McDonalds CEO Tells Food Police Organization to Go Pound Non-Fat, Sodium-Free Sand
**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers
You know your argument is a little over-the-top when you’re equating fast-food places with pedophiles:
Every now and then, it’s nice to see a company fight back against these pathetic weenies who have taken it upon themselves to tell everybody else how to live their lives and run their businesses instead of kowtowing to their ridiculous demands:
Those Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket dolls aren’t going anywhere.
The Happy Meals toys are staying, according to a letter McDonald’s brass delivered Wednesday to a health watchdog group that criticized the popular kids’ meals and how they are marketed.
Jim Skinner, CEO of Oak Brook-based McDonald’s, said the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which last month threatened to sue McDonald’s if the restaurant did not pull toys from its Happy Meals, “should apologize” to consumers and the company.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest last month threatened a lawsuit against the fast-food giant to get it to dump the toys that accompany Happy Meals.
Forget it, McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner said, defending Happy Meals in the written response sent to the Washington, D.C.-based group.
Not only that, but Skinner is demanding an apology from the professional worry-warts, nosey Mrs. Kravitz types and pencil-neck ne’er-do-wells at CSPI:
“CSPI’s twisted characterization of McDonald’s as ‘the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children’ is an insult to every one of our franchisees and employees around the world,” Skinner wrote. “When CSPI refers to America’s children as ‘an unpaid drone army,” you similarly denigrate parents and families, because they are fully capable of making their own decisions. You should apologize.”
“Parents, in particular, strongly believe they have the right and responsibility to decide what’s best for their children, not CSPI,” he wrote. “It’s really that simple.”
Good. More companies need to respond this way to these nanny-state ninnies instead of doing what they ask, which is to put a wilted piece of lettuce in a box and change the name to “Unhappy Meal.”
Here’s CSPI’s “Litigation Director.” How’s this for a sphincter slammed shut tighter than Obama’s office door on “Freedom of the Press Appreciation Day”:
“McDonald’s use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children’s developmental immaturity–all this to induce children to prefer foods that may harm their health,” the group’s litigation director, Stephen Gardner, said at the time. “It’s a creepy and predatory practice that warrants an injunction.”
No, what warrants an injunction are twirps who are trying to force themselves into the position of raising our kids for us — that’s a creepy and predatory practice. I know we’re supposed to appreciate the fact that certain people have taken it upon themselves to save our lives, but I don’t.
To learn more about the myriad ways you’re this close to dying but are too stupid to notice, go to CSPI’s website.
**Written by guest-blogger Doug Powers
Twitter @ThePowersThatBe
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I normally avoid McGreasies like the plague. But suddenly I’m in the mood for a Big Mac.
Isn’t twirps spelled with an e, twerps?
I’m thinking I due for a MacDonald’s quarter pounder today!
Doug:
This latest creepy, dangerous, salami-slice, totalitarian absurdity is arguably of a piece with yesterday’s topic regarding how collectivists/socialists/statists/elitists/etc. strive mightily to oppose and destroy school voucher programs.
I think I’ll fight back with a Mickey D’s for lunch!!
Two double cheeseburgers, hold the ketchup, twerps, and creeps.
[burrrrrrp!]
The traveling nut job circus, bouncing from one issue to the next and winning none.
By extension, a healthy drive through soy-salad fast food joint would then offer an “Unhappy Meal” with a Obamao Action Figure and carbon offset credit star-stickers in the recycled bag.
Should be a big seller.
My kid is physically fit, extremely active and her BMI is exactly where it should be. If I choose to get her a Happy Meal now and again, who are they to tell me that I shouldn’t?
THis is what every CEO dragged in front of Henry “Nostrildamus” Waxman should say.
They are the elitists, know-it-alls, opposite worldview-holders, collectivists, statists, socialists, likely-have-no-kids-and-never-want-to-have-any-kids-and-don’t-actually-give-a-damn-about-kids folks.
Kudos and rimshot to you!
Good for McDonald’s. Now I’d like to see a company tell Jessie Jackson to shove it where the sun don’t shine.
Nothing destroys children’s health like toys. Bad, bad toys.
So in an every decreasing job market, the left wants to punish MacDonalds? Now there’s a good plan hey?
Just because liberals can’t fathom saying “No” to their children once in a while, doesn’t mean the rest of us can’t. And what is his other implication? That kids are going to sneak off and buy Happy Meals without their parents? Kids who have the independent means to get to McDonald’s (i.e., teens who can drive and have money) are unlikely to purchase a Happy Meal, which means the kids who are interested – under age 12 or so – have to have the meals purchased by their parents.
