You Go McDonalds!

Just as McD's says ... we choose to eat elsewhere!

Added: Haven't eaten there since we saw the documentary "Food, Inc."
BTW, the movie "Super Size Me" goes into quite a bit of detail about McDonald's targeted and highly successful marketing to children. It's a little chilling, actually.

We eat at McDonald's on RARE occasion (same goes for all fast food)... so really, a total of $.30 for the damn toys isn't going to break my bank.

'You can choose to eat somewhere else'.... that's pretty funny ;)

Yes, we would. We don't eat there often and when we do it is solely because it is a treat for the girls. A big, huge part of that is the toy.

We are the parents not their friends. If you think your kids are eating too much McDs then say no. Stop blaming toys for your inability to parent! So yeah I would pay the dime because if I said yes to a happy meal it is because I said yes, not because of the toy.

Can you buy them with value meals cause that would be brilliant!

Did you know that as of next year Tony the tiger is illegal thanks to Obamacare? Apparently that paper tiger has that much power over us he needs to be stopped. :p

I do not know one adult alive today that thinks McDonald's is good for you. Ok sure they market to children, but isn't it our job as parents to teach them healthy eating habits? Really come on people.

I agree with you 100%. People need to be responsible for their own choices when it comes to this sort of thing. I love the parents that say, "But the commercials make my kids want it!" Well, yeah. So does every toy commercial that comes on TV. Does that mean you are going to buy every toy ever marketed? Of course not, same goes here.

Do you realize what we all pay in healthcare costs due to people eating McDonalds and other junk on a daily basis? Why would you celebrate a corporation's move to try to get more deadly food into kids mouths?
Not sure how I feel about SF's ban, I do think they are desperating trying anything to stem the epidemic of obesity, heart disease and high blood pressure that's actually killing hundreds of thousands of people in this country and is directly link to food served up and produced by big corporations like McDonalds. It's tough to find any food in the regular supermarket that isn't filled with dangerous preservatives, chemicals, fat and sugar. Shoule we celebrate those companies ability to sell that stuff to the American people?
My husband was raised in LA by a somewhat neglectful and mostly absent Mom. Being on his own a lot he developed a fast food habit at a young age as well as started smoking. Both deadly habits, both starting when he was under 12 years old. Should we applaud Phillip Morse and McDonalds for for their marketing "genius" in getting those deadly products into his hands? Not all kids have present parents, not all kids have informed parents and even if they did are we as a society proud and impressed when a multi million dollar company finds yet another way to get their dangerous product into children's bodies?
However you feel about the toy ban, your excitment seems misplaced, McDonalds or any other big corporation doesn't need your cheerleading right now, they are all doing just fine writing the rules in their favor at our expense. That toy ban was a futile attempt by one city to try to do something, anything, to reign in the power grip big business has on us all.
BTW husband kicked both bad habits decades ago and my kids have never eaten a happy meal in their lives. We like to frequent locally owned restaurants, it's the least we can do in the name of capitalism.

Oh heck yeah I would have paid the extra .10 cents for the toy when my son was little. A trip to McDonald's and a happy meal were huge treats for him - think once every couple of months - if that often. We just don't eat that way. At 15 McD's is still a treat for him.

I think McD's is genius for the idea. I also don't think that government should begin legislating what we eat. Maybe, instead, educational funding should be increased so that health and fitness have a larger part in our schools' curriculum and children can be taught a healthier lifestyle. Hmmm, do you think SanFran will take the extra taxes earned on the toys and give it to the schools?

Now I want french fries {sigh} thanks J. :/

EDIT: want to add - I have read through the other responses and I have to say that you can not market to children - they are not paying consumers. Yes, ads can appeal to children - fun characters, toys, bright lights and shiny objects but the paying ADULT is the one who makes the decisions and makes the purchases. Yes, some parents do parent poorly but it is not the government's business to legislate parenting - I do not want anyone to tell me how to parent. It all becomes rather Orwellian after a certain point - a point that we are quickly approaching. People in this country have abdicated personal responsibility and legislation, like the McD's toy one, encourages them to continue to take no blame for their own lives.

I would pay that money if it were a toy my kid really wanted and deserved. The last I checked the kids can't become overweight from eating the toys.

No. I also don't feed my kids McDonalds. I do, however, believe healthcare is a human right. I am willing to pay for the social services that help make this country great. So I stand by any decision to make fast food less appealing. People take their kids there for all kinds of reasons - I don't judge them. But we have eating habits that are killing us. I will certainly support public health campaigns that encourage people to live healthier lives. Go SF!

Nope. Instead McDonald's is catering to those who wish to endow their children with lifelong health problems - obesity, type II Diabetes.

The children are the losers here. McDonald's gets to increase their profits.

84% of families report they took their kids to eat fast food at least once in the past week. McDonald's markets to kids. Kids are not adults who can (if they chose) consider the pros (not sure what) and cons of eating poorly. Kids don't drive, so when their parents take them to McDonald's they go. So if parents don't protect their children and McDonald's is certainly not going to, who will? No one I guess.

