Getting rid of Ronald McDonald
p2pnet view P2P | Advertising:- Ronald McDonald is responsible for a lot of seriously fat kids.
No question.
“For nearly 50 years no one has been better at hooking kids on unhealthy food, spurring an epidemic of diet-related disease”, says an item on Retire Ronald McDonald, a Corporate Accountability International project.
“Today, there is scarcely a child who doesn’t recognize Ronald McDonald nor a parent who hasn’t been nagged to visit the Golden Arches”, it says. “The use of the iconic clown has propelled McDonald’s growth into an international fast food juggernaut.
“But success has come at the expense of our children’s health. Since the inception of Ronald McDonald, obesity rates have more than tripled among American children and the prevalence of diet-related conditions like type 2 diabetes has skyrocketed.”
In Portland, Oregon, today, “Local parents and doctors took concerns about the health of their children to the source this week: McDonald’s”, says the Beaverton Valley Times, going on >>>
The fast-food giant’s unhealthy food and marketing targeted at children caused the group to gather 500 petition signatures from local parents. That petition was presented Wednesday morning to the Cedar Mill McDonald’s and representatives of Don Armstrong, who owns 14 McDonald’s restaurants in the Portland area.
The group said they hope their message will make its way to the corporation.
“There is no debate about whether the aggressive marketing of McDonald’s-style junk food to children should be stopped,” said Dr. Martin Donohoe, senior physician at Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas. “The industry knows it’s unethical.
“Health professionals like myself deal with the consequences of the marketing every day. Children are getting sick with diet-related conditions like diabetes at younger and younger ages. It breaks your heart, and it’s time for the industry leader to do its part.”
So get rid of him, says the campaign.
- The Chicago Tribune- Clownin’ around
- Associated Press- McDonald’s says no way Ronald will retire
- New York Daily News – Corporate Accountability International poll shows Ronald McDonald contributes to obesity epidemic
- Chicago Tribune – Can Ronald McDonald be forced into early retirement?
- Huffington Post – Retire Ronald McDonald–Do it for our kids!
- Slashfood – Activists Call For Ronald McDonald’s Retirement
- The Consumerist – POLL: Should Ronald McDonald Retire?
- CNN – Group tells Ronald McDonald to take a hike
Are you fed up with watching the clown peddle junk food in your hometown? – asks Retire Ronald McDonald.
Then “Contact RetireRonald@StopCorporateAbuse.org to take action to send Ronald packing.”
(The Fat Ron pic on the right is by Don Mak.)
Beaverton Valley Times – Parents ask McDonald’s to ban Ronald, February 3, 2011
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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February 3rd, 2011 at 1:22 pm
I think McDonalds should be forced to air a commercial that shows Ronald McDonald having a heart attack while eating a BigMac.
February 3rd, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Thanks for the post. I appreciated the perspective from folks in the Portland-area. This is just common sense stuff. You put billions into foisting junk food on kids while nutrition education programs struggle to compete on a pittance, what do we expect in terms of disease rates? There’s no argument the marketing should be put to a rest, though idealogues will use the issue to trumpet all sorts of vitriol. McDonald’s and other corporations acknowledge this practice is wrong, now people are just calling on them to do something about it. Simple stuff.
February 3rd, 2011 at 6:37 pm
I hope the McDonalds corporation cleans up their act and starts doing things ethically (yeah, we can expect morals from a non-living corporate money-making machine).
But when that doesn’t happen, I know the ultimate solution to this: More gov’t power. I think the U.S. needs another “czar” to fill in for parents who are too dumb or lazy to feed their children nutritious food.
That’s the solution to every problem. Forget eduction, let’s just use the blunt instrument of gov’t authority to fix it. Let’s see how we end up….
BTW why the heck is it that EVERY time I have more than a small handful of McDonalds fries I get the trots for the next 24h? I like some of their stuff, like the Fish sandwich they have, but those fries have something that doesn’t agree with my guts.
February 4th, 2011 at 1:11 am
Yes, they should ban Ronard, because…
1. Organizations like this “knows whats best for our children”
2. don’t want to bather with “teaching your children proper nutrition”
I know with our recent governments, that we should not be allowed to think for ourselves, and that everyone be reared up in a “pure” and clean enviroment, without the bothersome nessesity to “think for themselves.”
I happen to remember a period, when people were shown ads with popular charactors (be it animated or real) pushing the product, and when a child whined to their parent about getting that product, and the parent did not agree, they just came back with a stern “NO!”.
Many children experenced this, and the different contries have not slowed to a climactic end yet (though it was worse in the past).
As for it affecting obesity: That is a problem of the lack of education by parents, and lack of control of their kids. Other than the government, no one is force feeding the public anything, to make them fat, it all comes from the choice of the person or their leagal guardian.
Just my two cents
February 4th, 2011 at 8:35 am
@ Just my two cents: You’re getting the hang of it. Don’t slip back into your old ways.
Cheers!
February 4th, 2011 at 1:55 pm
Hello! This is just to pathetic. Who is forcing you to eat at McDonald’s!
SAVE Ronald!!!!
February 6th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
Okay, what the hell are these parents smoking that makes them think that their kids are being FORCED to eat there and get fat? If you don’t want your kids to get fat, make healthy foods AT HOME! When I was a kid, I went to McDonalds sparingly because mom made good food at home. If anything I think these stupid-ass parents need to educate their kids about healthy eating instead of blaming McDonalds for them getting fat. You don’t want your kids getting fat? DON’T FEED THEM FAST FOOD TOO OFTEN. Or maybe the parents just live in this world where everything (and I MEAN everything) has to be built for their children, that the world has to be perfect for the children. I think we focus too much on the children, IMHO.