"This month McDonald's is giving away toy Hummers — 42 million of them,
in eight models and colors — with every Happy Meal or Mighty Kids Meal.
That's right: The fast-food chain that helped make our kids the fattest
on Earth is now selling future car buyers on the fun of driving a
supersized, smog-spewing, gas-guzzling SUV originally built for the
military. Use the Ronald McHummer Sign-O-Matic™ to tell us what you
think of this misguided marriage of two icons of American excess.
Five Reasons McDonald's Should Dump the Hummer:
1. Hummers emit high levels of smog-forming chemicals that cause or worsen asthma, which hits hardest among children.
2. Hummers are the worst example of the lack of commitment to cleaner and more efficient vehicles by General Motors and other American automakers.
3. Hummers spew the pollution that causes global warming, contributing to killer heat waves and hurricanes.
4. Hummers are gas guzzlers, helping keep America dependent on oil from the Middle East and threatened by the region's extremist politics.
5. At current gas prices, filling up a Hummer H2 costs almost $100 — money parents could spend on healthier food for their kids."
(via Nag on the Lake)
Hate them. Hate the commercial with the wishy washy mom who thinks getting a Hummer will help her grow a backbone.
If it's a choice between Hummers and toys promoting lousy movies, I'll take the movie toys in Happy Meals any day of the week.
BTW, Erin, who blogs as "The Queen of Spain" had a rant on her blog about this. Turns out she's an LA TV journalist turned SAHM, and now her rant on this is on the "Huffington Report". Maybe someone will start a boycott...
Posted by: Library Lady | August 19, 2006 at 02:33 PM
McDonalds may be seriously flawed, but so are a lot of other companies. It seems a shame to me that when companies or people (e.g. Martha Stewart) become successful they turn into targets. Don't boycott a good American company! Just inundate their corporate offices with your complaints. They're not fools. They wouldn't have achieved such success if they didn't know when to listen.
I haven't made a study of McDonalds as a company and I'm not a shareholder, however I do believe that they're probably helping via the tax system to support a great many services. They provide needed entry-level employment and they have recently been addressing health concerns with the addition of healthier choices in their restaurants.
Posted by: Susan Barr | August 19, 2006 at 02:57 PM
6. Hummers are the ugliest car on the road.
Posted by: Margaret | August 19, 2006 at 04:39 PM
Susan, I hear what you're saying, but I think it's idealistic.
McD's corporate offices don't care about anything except the bottom line (which, granted, is in part a function of public opinion). If the Hummer Happy Meals turned out to be a total bust, they'd pay attention. If they sold like hotcakes but a bunch of complaint letters came in, they'd ignore the complaint letters.
I don't think they're a bad company, but I do think this is a really bad promotion. And, for the record, I don't think they care too much about the healthfulness of their food -- they wouldn't have done a thing until Morgan Spurlock brought it to the public's attention in "Supersize Me."
Pretty pessimistic opinion, I guess.
Posted by: Karen | August 20, 2006 at 08:37 AM
"Don't boycott a good American company! Just inundate their corporate offices with your complaints. They're not fools. They wouldn't have achieved such success if they didn't know when to listen."
I agree with Karen. They do know when to listen: when their bottom line hurts. Complaint letters don't disrupt the cash flow, boycotts do - if they're successful. (And so do lawsuits, though that doesn't seem appropriate here; and so does bad press insofar as it results in lower sales.)
Posted by: scott | August 21, 2006 at 09:24 AM
That's precisely what we need - Mickey D's handing out Hummers. Great.
Posted by: Chris | August 21, 2006 at 12:57 PM
I agree with the whole pessimistic attitude when discussing McDonalds. They listen to people, but only because sales are threatened when someone stands up against something that McDonalds is doing wrong. Do you think they would have adopted a "Get Active" program if their reputation wasn't threatened? Everything they do has an alterior motive. They advertise the fact that they give money to charities. If they were so concerned about people as individuals, my friend wouldn't have been paid a measley $24,000 NET Canadian a year to be a restaurant manager. Why does it matter if kids get a toy Hummer in their HappyMeal? Happymeal toys are just advertisments for other companies. Why is there aneed to target the Hummber, we should target all of the silly little toy advertisements (that kids don't reallize are advertisements). What about the Barbies and Bratz toys that are brainwashing girls into wanting to become some sort of sex object?
Posted by: Stefanie | November 21, 2006 at 08:10 PM
Yes its true Karen, Traditionally its interesting.
Traditionally, the limousine has been an extension of a large sedan. A longer frame and wheelbase allow the rear passenger compartment to contain the usual forward facing passenger seat but with a substantial amount of footroom — more than is actually needed. Usually then two "jump seats" are mounted, facing rearward behind the driver
Posted by: Limousine | May 15, 2007 at 10:16 AM