Quick Question

July 27, 2011

Quick Question

About adding apple slices to Happy Meals (and reducing the size of fries):

Also, for those who are over age 12: Is there any toy which would entice you to buy a Happy Meal for yourself?

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Anti-Obesity Programs, Childhood Obesity, fluff

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Living 400lbs

I blog about what it’s like to be live life at about 400lbs. :)

26 responses to “Quick Question”

Kataphatic

July 27, 2011 at 4:07 pm

Those little “Teeny Beanie Babies” toys totally made me buy happy meals, back when I was in high school. SO CUTE.

Now I’m not so sure. I’m kinda grossed out by most McDonald’s food these days (except the breakfast sandwiches, I still really like those) and can’t think of a toy that would reasonably be in a happy meal to make me buy one.

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1. Living 400lbs
  
  July 27, 2011 at 4:54 pm
  
  I don’t go to McD’s much — I just don’t think of it these days — but I once nearly died with envy over a woman’s toy Miss Piggy driving a convertible. She was using it as a business card holder and MAN, I wanted one. Unfortunately this was pre-eBay and they’d been discontinued.
  
  Reply
  1. jaed
    
    July 28, 2011 at 10:50 am
    
    Well, if you still want one:
    Miss Piggy 1979
    
    Free shipping, 100% feedback. ;-)
    
    Reply
rubyfruit

July 27, 2011 at 6:26 pm

Short Answer: The addition of apple slices and fewer fries is going to amount to all of Jack and Diddly.

The long answer: *insert raucous laughter here*

As Kataphatic above said, Teeny Beanie Babies might convince me to get a Happy Meal again.

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Erin Smith

July 27, 2011 at 6:50 pm

McDonalds for some reason has… interesting effects on my stomach. No other fast food place gives me nearly the problems. With the exception of McNuggets and the Filet O’ Fish, and soda, I just can’t do McDonalds anymore.

But, on the topic of toys that would incite me to go to McDonalds and buy one or more happy meals.

Anything with a guinea pig that isn’t dressed up wearing human clothes – I have one from the last beanie baby promotion. If they got with Playmobil and had their little guinea pigs in a happy meal, in different colors than the official set that my husband bought me as a desk toy, I’d definitely be there. That would probably never happen, because people don’t have the sense to ask for a baby toy and these guinea pigs are definitely NOT for kids who put stuff in their mouth.

Those cute little molded erasers, if they had some animal ones I’d definitely get those. Basically, any small animal or fantasy animal toy that I could put on my desk.

The biggest one tho… Breyer Stablemates. Put those in a happy meal, and we will be eating happy meals multiple times a day until I had the whole set.

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obscurefox

July 27, 2011 at 10:02 pm

Pokemon toys, although I don’t really like the food there much,and you can buy just the toy alone. I’ve been pretty obsessed with Pokemon for 15 years, so last month we bought enough happy meals to get all of the toys but two.

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Ashley

July 28, 2011 at 4:42 am

It might not make kids thin but it certainly couldn’t hurt in encouraging them to eat more fruits.

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Faycin A Croud

July 28, 2011 at 4:48 am

I have in fact bought freaking Crappy Meals for myself because I wanted the Neopet or Beanie Baby or whatever toy they had. Yes, I am ten years old emotionally. I have something like 300 stuffed animals and several dolls.
Those apples get nasty in those plastic packages. I don’t know if they keep them refrigerated properly.

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Bree

July 28, 2011 at 5:01 am

I think the last toy I got for myself was the Mini Beanie Erin Bear (the green one that had the clover).

I do McDonald’s every now and then but I refuse to touch their chicken nuggets. They just look gross to me, but it seems Chicken Nuggets and milk is the standard kid McMeal around here.

Making the Happy Meals Healthy Meals won’t make kids thin no matter what you do, but I wonder if this will get more sales from just adults—I know that quite a few older people buy them for themselves because it’s apparently a “good” fast food choice because it’s smaller.

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JoGeek

July 28, 2011 at 5:38 am

It’s definitely a joke that it will make any difference to kids’ weight. On the other hand, I like fresh food choices in general, for people of all ages. I like the taste of the apple slices; the lemon juice they add as a preservative makes them nice and crunchy tart. I also like their chocolate milk option on happy meals. As far as toys go, I think I bought one for the my little pony toy once, and I got a beanie baby husky for my cat to beat up on (I think it’s given him a complex).

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Minie

July 28, 2011 at 6:00 am

It won’t make them thin, and I don’t believe it will encourage them to eat more fruit as the apple slices get all mushy in their plastic bags. If you want them to eat an apple with their meal, for Pete’s sake, bring one from home! lol!

As for the toys, I bought a happy meal because there was a stuffed blue w/stars space frog in it. I bought another one last week because of a strawberry shortcake doll.

However, i don’t do MickyD very often because It doesn’t do any good to my… digestive system, plus I found it gives me stink breath after even if I brush my teeth very carefully, which is the sign that my stomach is not processing the food well.

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Alice

July 28, 2011 at 6:21 am

I buy Happy Meals sometimes, for the toy! I enjoy any kind of bird/horse toy or something thats neato looking to put on the shelf. I grew up where after school we would often go to Makkas and have those sundae’s that give the biggest brain freeze! My parter loves Makka’s so now and then we walk up to the local one and have something or other. I either get the Happy Meal for a toy or those chicken burgers with avo that dont seem to bad, cheeseburgers can make anyone feel ill.

I take my little sister out often lately and it makes me very happy to see she prefers a healthy sandwhich and fresh juice over Makkas.