Which brings me back to my original premise: parents must say no.
But, of course, liberals think they know better when they inspect lunches and take away “unhealthy” stuff packed by parents.
It’s funny how McDonald’s Happy Meals “undercuts parental authority” but liberal policies when it comes to abortion, contraception, and sex education in schools aren’t concerned one iota with parental authority.
In this crazy world, liberals think it’s perfectly safe for your daughter to get an abortion or the pill without your consent, but not a happy meal.
Liberals are no more concerned with parental authority than they are with lowering taxes. Any pretense that they worry about parents’ rights is a convenient smoke screen.
If you go over to the Ashley Judd thread, where she talks about “better jobs”, you’ll see liberals have disdain for work they couldn’t imagine themselves doing. Much better to be a denizen of the welfare state than to flip burgers (or mine coal) for a living.
I think I’ll have takeout from McDonald’s, bring it home, and have a good IPA with my Big Mac and fries.
I personally have cut back from a full-blown love affair with McDonald’s food to a more occasional flirtation. To paraphrase a quote from Chicken Soup For The Soul: “We all need to do things that are bad for us sometimes. Just do those things in moderation.” But that is my choice – just like it was my choice to overindulge in the past.
Do you blame McDonald’s for obesity/weight related health problems? Do you blame them for using toys and a clown to appeal to children? Then boycott them completely.
As for the above-mentioned chhhiiillddrreeeenn, they are their paarrreeentsss responsibility. Got a kid who is 50 lobs overweight for his/her age and size? Wean them off the freaking McDonald’s bottle.
At McDonalds in Germany you can get a McBeer. Okay, they don’t call it that, but you can get a beer with your Quarter Pounder.
I first realized the world was turning upside-down when that woman won the big lawsuit against McDonalds because she burned herself after she went through the drive-through and put a cup of HOT COFFEE BETWEEN HER LEGS and it spilled.
We have lost our right to be stupid in this country.
I don’t know, he may have a point. Why, just the other day, I caught my 4 year old taking the car down to McDonalds because he wanted to undercut my parental authority! When he got back, it was clear that his development was a little more immature.
You do realize that by bringing up that episode, you might provoke a legalistic rebuttal of your comment, and a justification for the judgment, right?
Good for McDonalds, although, sadly, I know why the apparently false rumors about earthworms and kangaroos get started.
Their “beef” patties are gray and flavorless. They look and taste like mystery meat.
Give me a What-a-Burger anyday, or even a flame broiled Whopper!
BTW, when we take the kids to McD’s for the chicken nuggets, it isn’t because they want the cheap happy meal toy, its because Mrs. Mahmoud has a full time job, and some days would rather pick up fast food.
Since I’m doing the low carb diet (not quite full blown Atkins induction, some complex carbs, maybe like the South Beach diet but I’ve read the Atkins book and not the South Beach book, about 30 pounds in 4 months) I love the grilled, not fried, chicken patties around bacon and cheese from the Kentucky Fried Chicken.
I think I need to get on the Mickey D’s website and give them a Kudos for standing up to the liberals. I never have trouble expressing displeasure with Americas Corporations, so when they do something right, they need to know that we appreciate it too.
Big Mac and a McLatte for lunch today.
On July 9th, 2010 at 11:05 am, Dexter Alarius said:
I first realized the world was turning upside-down when that woman won the big lawsuit against McDonalds because she burned herself after she went through the drive-through and put a cup of HOT COFFEE BETWEEN HER LEGS and it spilled.
————————————–
On the plus side, that episode may have inspired the “Seinfeld” episode about Kramer suing a coffee shop – after he tried to sneak his coffee into a movie theater by sticking it in the waist of his pants and buttoning his jacket.
I really do not like the food at McDo but I think a trip may be in order … even if I have to order nothing but french fries and ice cream.
McD’s does have good fries.
25 years ago I had just picked up a new kitten at the pound, and took my kids through McD’s to get something to eat. We couldn’t decide what to name the cat, but then, we thought about a friend’s nickname for mcDonald’s – Mickey D’s – so we named the cat Mickey D. The name suited him perfectly. He lived to be 19 years old.
Mickey D’s will always be a nice reminder of our favorite pet.
