Tuesday, February 05, 2008

The McTeacher


You've got to hand it to McDonald's, no one can ever say they aren't innovative in ways to integrate themselves into the educational system and healthcare.

Today I'll be serving up McTeachers.

Apparently McDonald's McTeacher night has been around for some time. An article in the San Francisco Chronicle from 2002 reported that it has been around since 2000 and back in 2002 included 2,500 schools in 14 States.

So what happens on McTeacher night?

Well if you're a teacher you end up behind the counter at McDonald's; if you're a student you end up going to McDonald's to order your teachers around; and if you're a school you end up pocketing a percentage of all the cash that exchanges hands.

In 2002 apparently that percentage amounted to $500,000.

One of the teachers interviewed by the Chronicle had some concerns with the program,

"We will be endorsing a product that contributes to the epidemic of childhood obesity and heart disease, even though the state dictates that we teach students to avoid junk food"
Yup.
"This is exploiting teachers for a real, live McDonald's commercial"
Yup.

A quick Google search shows that the McTeacher program is anything but dead with reports from across the USA of successful McTeacher events.

Recently some uproar has hit the press again in Maryland and in Washington where the chair of Montgomery County's Council's Health and Human Services Committee asked,
"Would we have a school fundraiser at a cigarette store?"
I wonder how long until this hits Canada?