The Happy Meal will not be defeated: when San Francisco's so-called Happy Meal Ban takes effect on December 1, it won't actually mean the meals disappear from the city entirely. McDonald's has figured out a way around the ban that allows parents to buy the meals with or without a tempting toy: the burger meals will come without a toy, but parents can choose to add one for an extra ten cent donation to the Ronald McDonald House. Sneaky.
And that's not all: while parents used to be able to buy the toy without the meal in order to escape what ban proponent/city supervisor Eric Mar refers to as "pester power," the wording of the ban now requires the purchase of the meal with the toy. Oops. At least you can get them with apple slices now? Children, rejoice: the threat of the Crappy Meal has been defeated. Pester at will.
· Happy Meal Ban: McDonald's Outsmarts San Francisco [SF Weekly]
· All Happy Meal Coverage on Eater [-E-]
[Photo: franzconde / Flickr]