Disney and McDonalds Split

[BarTopDancer]

Article (http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2006/s1634653.htm)

I can't find a US article but it seems that they are pulling out because of concerns about childhood obesity.

[flippyshark]

I see at the end of the article that this does not affect the selling of McD's food in the parks. Oh well.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

We saw some kid eating Burger King in the Tiki Room garden yesterday. :confused: It was in a Disneyland Munch Inc. lunch box. I can't believe they went to the bother of sneaking in BK and eating it cold.

As for McD - I love their fries, and actually visited one for lunch the other day for the first time in probably 2 years. They got my order wrong.

Fries aside, if that company actually died within my lifetime I'd be very proud of my generation ;)

[mistyisjafo]

Disney is concerned about obesity? Have they eaten in the park recently?!!

[Gemini Cricket]

It's a bold move for Disney. McDonalds is one of the biggest distributors of toys in the world. I read that in 'Fast Food Nation' I believe.
I haven't eaten their burgers or fries since that book came out. I think I had an ice cream cone there about a year ago...

[BarTopDancer]

As for McD - I love their fries, and actually visited one for lunch the other day for the first time in probably 2 years. They got my order wrong.

I haven't ordered anything other than a coke or an ice cream from there in 4 years, and those orders were made on road trips where it was McDonalds or nothing.

Fries aside, if that company actually died within my lifetime I'd be very proud of my generation ;)

I have some self-created rendition of "Video Killed the Radio Star" going on in my head now about our generation killing McDonalds.

"Our gen killed McDonalllllllllllds. In our minds and in our pants. Salads came and broke our fat. Put the blame on the FDA. Our gen killed McDonallllllllds"

[bow]

[scaeagles]

Disney is concerned about obesity? Have they eaten in the park recently?!!

I only eat the diet churros.

[Alex]

It is interesting to see the spin on this since it has been the subject of speculation for a few years now that either McDonald's or Disney would decide not to renew the partnership. It hasn't been all the profitable for McDonald's according to reports since it was a deal struck in the post-coital rush of Little Mermaid/Aladdin/Beauty and the Beast/Lion King.


It will be interesting to see if Disney actually keeps its animated movie promotions out of fast food or if they'll just do deals on a film-by-film basis. But the spin could be true. In a litigation environment where it is clear that fast food and junk food manufacturers are eventually in for the tobacco-company treatment it could be quite the hassle to be tied specifically to the children's marketing end of the industry. Now to see if Disney stops co-branding with sugared cereal, sodas, and other junk food.


What is really interesting is that as the focus on fast food as an agent of obesity has grown (Super Sized and Fast Food Nation particularly) McDonald's has seen a resurgence in profits and huge growth in same-store sales.

[BarTopDancer]

What is really interesting is that as the focus on fast food as an agent of obesity has grown (Super Sized and Fast Food Nation particularly) McDonald's has seen a resurgence in profits and huge growth in same-store sales.

While I have no doubt that burgers and fries out sell the *healthier options* I'm curious to see what kind of profits the salads and grilled sandwiches bring in. I'm also curious to see how many people actually get carrots apple dippers instead fries and water milk or juice instead of soda in their kids happy meals. Apple dippers are dipped in carmel sauce. I wonder how much better those are for you then fries.

I put healthier options in ** because as we [should be] are all aware, after you dump on the dressing, a salad can have more calories than a burger.

Eeks. I keep editing except this one is a derail. They have a Mighty Kids meal now! It comes with a double cheese burger or a 6 peice McNuggets and is aimed at 'older' kids. Shoot, as an adult I'd order a happy meal for the 4 peice McNuggets or the single patty hamburger. With a small fries and drink it was more than enough. Portion size is another huge issue.

[Stan4dSteph]

I had the Asian Salad for dinner last night. With grilled chicken it's 290 calories, 10 g fat, 6 g fiber (6 WW points). Adding the whole packet of dressing that comes with increases the points by 2. I only used half of the packet. It was good; I would order it again.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Carb count, por favor? I'm thinking the dressing is probably full of sugar. (caramel apple dippers is a healthy choice?)

[Stan4dSteph]

Carb count, por favor? I'm thinking the dressing is probably full of sugar. (caramel apple dippers is a healthy choice?)I don't count carbs. http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/eat/nutrition_info.html

The dressing has 14 g total carbs. You could probably eat it without the dressing.

[tracilicious]

(caramel apple dippers is a healthy choice?)


