Alright, so I stumbled upon a press release for CCFC (Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood) while reading a few articles on Cinematical’s website this morning.
The CCFC is targeting Happy Meals at McDonalds with good reason, their goal is to prevent McDonalds from using toys to entice kids into eating at their restaurants. Now so far I’m on board somewhat, I do think it’s a good idea to stop McDonalds from using toys as bait for children but then again if a kid does eat the crap at McDonalds don’t you think they deserve at the very least a cheap toy as a reward for keeping it down?
Now the part I 100% disagree with is their attack on the fantastic four toys. The CCFC does not have a problem with Invisible woman or Mr. Fantastic, what they do have a problem with is The Thing and The Human Torch. Complaining about idiotic things like The Things pre-recorded roar yelling “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” each time the child presses the button on his back, and the fact that The Human Torch is a man on fire…
“It’s bad enough to use junk toys to sell children on junk food,” said CCFC’s Director Dr. Susan Linn. “But now, for preschool boys, a so-called happy meal at McDonald’s features the horrifying spectacle of a man engulfed in flames and a menacing figure that explicitly spurs them to violence.”
Okay I am sorry if I am not sympathetic for these over protective parents cause, but if your child opens a happy meal and after playing with the toy jumps on the tables smashing customers heads into their meals yelling “It’s Clobberin’ Time!” and then proceeds to light himself on fire to become The Human Torch then man you are most likely a horrible parent.
The Fantastic Four have been around since 1961, thats a good 50 years of children growing up with these characters. Kids haven’t been getting stupider, instead each decade children have been growing up seeing a lot more at a young age. For example, if you were a child of the 60’s you might have heard about The Fantastic Four through a friend or if you actually read the comics yourself. Now kids have toys, movies, TV shows, comics, coloring books, video games, board games, etc. They are well aware that The Human Torch has super powers which allows him to ignite into flames and doesn’t simply put a lighter to his jacket and wait a couple minutes.
In Conclusion, I am not completely insulting the CCFC for I do believe they have their hearts in the right place trying to prevent huge corporations from abusing an innocent child’s mind into begging their parents to spend their hard earned money on crap that ends up in a garage sale selling for 50 cents a piece. I just have always been a strong believer in choosing ones battles, and when they complain about things like this it just makes me feel like the people running the organization aren’t even aware of what goes on in a child’s mind, or even research the toys their kids play with.
This is nothing new. Isn’t this why they replaced the human torch with Robbie the robot in those really old FF cartoons?
How many kids at that age are walking around buying their own food, don’t parents buy the happy meals for the kids. If you don’t want the kid to have the toy or the food then don’t buy them. It is that simple.
I’m a liberal in most things, i believe a person should have the freedom to do whatever they want up until it starts to infringe on another person. What I am NOT for, is CONTROL. And frankly, if McD’s wants to give toys with its happy meals, its their choice. Just as its the PARENTS’ choice to buy the meal for their children. How about telling the parents to stop buying crap food for their kids, and make a decent home meal instead. But that would require parents to actually parent, instead of trying their best to ignore their children.
If they really wanted to do something about Childhood Obesity, then they should outlaw all the god-damned preservatives and other chemicals that the FDA doesn’t even know the effects of. And speaking of the FDA, they should start looking out for the interests of the American People, and NOT the bottom line of the pharmaceutical companies (but that’s a whole ‘nother issue).
“They are well aware that The Human Torch has super powers which allows him to ignite into flames and doesn’t simply put a lighter to his jacket and wait a couple minutes.”
I thought that was freakin’ hilarious.
But ya, this reminds me of when religious nuts were saying Timon & Pumbaa from the Lion King were gay, just because Timon would ride on Pumbaa’s back now and then and other such nonsense.
These people need to get lives and give our nation’s youth a little more credit with their brains then that, and stop trying to make things into something there not…
So kids knowing about the FF for the last 50 years is OK, but happy meals are bad? Like most have said, it is all about the parenting, it is NOT about the happy meal at all.
These organizatiosn, to me are basically saying “OH, these EVIL corporations, they are controlling our minds with their advertising. I and my brood have no will power to resists, we should makes laws to outlaw this mind control! OHHHH BOOOO HOOOO HOOOO for me!!!!”
I still have fond memories of going to McDonalds and getting my Happy Meal, with all the neat things all around the box to look at, the food inside, the toy. But you know what? I only got to go to McDonalds MAYBE once a month.
I still ended up fat though, cuz I LOVES me a juicy steak!
HAha!! This is so true, I mean if the kid is going to McD’s every two days then yeah its not the toys I mean the toys are changed every month or so, how many flaming torches can a kid have. The real problem is making the food fake and full of chemicals with the FDA sitting back and not doing anything about it, hey I remember going to McDonalds and having a great time until I saw the Super Size me movie and I have never gone since. Still I manage to eat a steak now and then.
You could probably gain almost the same stuff from having a steak every day breakfast lunch and dinner as you could having a McDonalds meal. It isn’t the food that kills you, it is the inability to say no I think I will just have some califlower today instead that is killing you.
I like the idea of the organization, but agree that nitpicking over a FF4 toy is just lunacy. And like Rod said, parenting begins at home. If you don’t want to expose your kids to commercials, make the big decision and cancel your cable. You can spend that money buying the shows you want to watch by disk .
I just don’t think there is any need to put toys in a kids meal. I dont think anything they have put in there meals are outrageous I just think they are there for one reason and that reason is not valid enough for me to allow my children to specifically want something unhealthy do to a toy. You say its extreme but not all people can govern there kids to the extent that you obviously can.
