McDonald’s: 1; San Francisco County: 0
Remember the so-called “Happy Meal Ban” passed by San Francisco County last year?
If you don’t: the gist of it was that fast food restaurants were banned from including toys with children’s meals, unless certain nutritional standards were met. There was a fair amount of squawking about it at the time, although I failed to see why… as I wrote:
Personally, I’m not sure what the fuss is all about… for one thing, kids don’t seem to be getting too upset about it; and for another, no one is stopping the restaurants from selling the toys separately (and for a nominal amount, natch). Thus, I expect the overall effect of the ordinance is likely to be nil…
Emphasis mine… and for a good reason. Now that the new reg is set to kick in, guess what Mickey D’s is planning to do about it?
As SF Weekly broke Tuesday, local McDonald’s restaurants found a remarkably simple method of sidestepping the city’s new ban on unhealthy meals being incentivized with toys — which takes effect Dec. 1. Instead of giving away a toy with a Happy Meal, San Francisco McDonald’s restaurants will now require Happy Meal purchasers to make a 10-cent charitable donation to Ronald McDonald House in order to receive their coveted trinket. Ironically, a law intending to prevent fast food outlets from using the allure of toys to push unhealthy food may now be accentuating that practice. Prior to the city’s “Healthy Meal Incentive Ordinance,” buyers could simply purchase a McDonald’s toy for $2.18. Now, however, only those who buy the Happy Meals are allowed to obtain the toys.
The McDonald’s solution appears to comply with San Francisco’s law against toys included with restaurant meals, as obtaining the toy is now a separate transaction.
Emphasis mine (again).
It was a loophole big enough to drive a truck through. I’m not the least bit surprised that McDonald’s opted to exploit it.
(h/t Jezebel)
