Question

McDonald's is one of the largest distributors of toys, which is included in 20% of their sales. The Happy Meal that is targeted towards children began in 1979 and became rapidly popular with the fun box, small portions, and of course, the ever- changing toy included. McDonald's targets children through Ronald McDonald and the kids play areas as well, making it a fun environment. In 2010 McDonald's was sued for unethical marketing practices towards children through the act of providing those toys. Monet Parham came forth to sue McDonald's because her daughters would nag and cry for the Happy Meals constantly even when told no, she claimed that McDonald's had invaded their minds through their deceptive marketing. Complaints that McDonald's influences unhealthy eating habits through their advertisements and exploits young children has risen with the toy claim. A law in two cities of California has passed saying that any establishments that does not meet nutritional value will not be allowed to serve toys with the meals. Today the Happy Meal is still in place and the practices are continuing to attract children to their establishments.

Answer the following question: 1. What can McDonald’s do to address the blame of deceptive marketing to children?

Answer 1

After analyzing the above extract about the MC Donalds, it is clear that the firm has faced a lot of criticism because of their provision of toys along with their kids' meals. I think two strategies can be opted for at least reducing the bad effect of this kind of marketing to the younger ones. They are as below:

• One of the strategies that can be implemented is to substitute the plastic toys with an edible toy (using fruits extract ) which can be a source of both nutrition and also an attraction to the kids while buying the Mc Donalds kids meal.
• Another strategy is to implement a small and cute rule known as, "EAT FIRST, PLAY LAST"...where the toys should only be given along with nutritious kids items such as yogurt or fruit cake or some other nutritious food items where they will have to eat first the entire food item to get a very attractive toy.This kind of method would make the kids feel a sense of achievement by getting a toy for their effort to finish a nutritious food meal.

These above-mentioned strategies can somewhat solve the name of deceptive marketing given to the Mc Donalds by the customers.

Hence the answer.