Every once and a while I get an idea for something I want to share, but don’t have time to write. So, I simply make a note in my iPod and put it in my SchutzHappens queue. Well… today my queue told me it was time to write about a Burger King on I-26 somewhere between Charleston, SC and I-85… that I visited last July… and had issues with the Kids Meal pricings… and the appropriateness of their Kids Meal toys.
Now… I may have written about this before, if so, please forgive me… but I’m actually a fan of the Kids Meal Toy bans in California and I totally understand where this legislation is going from.
Grayson could care less about the food that comes in his Kids Meal… it could be a cheeseburger with French fries or a tofu lettuce wrap with apple slices, it doesn’t matter as long as he gets his toy.
So yeah… companies like McDonalds and Burger King are paid TONS of money to market movies and various brands to our kids. At the very least they should be able to fill our Kids Meals with healthier food at reasonable prices.
Frankly, I think it’s sad that a local government felt it necessary to intervene with regulations, but hey, we’re talking about kids here. I think it’s admirable to stand up and say, “hey, if you can’t make things healthier, than you can’t use our kids as marketing pawns.”
But don’t get me wrong, I’m not here to poo-poo McDonalds. One of the major counter arguments against this regulation is the availability of alternative healthier options, and I actually think McDonalds does a better job than most Fast Food chains in this category… and most importantly, McDonalds doesn’t seem to trying and charge you more for choosing the apple slices, milk, or 100% fruit juice… plus, McDonalds marketing/toys are always age appropriate and in England they even had this really cool deal worked out with a popular bookstore. The Happy Meal boxes had coupons on them so you could buy a real, honest to goodness, children’s book for 1 Pound (roughly $1.50), now, the book ,of course, was tied into the overall Happy Meal theme, but I still thought it was a great cross marketing (and educational) platform.
So, yeah… now let’s loop back to the I-26 Burger King. They certainly had healthy options to choose from, way more than McDonalds… however each substitution had its own unique added cost. Want a milk? That will be 38 cents extra, but if you want 100% Fruit Juice it will be more like 75 cents. Apple Slices? 45 cents.
I remember there being this really ridiculous board listing all of their healthier alternatives for kids and all the substitution costs. For me, it was a complete turn off and again… by charging extra you’re not encouraging healthier eating habits. For many families eating health at that Burger King would have been cost prohibitive.
Furthermore, that Burger King was pedaling toys inspired by the movie ‘Twilight’… a PG-13 MOVIE! In a kids meal! Seriously? You’re going to pedal a PG-13 movie to my 5 year-old and charge me extra for healthier food options?
Burger King, you should be ashamed of yourself.
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