As of April 28, 2010, Santa Clara County officials officially banned toy promotions offered with high-calorie McDonald's Happy Meals. While this "ban" currently applies to only restaurants within the county's jurisdiction, the controversial stand against everyone's favorite powerhouse fast food conglomerate has sparked much debate from around the nation. The ordinance, County Supervisor Ken Yeager claims, aspires to curb the raging trend of childhood obesity in America and break "the link between unhealthy food and prizes."
Thus, a 3-2 vote was made and April 28 became a not-so-happy day for Happy Meals. While said lawmakers are having their fair share of applause and criticism, the real question arises: Just how effective is an ordinance that has gained so much national and international attention?
The key word is "high-calorie." The applicable McDonald's restaurants will be granted a 90-day grace period to "fix" their children's meal menu to meet basic nutritional values. This means that the seemingly radical move to ban toys is, in fact, a lot more talk than walk. Restaurants will still be allowed to offer shiny playthings with their meals as long as it hits certain nutritional criteria. Ultimately, this will affect a few restaurants within the region at best.
Now, it is not to say that this stand against McDonald's is not newsworthy; proponents of the ordinance will argue that it is a "step in the right direction." It is, however, pointing out the continued unsuccessful attempts to regulate fast-food chains. From calorie chart transparency to regulated TV advertising, it has all, more or less, failed. Restaurant sales continue to climb.
The pressure of offering healthier alternatives alone has forced fast-food franchises to eliminate "super-sizing" options and offer more fruits and salads in their meals. The problem, however, is that McDonald's and the like are still making money because there are still parents buying. It is less about how prizes tie into the psychology of food consumption — though, it is relevant — and more about the food itself and the fact that parents are either still uninformed or possibly just careless.
The reality is that kids will almost always opt for fries and a Coke over the option of apples and milk, if left to their own devices. It is ultimately the parents' job to either allow these negative eating habits to flourish or educate and control their children themselves. The government is there to help, but not to take the responsibility off of parents.
Parents, after all, are the ones with the purchasing power. To argue against that is to say that parents have no choice. In truth, parents do have a choice. While the toys provide an alluring incentive, it does not change what parents are allowing into their children's bodies.
Nina Nguyen is a senior journalism and film studies major.
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