No freaking kidding. It isn't hard to take the caramel out of the bag though. It's completely separate from the apples. I like the fruit and walnut salad at McD's. For it to be healthy you need to not add the walnuts, as they are candied, but apples, grapes, and yogurt is about as healthy as you can get fast food wise. I resent paying $4 for it though.

I'm hoping more fast food chains will follow Wendy's example. You can get a turkey and cheese or ham and cheese sandwich instead of a burger or nuggets in their kid's meals. The only drink alternative you can get there is milk though, which sucks for people that don't do dairy.

[tracilicious]

Eeks. I keep editing except this one is a derail. They have a Mighty Kids meal now! It comes with a double cheese burger or a 6 peice McNuggets and is aimed at 'older' kids. Shoot, as an adult I'd order a happy meal for the 4 peice McNuggets or the single patty hamburger. With a small fries and drink it was more than enough. Portion size is another huge issue.

They've had this for three or four years. What kid needs a double cheeseburger?! You are right in saying that a happy meal is the correct portion for an adult. I'm totally guilty of getting them (sometimes for the toy - I built the entire Inspector Gadget when I was 17). I forget the name, but the movie where he ate nothing but McDonald's for a month said that when McDonald's first opened the large soda was the small now.

[BarTopDancer]

They've had this for three or four years. What kid needs a double cheeseburger?! You are right in saying that a happy meal is the correct portion for an adult. I'm totally guilty of getting them (sometimes for the toy - I built the entire Inspector Gadget when I was 17). I forget the name, but the movie where he ate nothing but McDonald's for a month said that when McDonald's first opened the large soda was the small now.

No kid needs a double cheeseburger. Heck, adults don't need them but it's better for an adult to be eating one then a 10 year old.

Isn't that Supersize Me? I haven't seen it. It bugs how the kids soada is what used to be a small and small soads are what used to be mediums and meduims are what used to be large. I never know what size to order anymore (because I want the small/medium if it's to go and the small if I am eating in).

[Snowflake]

They've had this for three or four years. What kid needs a double cheeseburger?! You are right in saying that a happy meal is the correct portion for an adult. I'm totally guilty of getting them (sometimes for the toy - I built the entire Inspector Gadget when I was 17). I forget the name, but the movie where he ate nothing but McDonald's for a month said that when McDonald's first opened the large soda was the small now.

Are you referring to the film Super Size me? I rented that via netflix and was astounded, it was like driving by a bad car wreck in many respects. It was, for what it was, an enjoyable movie/documentary.

[€uroMeinke]

You must not eat this Big Mac in order to ride this attraction...

[tracilicious]

Are you referring to the film Super Size me? I rented that via netflix and was astounded, it was like driving by a bad car wreck in many respects. It was, for what it was, an enjoyable movie/documentary.

Yes, this is the one. I really liked it. Helps me avoid fast food!

[flippyshark]

This just in from IMdB:

"Both the Walt Disney Co. and McDonald's have denied a Los Angeles Times report claiming that they have ended their marketing and promotional relationship. The Times, citing "multiple high-ranking sources" within Disney, reported that the company was responding to health activists who attributed the growing number of overweight children, in part, to fast-food chains. McDonald's said that the Times story was "based on Hollywood hearsay" and was "a misrepresentation of the truth." Disney responded that while its exclusive contract with McDonald's "will expire at the end of the year, we look forward to a more flexible, non-exclusive relationship where we will be working with them on a case by case basis."

[Ghoulish Delight]

Yes, this is the one. I really liked it. Helps me avoid fast food!I haven't seen the movie, so I'm not the best authority...but from everything I've heard about it, I can't help but wonder how the exact same experiment would turn out if, instead of going to McDonalds every day and eating the entire portiont hey give you for every meal, he went to a fine restaurant and did the same thing. My guess...not too much different. Much of the issue isn't so much what was eaten, but how much. Portion size is out of control at all eateries, not just McDonalds. I know that if I ever eat every bit of steak, potatoes, vegetables, appetizers, bread, and desert that I'm serverd at top-notch places, it ain't healthy for me no matter the food quality.

[Alex]

The movie is worth watching. And he doesn't necessarily gorge himself on food.

My big issue is that this represented a severe change in diet for him. His girlfriend is a vegan chef and while he wasn't a vegan himself he had a pretty controlled diet. He changed that drastically for the experiment and saw some pretty severe initial health impacts.

Then the movie glosses over the final health report he had which showed things beginning to stabilize. Nothing more compelling than an "if current trends continue" argument, but current trends hardly ever continue indefinately.

So I had some quibbles but overall it was very interesting and at times truly imformative. I found the damning of school cafeterias much more effective than the damning of McDonald's.