"Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack!" Since 2016, the prize in the box has been replaced by a QR code that will download a baseball-themed game.
"While everything changes, Everything remains the same."--Aristotle
2
Why not encourage others to bring in single use plastics, or old similar toys for repurposing? There is already an avenue in place for the action.
Years ago, early nineties, I think, my son accumulated a drawerful of little plastic toys from fast food meals. We agreed they were wasteful and unnecessary, and he never had another child's meal. 25+ years later they're still being churned out . As someone else has said here, just stop.
10
Wow what a waste you a bought a bunch of happy meals and took the toys from the mc Donald’s rerelease of their past toy and melted them and write a great article. I wish i was a subscriber.
2
The fast food industry set up the expectation that there would be a toy in their childrens' meals. What I know about people, even little people, is that after a bit of time, what IS becomes what is _expected_. If they just stopped putting single-use plastic junk in their meals, there would be a media-fueled hoopla and then it would pass and they could brag on their environmental consciousness. "Phasing out by 2023" is nuts. Just stop and do it for the children.
7
They are getting rid of these plastic toys for the children - so that these children have a planet to live on
6
Why isn't food , good healthy food enough?
8
Socks would be nice.
16
It's about time. On the few occasions I took my kids to McDonald's, I refused the toy. I imagine container loads of these stupid plastic things crossing the Pacific from China on massive ships belching diesel stench, where they end up littering the living room before finally being tossed in the garbage where they belong (actually, since China won't take our recycling anymore, they belong back at McDonald's headquarters).
The happy meals themselves are bad enough. Why can't the fast food places offer something that's actually nutritious, like a carrot stick or other vegetable?
10
The reason books are a good idea is because lots of children have no books at home, none at all, even though it's known that a home with books helps a child become a better reader. Books that come with a meal might be the only books a child owns.
The apps included with a meal would do no good for a child who has no access to a smart phone or to wifi.
25
Chick fil a ownership doesn’t a lot of things wrong but their kids meals are great. Sometimes you get books. Other times fun things like bug catching kit or outdoor activity scavenger hunt. Last year they had a whole series theme on being a jr chef. You got recipes and kid size utensils. Other fast food places could follow this model.
13
They could switch to giving little story books--in a form that kids could choose to save or that could easily be recycled. Encouraging reading would not be a bad thing.
21
In my experience, fast food toys are gimmicky, cheaply made, and are ignored by the child in less than a day. Youngsters will not be missing much.
21
Re British McDonalds offering a choice of fruit or a toy. "I'd rather have fruit than a toy" said no child ever.
25