Mickey D’s gets the goat

Thanks to Civil Eats, I just read this great post from author Michele Simon at her blog, Appetite for Profit.

Simon and post co-author Kelle Louaillier skewer a new ad campaign from McDonald’s that seeks to teach kids that Mickey D’s is a great source for healthful foods. As Advertising Age notes, it’s a new attempt by the fast-food giant to respond to its critics. But as Simon and Louaillier encapsulate the message of first ad of the new campaign, “McDonald’s idea of nutrition education is simple: just eat at McDonald’s.”

It must be seen to be believed, so check out the video here, then laugh and cry as you read Simon and Louaillier’s piece about the cartoon ad that features a voracious goat. As they write, “For McDonald’s ‘balanced eating’ is accomplished within the confines of the Happy Meal. But apple slices and chocolate milk don’t balance out chicken nuggets and French fries, the other two components of the Happy Meal depicted in the ad. (Moreover, by most nutrition standards apples and chocolate milk are actually treats, not staples of a healthy diet in a way that broccoli is, for example.) Even if the ad campaign was less self-serving and actually attempted to educate children about healthful eating in a meaningful way, this is not McDonald’s job. I don’t know any critic of McDonald’s that has been begging the company to “to promote nutrition and/or active lifestyle messages” to children. Quite the opposite: We want McDonald’s to stop targeting children, period.”

 

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