As a parent I am in charge of where and when my kids eat…I have thrown the happy meal toys out of the car when I thought it was a good idea. They can serve what ever they want but I will be the decider of
what and when my kids eat not some stupid pressure group…
Whoppers are my favorite, but sadly none around here. I did eat whataburgers, but they are nothing like back in the 50′s when they started. Our mcdonalds here in town is horrible and I don’t eat there. They do have good fries though. Good for you Skinner, more companies need to follow what you did.
L
Now again I’m proud to be one of the one out of every 15 or so Americans that have worked at McDonalds. While it’s never been the most prestigious job in the world, if you do your job and do it well, the company does tend to take care of you.
I think I may have to have some MickeyDs myself today!
It’s really that simple.
U.S. Citizens, in particular, strongly believe they have the right and responsiblity to decide what kind of health care they need, not the U.S. Government. It’s really that simple.
I love the description!
In the WSJ, it was said that those without HS diplomas would be facing unemployment for years. McDonald’s and other fast food franchises will be about the only places that would hire and they want to shut them down?
In the WSJ, it was said that those without HS diplomas would be facing unemployment for years. McDonald’s and other fast food franchises will be about the only places that would hire and they want to shut them down?
————————————–
Where do you think I worked at least some of the time while I was still going to high school/college and wanted to earn money for myself? And how many other people could say the same thing?
I eat whatever is on the dollar menu. If I’m gonna eat cheap I want it to be really cheap.
Actually, the 99 cent chicken sandwich from Wendy’s has bacon and cheese, (or something like cheese), and is pretty good.
I worked for a Wendy’s, and later a Subway, in Austin when I was a college student.
Going back to the Ashley Juggs thread, when one is paying one’s own freight in college, one doesn’t minor in “Women’s Studies”…
Nice to see company finally not backing down, though McD’s has with the transfat and salt issues and gelding their REAL malts way way back, not to mention their “lavender” agenda moves over in Europe…
That’s why I like Red Robin/Hooters restaurants; they make no apologies that they’re serve non-PC non-FDA non-Bloomberg smacking good meals, not hospital or rabbit fare.
James Greenidge
Queens NY
THere is no justification for that judgement that does not defy common sense.
If lawyers can come up with a justification, my point stands.
It’s lawyers (and the judges that don’t throw out these cases) that have taken away our right to be stupid.
I’m lovin’ it!!!
This is a pleasant surprise… I was thinking McD’s was caving too much to the urban/PC crowd.
Makes me twice as glad I stopped at McDonald’s on the way home last night.
Agreed.
No argument from me!
Should’ve told them to go pull wire.
Or used one of my favorite Dick Cheney quotes: “Go f#@% yourself.”
Sorry, Clown, but I prefer pigtails.
Doug; it would be endive & arugula saladette, with a side of sliced honeycrisp apple and all-natural ground peanut butter. It will cost $25.00 and it will come in a box that biodegrades as you eat.
This also reminds me of a number of recent studies that, interestingly enough, show the correlation between the growth of child obesity (no pun intended) and the government’s war on poverty and providing children with “healthier” foods, school breakfasts, lunches and sometimes even snacks or dinners … just saying
Heck, aren’t these the same people that tried to convince us that ketchup really is a vegetable even though the tomato is really a fruit?
One Example from Science Daily
They don’t call them quarterpounders in Germany……not sure why.
I am glad they said this, publicly, but I will bet, based on long experience, the decision has already been made, privately and quietly, to phase out happy meals, etc., over the coming years. So while it would be nice to think that this incident shows a new found willingness on the part of corporations to fight back, I really wouldn’t count on it.
Rush (not Limbaugh) – Witch Hunt
“…those who know what’s best for us
Must rise and save us from ourselves…”
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/rush/witchhunt.html
Too bad the major banks and loan companies did not point out the ABSURD agenda of the
MARXIST thugcommunity organizing mobs BEFORE they made changes to loan approval procedures!What we need is for EVERY company and individual to call out these TOTALITARIANS for what they are!
Somewhat OT – a few years back, some fellow came forward ranting about how something in Oreo cookies was going to kill us all – and my mother apparently developed a craving for Oreos from hearing him talk about them and went out and got some!
Mmmm mmmm good!
Because the EU decided it was ILLEGAL to sell goods in anything other than the metric system of weights.
A slightly different version of a nanny state control!
Hey, but aren’t many of those toys based on movies and coordinated to be released along with the associated movie?
The CSPI could just ask the movie industry as good, fellow Libs, to stop colluding with the evil McD’s (I always thought Hamburgler was the REAL face of McD’s). That would cut down at least one impetus behind the exploitation of children using these wretched toys.
