazilian prosecutor asked a judge to nationally ban toys sold with meals in fast-food outlets like McDonald's and Burger King, because it can lead children to develop bad eating habits. The move comes amid wide-spread concern over the link between some fast food and illnesses such as diabetes, as the U.S. congress considers requiring chain restaurants to disclose calories on their menus to help fight endemic obesity.


Prosecutor Marcio Schusterschitz, a federal prosecutor in Brazil's Sao Paulo state, said fast-food toy promotions encourage children to buy high-fat meals through "the abusive creation of emotional associations" that turn them into life-long eaters of high-fat foods. Read the full article on uk.reuters.com 


Toys are us... Apart from the health-aspect and cases of obesity, this article makes me wondering; how much plastic are we talking about on a yearly basis? According to thebluebrick.net, it takes 34 cents to manufacture and package each Happy Meal toy. At 2.5 million Happy Meals sold annually, $850 thousand is spent on those little wads of plastic a year.


You think that is much? Why no; it is good investment. Children really need some entertainment to go with their meals. It is educational, every toy is played with over and over again and almost never thrown away. And when children play, they burn calories. I guess it is the toys that determine the nature we deserve.


Related: Fake For Real: Image Consumption | Hamburger Sneaker | Million Dollar Burger | They are made out of Meat | Where it came from |

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5 comments

  • Do you no how many happy meals are sold annually in Australia? I really want to no! =)

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  • Do you no how many happy meals are sold annually in Australia?

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  • 2.5 million toys wind up in landfills each year. That's really awful.

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  • j

    Wont stop kids eating burgers, they eat so many cos they taste wicked! People need to take responsibility for their fat kids instead of finding yet another thing to blame. The McDonalds transforming food toys were awesome too, I played with them for many years.

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  • ace

    This is just stupid. Banning toys from fast food is not going to stop bad eating habits. The problem lies with the parents, not fast food companies. If the parents don't teach kids right from wrong, what do you expect? It's not the fast food companies job to make kids healthy. It's up to parents to make their kids healthy. That lawyer needs his head examined. Either that or he's just desperate for money and fame.

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