I agree regarding toys, there isn’t a real need, but taking them away isn’t going to solve that particular problem I almost guarantee it. Over here (NZ) a Happy Meal consists of:
1 X Chicken Nugget/Hamburger/Cheeseburger (choice of)
1 X Fries OR Apple Slices
1 X Soft Drink OR Fruit drink
1 X Girl OR Boy Toy
If you let your kids order what they want, you’re a fool.
So the fact they offer the option with the same size advertisement for an either/or choice is that not good enough? To me that seems pretty simple.
The toy isn’t the problem, it’s the decision made by parents, and in the 5 minutes of choosing food (hardly an effort when governing kids is it?), if the wrong decision is made why on earth do we blame someone else other than ourselves?
I’m totally against an institution forcing me to choose wisely, whether the decision is good or bad, it’s my god-given right and so far my kids are healthy, ideal weight, intelligent and love activity, to me that means so far so good…
Its just pure ignorance or indifference if you let your kids govern you.
If they kids want something and you agree to let them have it, you are still making the decision. They don’t get to decide for you.
If an adult cannot control their children to the point that they think they have no choice but to go to McDonalds, that is just terrible parenting.
Its not magic. Its called being the adult.
Don’t get me wrong. I know McDonalds puts toys in their kids meals so your kids are going to want to go there, but its still the parent’s choice to go to the restaurant.
If your kid wants a fantastic 4 toy so bad, then buy him one that’s not the McDonalds one, believe me there are better ones out there. And then take them to a healthy food place. I mean McDonalds doesn’t own freaking Marvel Heroes.
This is just another extremist group trying to make an example out of these toys.
Parents are there to PARENT. If the children have THAT much influence over the parents then like it was said… they are horrible parents.
And frankly its quite ignorant to even suggest that the human torch is a horrifying effigy of a man in flames. He is smiling for Zod’s sake!
These are the good guys, the heroes and the idols. If my kids are inspired to make the right decisions because of the example set by a superhero, then all the power to them.
I agree with Rodney about parents, although I have more to add. Our job as parents is about protection and guidance, we are the ones to make the decision about whether our kids eat McDonalds or not. I say no all the time to my kids, and use it as a treat. It’s inept parenting that allows parents to automatically do what their kids want.
I don’t see how there is any difference being manipulated into buying unhealthy food (which we have been since the dawn of time, well before McDonalds came out) and being told by overzealous socialists whats good for our kids.
The point about manipulation through advertising is valid though, but it applies to anything on the consumer market, what’s the bet one or more of those CCFC followers imbibes a bit of alcohol or smokes. Where’s the responsibility there?
Actually the real reason people are QQing is the fact that America has the highest rate of child obesity by a large %. In the county I live in they are spearheading the movement to ban all toys from kids meals. The reason they are doing this is in lots of cities around America have issues with kids wanting to crap food because of the fact they get toys in there box. You can try and argue but it’s futile because the evidence is pretty concrete. In Santa Clara County (San Jose) during the city hall debate over this , the only people who did not support the ban were all fast food franchise owners who complained solely on lost of profits. Sure the troll thing to do is bitch about the parents but the fact is I have seen school field trips at Mcdonalds plenty of times and my fondest memory of my childhood a these fast food spots where the toys. I mean you can blame parenting but in all honesty I can say I have seen tons of good parents take there kids to fast food joints and have there kids sit and talk about the toys the whole time they were at the joint. I am sure you have all the answers about how a perfect society raises it’s kids and it starts with something along the line of “tell there parents to do better”.
Plain and simple toys in kids meals are to entice kids to eat poorly. That is bad morals IMO.
BTW I LOVE CHICKEN NUGGETS!
Ok, you make a good point, but really I mean Toy’s are doing this. The government should step up and make places like McDonald’s make healthier food, that still tastes good by the way, and stop making cows eat fat and make mutant Chicken, that’s the real problem. There should be enough science to make healthy food that tastes as good as a cheese burger and not having to worry about having a heart attack at 40. And if McD’s has the upper hand because they have toys then make places like Subway give out toys as well. I hate when people attack a problem by the least logical way.
Why on earth is it the governments job to police the nutritional value of the food made at fast food restaurants? By all means, force them to provide the nutritional information, but to say change the type of food you serve, that is ludicrous. If you wanted a salad or a veggie sandwich you would have gone to subway, we don`t need more subways, we need people to take responsibility for their actions and their decisions. If you like fast food and you indulge, well then the consequence may just be diabetes, cancer and heart disease. But guess what, that is not the governments problem, that is your problem. When it is children getting diabetes, yes it is horrible and sad, but once again not the governments problem.
It is when the fast food companies put stuff in their foods that is not edible. And haven’t you noticed that healthier food is more expensive, why is that? Go to a bending machine and usually the Coke is more expensive than a bottle of water… What is that?!?! If a restaurant would put nicotine in their food and you didn’t know about it, would you still say it was your fault you kept eating their because you didn’t have the will power, don’t you think that restaurant is doing something wrong and should be stopped. That’s what I’m saying is the real problem, not freakin toys.
people have to QQ about somehting, cant wait to hear what they have to cry about again when Avatar.2 comes out. people need to get over them selves, if your that uptight about toys why are you even eating at McDs? your scared of a toy not your kids turning out to be fat asses that cant get out of bed?
I got all of those little 2 dollar toys seperate from the happy meal.
after all it’s marvel.
skip the Mcnuggets and just get the toy
jeeeesh!