McDonald's Threatened With Law Suit For Using Toys To Promote Happy Meals, US

A US consumer group has threatened legal action against the fast food company McDonald's if it does not stop using toys to promote its "junk food" Happy Meals: the group says using unfair and deceptive marketing to "lure small children" is illegal under consumer protection laws in various states of the US.

The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) announced on Tuesday that it had served McDonald's with a 30-day notice of its intention to sue. Giving such notice is a legal requirement under several states in which the group might bring the lawsuit, they said in a statement. The lawsuit will go ahead if the company does not agree within 30 days to stop its toy-related promotions.

Stephen Gardner, litigation director for CSPI, told the press that:
"McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children." He said the way the fast food company uses toys exploits the fact children are developmentally immature and undermines the authority of parents. "All this to induce children to prefer foods that may harm their health. It's a creepy and predatory practice that warrants an injunction," he added.

In CSPI's notice letter addressed to Jim Skinner, vice chairman, CEO, and president of McDonald's, and to Jan Fields, the corporation's USA president, Gardner wrote that: "McDonald's marketing has the effect of conscripting America's children into an unpaid drone army of word-of-mouth marketers, causing them to pester their parents to bring them to McDonald's."

The letter goes on to state that McDonald's use of toys to promote its food products is violating state consumer protection laws in Massachusetts, Texas, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, and California, and that the company has 30 days to agree to stop the practice before a suit is filed.