Hopefully Obamacare will be gone soon enough so these kids won't have to get health care for their parent/corporate induced diseases (I know, the kids chose to get them so all is good).

http://blogs.babycenter.com/mom_stories/how-often-do-your...

I truly don't see a reason to celebrate here.

J. - you state 'we' the parents have to take responsibility for our kids. It's a great idea but apparently 84% of Americans with kids don't do it. And no matter how we fund the health care system (Mr. Obama's plan or private health insurance with emergency room care for the uninsured) I will be paying for these kids' long term health problems. So yes, I (and the city of San Francisco) have at least a financial (if not moral) interest in their health.

That's capitalism at it's finest. They are profiting off a regulation that was meant to curtail thier business. 10c a meal is going to net them a whole new revenue stream. I wish more companies had the ingenuity to work within regulations to find a way to still be profitable and make it work, Rather than blame government regulations for thier business failings and lack of ability to adapt. So yeah, You go McDonalds.

tehehe, the Not So Happy Meal is 10 cents MORE? Hilarious!

:)

I've chosen to eat elsewhere.....

I would (even though as a general rule, I despise those pieces of junk that collect all over my house!), just to stick it to the man! LOL

We are way beyond happy meals, but yes, if we liked the toy we would pay the extra for it.

San Francisco has HUGE problems.... and yet they choose to waste their time on this. So stupid. We never ate a lot of McDonald's. But I'm certain that some things I personally cooked for my kids were worse for them than a happy meal. Maybe the government should come to my house and tell me what to cook. That'll be next probably.

Wow.
Ten cent toys.
That's going to really impact the health of America.

Are they reducing the price of the Happy Meal?

We're past the happy Meal stage, anyway.

It depends on the toy, but for the most part, yes! And I applaud McDs for standing up to the food police!

LOL reminds me of my mom's rants about the tobacco industry and how the government shouldn't regulate what people's choices are regarding what's healthy or not!
We've eaten our fair share of fast food over the years, and I'm all for personal choice, but I have to say I won't be shouting "go McDonalds" any more than I'll be shouting "go Phillip Morris."
Oh, and to answer your question, my kids are older now, but yes I would pay the .10, but only if I actually liked the toy :)

I could care less about the antics of mcdonalds.....the food is slime, the clown is creepy and their behind the scenes contribution to america and american children makes me sick.

But i agree its not their responsibility to parent americas children, but they dont have to make it worse. Might as well put a little toy inside every pack of cigarettes.

My kids rarely ate at McDonald's as a matter of logistics.
We don't have one close by.
Any type of fast food was a rarety.

That said, McDonald's and Burger King, to name a couple, already have to indicate nutrition information including calories, trans fats, sodium....
if a person still chooses to consume that, it seems to be an informed choice.
I guess I don't understand the ban on toys. At least they aren't edible.
If the only reason you take your child somewhere to eat is because they can also get a toy, still seems like a personal choice to me.

Charging 10 cents for a toy is just more profit for McDonald's when they likely get thousands of them for 10 cents in a lot.
In that regard, the whole attempt to ban the toys would seem to backfire.

Just saying....

On a recent trip to McD's my husband was telling me about this. I figured we would buy the stupid toy too since that's really the only reason we ever get kids meals. And for us it's a treat to go there and not an every day or weekly thing. If your kid is fat because of eating McD's then it's the parent's fault. You have a say in what your kids' eat and how often they eat it.

What the progressives fail to incorporate into their lives (and their kids) is PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY. Really, that's what this all gets down to. BIG government wanting to dictate what each person can and can't do because they know better than YOU do what's good for you; they're smarter than you!!

J.:

Our McDonald's charges us $1.99 for an extra toy...I don't know what they charge now for the happy meal toy. My boys have "outgrown" the Happy Meal stage!! boo-hoo!! Greg loves Big Macs now!!! :(

I think it's funny when "groups" try to tell others how to eat...ooh my - I could go on.

In Europe - you pay for the condiments- the ketchup, mayo, etc. per package...they DO NOT hand them out. There is no condiment canister by the drink machine to dole out the ketchup...

Would I pay for the toy - depends on the toy :) Soemtimes they are cute, sometimes a waste of plastic.
Like so many other choices in life - against it? DON'T DO IT.
Don't want sodas in schools? Don't buy them.
Think donuts are too high in fat? Don't eat them.
Geez - we aren't a bunch of cattle that follows the leader (oops - wrong analogy for McDonald's - sorry, cows).

i agree you can choose to eat elsewhere if you'd like! We eat there on occasion, everything can be had in moderation. If I deprived my daughtr of all unhealthy unorganic food shed go crazy on it when she could, instead she chooses to eat fruits and veggies mostly, loves the apples from mcdonalds and apple juice instead of fries and a soft drink but yes she gets the horrible burger! =) but I assume its not worse than the burgers sold in the kids cafeterias at lunch.and then do you know what she plays and runs and gets exercise in their playland for hours with friends, learning to make friends, buliding on friendships when she runs into kids for her K class! iTS AWESOME I LOVE MCDONALDS..LOL not every day but as a treat wooohoo

I agree! So happy McDonald's is doing this! The whole police state type governmental babysitting San Francisco is doing makes me want to puke! I'm not even a fan of the place, but what a stupid law for stupid people who are too dumb and weak to tell their kids "No" if they don't want them eating there. And YES, if your kid is fat, it's YOUR fault - not a fast food place's.

