There has been a great deal of noise this week regarding cartoon characters and children's preferences, much of it stemming from a recently released study in Pediatrics that proved something every parent already knew - kids prefer foods branded with cartoon characters.
Something else parents already know - kids also prefer Happy Meals sold with toys which is explicitly why the Center for Science in the Public Interest announced yesterday their intention to sue McDonald's if they don't stop packaging toys with their Happy Meals,
"McDonald’s practices are predatory and wrong. They are also illegal, because marketing to kids under eight is inherently deceptive, because young kids are not developmentally advanced enough to understand the persuasive intent of marketing; and unfair to parents, because marketing to children undermines parental authority and interferes with their ability to raise healthy children."While certainly not a statistically significant study, my favourite proof of this phenomenon came from the television program Dateline in 2006 where in the clip below you can watch kids tell their interviewer that they'd rather their parents place a rock with stickers into their lunchbox than an unfestooned banana.
(Clip's been finicky - if it doesn't work, head over here)
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2 things spring to mind...
ReplyDelete1. they kids may want the rock with stickers, but if hungry I'm pretty sure they won't actually try to eat the rock. They aren't being asked what they want to eat (asuming they are in fact hungry), but what do they want in their lunch box, which I don't think means the same to these young kids.
2. Um, what ever happened to parents saying...wait of it...'NO' I realize it's a difficult word to say, but my parents said it alot & occassionally I will buy my kids a burger at McDonalds, but I don't get them the happy meal, NEVER. They don't need the extra crappy toy. I say NO.
I guess I don't really know if McDonalds should be sued for a parents lack of ability to say No
Should I sue every company that puts temptation in my kids face, because it might make parenting harder? My kids know, not to ask because they won't get a happy meal. They also know that they don't get everything they want - they will get what they need and sometimes what they want.
Having said that, parents have to follow through, not give in and if you are consistent, saying no isn't that hard and the kids do understand and they will survive
I have explained to my kids that the toys are a trick to get them to eat unhealthy food. (They care about eating healthy food because we've also talked about needing good food for energy and to keep their bodies and brains working well.) I might have gone to far because my 4yo daughter is actually scared of McDonalds now. If I pull in for a break on a long car trip she protests.
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