Posts Tagged ‘McDonald’s’
Posted on Thursday, February 28th, 2013 by Michele Simon
Sign at Mom’s Organic Market
As the frequent bearer of bad news about the food industry, I am thrilled to share a positive story. Last month, MOM’s Organic Market, a small retail chain based in the Baltimore area, announced it would stop carrying products featuring children’s cartoon characters:
Products ranging from Dora the Explorer frozen soybeans to Elmo juice boxes will be discontinued and replaced with organic alternatives in cartoon-free packaging.
Company CEO Scott Nash blogged last August about how his young daughter begged for a cereal she never tasted because of “Clifford the Big Red Dog” on the box, putting the store’s policy into motion. The company sent me this list of discontinued items, which includes numerous Earth’s Best products, along with a few other natural food companies.
Continue reading →
Posted in Child Nutrition, Industry Tactics, Marketing to Kids | Tagged: McDonald's, targeted marketing | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Wednesday, February 27th, 2013 by Michele Simon
2/28 Postscript: In happy news, Tara Marino reports that after an exchange with Lauren Fox (social media manager for AND), she will be reinstated. Fox claimed that Marino’s comments were not the reason for her removal but rather AND was deleting all non-members of the Academy. Marino provided her member number, which cleared things up. However, still no word back from the California affiliate.
I received the following email from registered dietitian Tara Marino who says she was recently “deleted” from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics LinkedIn group after expressing support for my report on the organization’s questionable corporate sponsors. (See previous post on a similar silencing attempt.)
Continue reading →
Posted in Alcohol Policy, Big Food, Industry Tactics, Marketing to Kids, Public Health | Tagged: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, co-opting science, deceptive health claims, McDonald's, public relations, targeted marketing | View/Add Comments (5) |
Posted on Saturday, February 9th, 2013 by Michele Simon
A colleague sent me the following email message that went out to members of the Missouri Dietetics Association (MDA). I think it pretty much speaks for itself. See note at the end, which includes: “Do not reply to this message, as this is not a discussion forum.” Obviously not. Continue reading →
Posted in Big Food, Food Policy, Marketing to Kids, Public Health | Tagged: Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Kellogg, McDonald's, public relations, targeted marketing, trade groups | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Friday, December 7th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last week, the National League of Cities, which represents over 19,000 cities, villages and towns, hosted its annual meeting in Boston, with one of its three aims to “strengthen neighborhoods and families.” What better way to accomplish that goal than to challenge fast food’s influence in their communities? While a couple of conference sessions featured First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! program, missing from the agenda was the role fast food plays in communities. That’s why Corporate Accountability International released a report and action guide earlier this year called “Slowing down fast food: A policy guide for healthier kids and families” – to fill this void. Read rest at Corporate Accountability International…
Posted in Big Food, Child Nutrition, Marketing to Kids, Public Health | Tagged: Corporate Accountability International, fast food, Let's Move, McDonald's, zoning restrictions | View/Add Comments (1) |
Posted on Tuesday, September 11th, 2012 by Michele Simon
This week, the New York City Board of Health is expected to approve Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to limit the size of sugary soft drinks. Motivated by rising diet-related chronic diseases (along with healthcare costs), the mayor’s attempt to rein in out of control portion sizes caused quite a media firestorm. Predictably, the soda lobby has come out swinging, complete with an industry front group called, “New Yorkers for Beverage Choices.”
A better name would be, “Soda Pushers for Continued Profits.”
Continue reading →
Posted in Big Food, Public Health | Tagged: Coca-Cola, McDonald's, New Yorkers for Beverage Choices | View/Add Comments (0) |
Posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2012 by Michele Simon
Last week McDonald’s Canada posted a video on YouTube entitled, “Behind the scenes at a McDonald’s photo shoot,” which purports to answer a question from a customer on why McDonald’s food looks different in ads than it does in reality. So to answer this question, Hope Bagazzi, director of marketing for McDonald’s Canada takes us on a tour of how the food stylists with the company’s advertising firm prepare a cheeseburger and how that differs from what it really looks like. The idea, so it appears, is to be transparent and honest about how McDonald’s portrays its food in advertisements.
The video has gone viral, inching toward six million views. I even tweeted it myself. But one of my followers who lives in Vancouver, Anne Rosenberg was not fooled. She sent me the following email:
Continue reading →
Posted in Big Food | Tagged: marketing practices, McDonald's | View/Add Comments (4) |
Posted on Tuesday, March 27th, 2012 by Michele Simon
by Michele Simon and Kelle Louaillier
To call McDonald’s latest advertising campaign aimed at children cynical doesn’t give enough credit to the fast food giant and its ad agency, Leo Burnett. The company says the new series of ads starting this month is part of McDonald’s “nutrition commitment to promote nutrition and/or active lifestyle messages in 100 percent of its national communications to kids.”
Continue reading →
Posted in Child Nutrition, Marketing to Kids | Tagged: McDonald's | View/Add Comments (9) |
Posted on Wednesday, October 12th, 2011 by Michele Simon
This statement was released today by Corporate Accountability International in response to the hearing held this morning in Congress on food marketing to children. See my previous article for more context.
Why is the Federal Government Giving its Stamp of Approval to Ronald McDonald?
By Sara Deon, Value [the] Meal campaign director, Corporate Accountability International
Bowing to industry pressure, the Federal Trade Commission announced today that its final proposed voluntary guidelines to protect children from predatory marketing would not require food corporations to remove “brand equity characters from food products that don’t meet nutrition guidelines.”
Continue reading →
Posted in Big Food | Tagged: Corporate Accountability International, McDonald's | View/Add Comments (4) |