I'm with JoW. They need to allow us to buy the toy with the Value meals too. My 13 yr old still enjoys some of those dumb kids' toys. They do stupid fun stuff with them in the car and laugh at how ridiculous and cheap they are, and sometimes they are actually fun (like when they repeat some digital funny sounding phrase---yeah it's annoying, but definitely worth .10 (or .20 when 2 kids) for the kids to get a load of laughs on the way home from a tough martial arts workout).
Sometimes my son will opt for the "big kid's meal" for some new cool toy, when he really is hungry enough to eat a larger sandwich not offered on the "kid's menu".
I'd be happy if they let you stick an adult sandwich in the meal and keep the same kid sized fries and drink!! They keep upsizing the "side" items and they are totally full of junk and not necessary. A bigger sandwich, yeah.. I can do that with a clear conscience. ;)
(My son prefers the quarter pounder with cheese--why can't I get THAT on the kid menu with the smaller fry and drink).

To all the parents who are saying the adults are the paying customers:

Look around you... how many abandoned toys/gadgets/sporting equipment/clothes etc are you surrounded with (and I know you are "surrounded" because a lot of you talk about "clutter") that your child begged you for and you bought it for them? Hmm?

Actually, go look at your Christmas present stash and see how many presents you have that you bought for your kid, because your kid begged for it? and begged ...and begged ... and begged

Weird, right? Because, I thought you were the adult who wasn't effected by marketing to children..I guess it really does work :/

I would definitely pay .10 for the toy. In fact, my granddaughter is very excited because she doesn't really like hamburgers. She usually doesn't get a toy because she doesn't get a happy meal. Now she is of the opinion that they will probably sell her the toy without having to get a happy meal. And I loved the response as well. It's ridiculous the things government tries to control. Next thing you know, San Francisco will be criminally charging the parents of obese children for child endangerment! By the way, my granddaughter cannot take a bag of chips in her lunch anymore! School won't allow her to have them! They are waaaaaayyyyyy overstepping their boundaries as far as I'm concerned!

I love it!!! I was born and raised in San Francisco and those supervisors are always coming up with BAD decisions and dictating how businesses should run THEIR business... I think it's up to parents to monitor how their kids eat NOT politicians so yes, good for you McDonald's....

The supervisors need to use their time more wisely.. They even had one idiot supervisor place a ban on Chilean Sea Bass............. oh but wait, he did get more palm trees planted in the Mission District.... oh brother...

Burger King and Wendy's won't be far behind in charging for their toys where they are banned.
We do not eat fast food a lot.
There was a time we did it once every few weeks - now it's more like once every 3 months.
Some of the toys were obnoxious - but some were cute.
Some people actually collect the toys.
There will be plenty of people who buy the toys.
I don't think you can regulate obesity away.

Personally, I would use this as money teaching tool for my kids. We have a coin policy in our house "if you find it on the floor you may keep it and put it in your piggy bank"...I would say to them, if you want the toy, then you need to raid your bank for a dime. If they don't want to part with the dime then they don't have to.

ETA: I agree, this is not about the nutritional value of their food. We all know it's not good for you, we all know that if we choose to eat there what our choice can do to us. But yes, once in a while they kids love to go, they think it's a treat. But my kids are in the 10% or so that choose the apples!

Yea I'd pay $0.10 for the toy. It has no bearing on if I CHOOSE to take my kids there to eat. W have McDonald's on occasion, maybe once a month or less... Nobody is shoving it down peoples throats.

And for those who say its cheaper to eat there, and its "poor people" food, you should calculate the real costs of meals. I make $100/week in groceries last for a fam of 4, 3meals and some snacks a day. That comes to less than $3/day per person. Waaaaay cheaper than dollar menu for all of us! Just sayin...

no! those damn toys! lol I hate them. When my kids were younger there seemed to always be McDonald toys in my house. My niece worked there so she was always bringing over little toys for the kids and then I would end up with a TON of them. That was pretty smart of McD's though.
And the CEO is absolutely right. No one has to eat there. In fact, when I do eat there with my kids they get a small cheeseburger, apples and white milk. That was they are eating semi healthy!
L.

I am THRILLED. Not only by McDonald's response, but also that I now have an option on those freaking toys that just clutter my house and drive me batty. :)