Liberals–always “doing it for the children.”
know what they call a quarter pounder with cheese in europe??
“Roy-al with cheese …. it’s because of the metric system”… I loved Pulp Fiction!!!!
On July 9th, 2010 at 12:38 pm, Major O said:
Hey, but aren’t many of those toys based on movies and coordinated to be released along with the associated movie?
The CSPI could just ask the movie industry as good, fellow Libs, to stop colluding with the evil McD’s (I always thought Hamburgler was the REAL face of McD’s). That would cut down at least one impetus behind the exploitation of children using these wretched toys.
Liberals–always “doing it for the children.”
—————————————
No can-do. Ask them to deprive themselves of one of the main ways they market their kiddie-friendly movies? Remember, the bottom line IS their bottom line. It takes precedence over anything else they supposedly care so much about.
Way to go, Ronald McDonald!!
Can’t stand their burgers.
But I just might be in the mood for one of their strawberry/banana smoothies.
Check out the big brain on Fred!
This, along with PETA’s idiotic campaign featuring a blood-stained, knife-weilding, evil-looking Ronald McD is making me very hungry for some of their food right now.
Junk food as a political/social statement – I’m Lovin’ It.
It doesn’t take toys to make kids want fast food. They like it because it tastes exceptionally good. What actress said that the real gourmet food IS McDonalds? She speaks the truth although a Whopper with Cheese is right there as well.
Rush just mentioned this on his radio show and gave Skinner a way to go!
L
I think Happy Meals should come with a toy Glock, M1911A, M1A, M16, 30.06, or .303 gun.
All the nannies will have a pulmonary embolism, and we can stack them like cordwood.
McDonalds’ best kept secret-
Double Cheeseburger 99 cents
Nobody orders them often, so they have to make it fresh for you each time.
MmmmMMMMMMMm
ObamaMcDonaldsA 120 gram-er mit Kaese?
An Imperialiste avec Fromage?
On July 9th, 2010 at 1:31 pm, Hangfire said:
I think Happy Meals should come with a toy Glock, M1911A, M1A, M16, 30.06, or .303 gun.
All the nannies will have a pulmonary embolism, and we can stack them like cordwood.
—————————————
Say hel-lo to mah lil’ frend!
In my neck of the woods, a double cheeseburger is over a dollar. A McDouble is 99 cents. The only difference is the McDouble only has 1 slice of cheese.
I was just told a Double Cheeseburger goes for $1.29 now. I guess I haven’t bought one in a while.
Another reason to live in Paradise. Half the time you see a fast food commericial on TV, in fine print at the bottom it will read “Not available in Alaska or Hawaii” or “Prices higher in Alaska and Hawaii.”
Wendy’s always advertises “Our meat is fresh, never frozen” – When you go into the store here the claim is taped over on the ads.
For a decent burger, I always go to Braums when I visit the real world.
When I was growing up, we didn’t have all the fast-food places to go to. My Daddy would bring home a bag of White Castles from the only one in the area…located on Lake Street…once in a while for a special treat. However, Mom made up for the fast-food FAT with her cooking. EVERYTHING, and I mean everything, was cooked with some kind of fat or lard. She never skimmed the fat off of anything. Her roasts and chicken dinners were literally “to die for”. BUT, there was one big difference. We played outside from morning to evening, only coming in from our activities to take a bath and go to bed. We were ACTIVE. We had phy-ed and recess and we actually played dodge ball and all those “dangerous” games. The girls even played touch football that wasn’t really “touch”, but tackle! When I had an adult paper route, I ate everything I wanted, which was a LOT, yet I stayed thin. Why? ACTIVITY. It is up to the parents to make sure their kids get plenty of excercise. Then, they can eat at McDonalds and get a Happy Meal when they want, not when Nannystate tells them! We have to get Big Brother out of our lives NOW…it will only get worse. Stand up to these food nazis and don’t give in!!
I came home from work last week and my daughter was giving my granddaughter a popsicle at the kitchen table! She had a roll of paper towels standing by and the kid was wearing a bib.
I realized that I am 50-something and I have never eaten a Popsicle indoors.
In fact, I think I was in my late 20s before I ever ate watermelon inside.
When I was growing up, when you came up to the front screen door (which was hooked) and begged you mommy to let you come inside because it was hot, she would tell you to wait, and then come back with popsicles for you, which you had to eat IN THE YARD, not on the porch.
If you got the stuff all over you, there was a hose in the front you could use…….
