About six months ago, San Francisco’s board of supervisors voted to ban the inclusion of toys in kids’ meals at fast food chains. So began the demise of the McDonald’s Happy Meal in that neck of the woods. I suggested an underground market to keep kids from melting down when their meals consisted of, well, meals.
This week, fast food chain Jack in the Box announced it would eliminate toys from its kids’ meals.
A company spokesman said the decision had more to do with the chain’s focus on food than on the matter of toys.
Luring children into fast food restaurants with colorful toys has become an issue of moral debate in our nation, fueled largely by food-policing advocacy groups.
One question becomes whether these kids are driving themselves to score the coveted toys and the fat laden lunches that accompany them. Another question is the company’s latest ad campaign that targets the stoner clientele Jack in the Box enjoys in its late-night hours and how that squares with JITB’s cute and bouncy persona.
But the question lurking in my mind is why a company bearing this name is turning against toys. Does anyone else see the perversity in that?
Word Nymph 