Ronald McFired

Ronald McFired

So it seems that McDonalds is getting a lot of pressure to send away the clown.

More than 550 health professionals and organizations have signed a letter to McDonald's Corp. asking the maker of Happy Meals to stop marketing junk food to kids and retire Ronald McDonald.

The letter, slated to run in the form of full-page ads in six metropolitan newspapers around the country on Wednesday, acknowledges that "the contributors to today's (health) epidemic are manifold and a broad societal response is required. But marketing can no longer be ignored as a significant part of this massive problem."

"We are committed to responsible advertising and take our communications to children very seriously," McDonald's said in a statement. "We understand the importance of children's health and nutrition, and are committed to being part of the dialogue and solution. We serve high quality food, and our Happy Meals offer choice and variety in portions just for kids. Parents tell us they appreciate our Happy Meal choices."

The campaign is organized by the nonprofit watchdog group Corporate Accountability International, which has also targeted tobacco companies and beverage makers like Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. for the environmental impact of plastic bottles.

Hey, how about this - TELL YOUR KIDS NO! I don't know how this all happened, but when I was a kid my parents would treat McDonalds as some sort of mystical prize for being good. In this modern day and age most parents treat it as a $2.99 excuse to make dinner.

Who needs to go to the market and prepare foods based on nutritional value or take up time in the kitchen when you can get dinner in the five minutes it takes to place your order and wait for the factory line assembled burger to get cranked out to you.

It's called being an active parent and choosing for yourself what is healthy and unhealthy for your child to eat and not being a complete pussy in saying no to them when they clearly shouldn't be over eating that junk food.

I hate how parents have shifted the blame from themselves to the businesses on this one. Yes, McDonalds runs ads with a fucking clown enticing your kids to want to eat there, but guess what. You're the parent. You should be able to make the choice and lay the law with your kids in telling them that they aren't going to eat that shitty food because it's bad for them.

Grow a fucking pair already.