Given the Left’s support of pedophile Roman Polanski…
==============================
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In-N-Out, Whataburger, Braum’s… the triumvirate of awesomeness.
For those in DFW that haven’t heard, In-N-Out is building a location at Firewheel in Garland!
The CSPI is the Food Police version of the ACLU. They pretend to care about your health when all they do is try to restrict you freedom.
I’m glad to see McD’s stand up. I will have to go their for lunch this weekend.
Ah, yes…great memories. Mom was pretty fussy about the house. Don’t bring all that dirt and melting popsicles in after she has cleaned it all up so nice for Dad when he got home from work. Mom did make the best home-cooked everything and I miss that so much!! But what made it taste so darn good was the fat…of course! The only solution is to get those kids MOVING their fat arses. How hard is that?? Turn off the TV, the computers, et al and kick them outside. Come on, parents, wake the heck up! I know I am preaching to the choir, but it felt good anyway.
Oh, and if you complained that it was hot outside, Mom told you to move into the shade!! No air conditioning anyway, so why bother to come inside?
You knew it was a good day of playing when by the time your bath was done you couldn’t see the bottom of the tub for the dirty water!
But, but according to other libs if they go outside they will get EEE from Mosquitoes or Lyme Disease for a tick and die. Some lib group with a FAX machine sending out press releases said so. But not to worry, CSIP told me that to eat healthy just eat Kale(not joking).
If you tracked in mud……
Book ‘em, Danno, murder one.
Sigh…I was such a happy kid!! I was actually allowed to BE.A.KID!
I remember getting a beating for riding my bicycle (what’s a helmet?) behind the mosquito fogger truck with about 20 other idiots on bikes.
I was wheezing when I got home. Ah, I love the smell of DDT in the morning.
Maybe that’s why I’m bald now……
Gonna stop at McDonald’s on the way home tonight!
Well, you may be bald, but it didn’t kill you, did it? There are a lot of us “old timers” on this blog and we did a lot of the things that the nannys now consider DANGEROUS!! I don’t know anyone I grew up with who died from things they did in their childhood. Now today, you have to worry about a child dying from being over-protected! Seriously, if a kid can’t learn how to be strong and brave, and to take care of himself, that is a dangerous thing!! A bunch of wimps are NOT going to save our country!
On July 9th, 2010 at 3:18 pm, happyscrapper said:
On July 9th, 2010 at 3:14 pm, Hangfire said:
Well, you may be bald, but it didn’t kill you, did it? There are a lot of us “old timers” on this blog and we did a lot of the things that the nannys now consider DANGEROUS!! I don’t know anyone I grew up with who died from things they did in their childhood. Now today, you have to worry about a child dying from being over-protected! Seriously, if a kid can’t learn how to be strong and brave, and to take care of himself, that is a dangerous thing!! A bunch of wimps are NOT going to save our country!
—————————————
And you probably played competition sports, which, we are now told, ruined – RUINED, they say – your self esteem.
A game that has “winners” and “losers”?!
How crrruuueelll! Think of the chhhiiiilllddrreeeennn!
I just sent an email to Mr Skinner thru CSPI’s website thanking him for standing up to these pu$$ies.
Too bad I couldn’t change the email subject……
I doubt Mr Skinner will read it, but it felt good go use CPSI’s contact letter against them….
In my lifetime, I have been exposed to:
nuclear fallout
shoe store florescopes
measles
mumps
experimental polio live vacine
coal dust
mill dust
second hand cigarette smoke in my home
DDT
Dioxin
chloridane
Red Dye #5
coal fired furnaces
trash burners
Deet
MLTB
lead based paint
asbestos
mercury
In 2010 the leftist nanny state zealots want to convice me that I am endangered by carbon dioxide and fast food.
Government run health care will kill me long before CO2 and a Big Mac will.
Don’t for the cyclamates!
LOL
>forget
Too bad Hallmark did not fight on the behalf of Hoops and YoYo when the NAACP called the little guys racists and pulled their graduation cards off the shelves.
Hooray for McDonalds.
What is interesting is finally corporate America is not laying back and just taking it anymore. They are actively striking back.
Political correctness permeated responses, whether it was on Chinese food, fries cooked in lard, or coconut oil for popcorn. Corporate America now knows it is under attack by an adminstration and lefist pressure groups that could care less about the will of the people.
McDonalds knows CSPI’s agenda is far more than telling us what we shouldn’t eat. It is telling us what we must eat.
Stick to your guns McD’s.
Reclaiming America back from the Liberals…one shyster at a time!