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CTJen

July 28, 2011 at 7:52 am

Back in the day before I was diagnosed w/ Celiac, we would eat at McD’s quite a bit. So I can speak w/ authority when I say that those apple dippers are fucking nasty. They treat the apples with acid so they don’t brown in the package and that’s all you can taste. My kid and I just threw them out and ate the caramel dipping sauce. With our fingers. AS YOU DO.

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Cathy S.

July 28, 2011 at 9:30 am

When the original Cars movie came out, they were offering these really high-quality plastic cars, the kind you pull back on to tighten the spring and then they go. I wound up buying the entire collection on ebay, because we don’t do McDonalds. :-) Those cars worked for years; excellent purchase. And I avoided the happy meals.

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Emerald

July 28, 2011 at 10:52 am

1. No.
2. Possibly Daleks. In all the colors. (Although, I doubt I’d actually eat the food. Last time I had one of their croissants, in an absolute emergency on Boxing Day when I was away from home and nothing else was open, I was sick as a dog.)

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Heidi

July 28, 2011 at 12:48 pm

I eat one thing and one thing only from McDonald’s, and that’s their ice cream products, preferably a Butterfinger McFlurry. The rest of their food makes me feel ill, except maybe their fries, which I fool myself into thinking can’t be THAT tampered with.

My son eats there on occasion with my mom. He’s not a huge fan of apple slices, though, so I don’t know that changing the Happy Meals will do much more than irk him (note: he’s five and of “normal” weight, whatever that is).

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Twistie

July 28, 2011 at 1:00 pm

While I am always in favor of more choices, I don’t expect apples instead of French fries to make that much of a difference in terms of kids’ waistlines. Also, as several people have pointed out, fast food restaurants are not usually properly equipped to offer up the best quality apples in the freshest possible way.

As for buying a Happy Meal? No. I don’t eat at Micky D’s. The food has zero appeal to me, and I don’t want any toy enough that I’m going to buy food I’ll just toss out to get one. Every once in a while I’ve been a tidge disappointed I couldn’t get a particular toy, but not enough to make me walk in and buy a Happy Meal I don’t want. And yes, I felt that way when I was a child, too.

Maybe I was a weird kid. I would absolutely believe that.

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Meowser

July 29, 2011 at 1:22 am

Can’t you buy the HM toys without the food? Or is that only an option at some franchises?

Anyway, I can’t digest apples. I also can’t digest gluten or cow’s milk, and the frying oil uses a wheat derivative, so I can’t even do the fries. So Happy Meals are not happy for my tummy. If there was a really cute, soft, plush kitty, though, I might spring for the toy. Or if there were toys from a movie I really liked, I might go for that.

And of course, nobody’s going to get skinny from this. That’s a joke.

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Michele

July 29, 2011 at 8:22 am

Sex toys…

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FatAspie

July 29, 2011 at 1:53 pm

I answered “yes” on the poll, because I’m a smart aleck that way. The choices made me snicker, so thanks for that. =)

I think if they had some nightmare before christmas toys i would buy a happy meal. If they weren’t lame toys, which is what I have noticed when i walk into ANY fast food restaurant now. But then, I walk down the toy aisle and thank God i’m not a kid now…toys and cartoons are just not what they used to be.

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JupiterPluvius

July 29, 2011 at 1:56 pm

I love fast food places’ apple slices. (I’m looking at you, Subway and Panera Bread!) The citric acid that keeps them from getting mushy is nice and tangy.

On the other hand, study after study shows that a significant percentage, perhaps the majority, of children classified as “obese” and “overweight” consume fewer calories than their peers, and often less than the FDA recommendations, when it comes to children living in poverty.

So I don’t see how cutting calories in cheap fast food is going to help the children considered “too fat” who are already consuming fewer calories than they need; seems to me that it might just make things worse.

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closetpuritan

July 29, 2011 at 7:02 pm

“if there were toys from a movie I really liked, I might go for that.”

Seconded. I bought a Spider-Man Happy Meal to get the toy for my sister a while back, because she really likes Spider-Man. But then she didn’t even want the toy.

It wouldn’t take that much to get me to buy a Happy Meal, really. They’re kind of a ripoff, but I don’t mind the food; I like eating McDonald’s food now and then, and a Happy Meal is about the right sized lunch for me, maybe with one or two of their apple or cherry pie snacks. I usually go for the cheap stuff, though; the price difference between a cheeseburger and a Big Mac, or even chicken mcnuggets, is surprising.

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crookedfinger

July 30, 2011 at 9:48 am

I suppose it might possibly help a kid lose weight if Happy Meals are a staple of their diet, but if they’re like I was as a kid and ate one every 2-3 weeks….yeah, no. Not going to help at all.

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Hector

July 31, 2011 at 9:01 pm

1. I think it’s good to have the option on the table. Growing up with ol’school Mickey D’s, I’m deadset against buying any of the more healthier options i.e. salad, apple slices… I feel like the produce wouldn’t be fresh and it’s not worth the money. If I want McDonald’s, I want something fried and/or drenched in Thousand Island.

Adding apple slices won’t make the kids ‘skinny,’ but if their parents support the option (not automatically force the healthier options) the kiddies may not have such a pegged view of what fast food meals should entail.

2. If they’re going to give out apple slices, I say stick with the theme and start giving out iPads.

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DebraSY

August 1, 2011 at 9:11 pm

I could use a snow blower. Maybe next winter’s Happy surprise?

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sleepydumpling

August 5, 2011 at 6:26 am

I buy Happy Meals for myself occasionally, when I feel like it. But if they offered Lego minifigs… I’d have to buy more!

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