It has happened in Brazil, where the famous children's menu Happy meal is already less happy, at least for those who sell it: the Consumer Defense Foundation of Sao Paulo has imposed a fine to the McDonald's hamburger chain for including toys in their children's menus. Specifically, it will be more than one million euros that the company will have to pay.
In Spain they already set out to end the gifts on children's menus, and although the hamburger chain makes efforts to offer healthier menus, it seems that its methods of giving toys to children next to the menu still do not please the authorities.
The organ considers that delivering toys in the 'Happy meal' induces training eating habits harmful to health. Already in 2009 the Brazilian prosecutor recommended McDonald's and other fast-food chains to stop giving away toys with children's menus to prevent them from inciting unhealthy eating, and last year an NGO filed a complaint against the company for the distribution of Toys with food.
Despite this, the American company has since conducted 18 advertising campaigns aimed at children in which it used the toy claim to sell its children's menus, according to the note. McDonald's, which can appeal the fine, argued in a note distributed to the press that it complies with Brazilian legislation and that it follows a rigorous code of advertising self-regulation.
If only society in general were more aware of the harmful effects of certain eating habits, starting with the families and authorities that offered training in this regard. I think it's not bad "Give in to blackmail" of a hamburger for a toy occasionally, although I can think of much healthier burgers made at home, yes, without a gift.
We will see how the case of the millionaire fine to McDonald's for giving away toys on their menus by inducing bad eating habits to the kids. What seems clear is that these food chains are increasingly looked at with magnifying glass, and for something it will be.
