Join the National Day of Action to Retire Ronald McDonald
There's a lot of hubbub around McDonald's food today, and it's not because people are "lovin' it." It's Corporate Accountability International's National Day of Action to retire Ronald McDonald and end the Golden Arches' junk food marketing to kids.The National Day of Action comes as part of the non-profit'sValue the Meal campaign, which seeks to end predatory marketing of unhealthy foods to children. Today's event aims to pressure McDonald's CEO, Jim Skinner, to retire Ronald McDonald, that goofy, red-haired clown who lures kids in to Mickey D's in search of Happy Meals and plastic toys. "Ronald is one of the most recognized and effective icons in marketing to children, setting them up for a lifetime of unhealthy eating habits and, ultimately, chronic disease," claims Corporate Accountability International.
In addition to encouraging folks to call and email Skinner today, the non-profit helped organize a number of local events targeting McDonald's franchisees. Health advocates in New York, NY; Portland, OR; Portsmouth, NH; and Burlington, VT are petitioning their local franchisees to pressure McDonald's execs in Oak Brook, I.L. to end the fast food chain's junk food marketing and send Ronald McDonald packing.
These activists certainly have enough data in their arsenal to make a strong case for Ronald's retirement. One out of every three American children weigh in as overweight or obese. With an ever-expanding smorgasbord of fast food on the market, the situation hasn't gotten any better in recent years. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) recently released dietary guidelines made the link between fast food and obesity, calling America's obesity epidemic "the greatest threat to public health in this century."
The fast food onslaught is even more concerning for children than it is for adults because young kids lack the ability to differentiate between what is an ad and what is regular television programming or media content. Recently released information from Yale's Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity paints a grim picture of just how prevalent predatory marketing is in our society. In 2009, the average preschooler (ages 2-5) saw 2.8 ads per day for fast food, kids ages 6-11 saw 3.5 ads per day, and teens ages 12-17 saw 4.7 fast food ads each day. All that advertising definitely takes a toll on kids' appetites: The Rudd Center says that 40 percent of parents reported that their child asked to go to McDonald's at least once a week, while 15 percent of preschoolers asked to hit up the Golden Arches every, single day.
Some folks argue that it's parents' responsibility to police what their kids' eat. And these people are right — the onus is and should be on parents. But let's be real: Parenting is an incredibly difficult job — possibly the hardest task there is. When fast food companies use shiny, new toys or lovable clowns to pimp out their unhealthy kids' meals, it makes parenting exceedingly more difficult.
Skinner has already said that there's "no way" he'll tell Ronald to hit the road, which makes it even more important that the Value the Meal campaign rallies as much support as possible. Corporate Accountability makes it easy for folks to call or email Skinner, and even provides scripts you can use. You can also tell Skinner how you feel by signing the non-profit's petition asking McDonald's to retire Ronald.
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