Parenting problems? Sue a burger joint!

The Center for Science in the Public Interest - whom I usually quite like - apparently intends on suing McDonalds unless they stop putting toys in Happy Meals. From The Huffington Post:

It used to be that parents warned kids to run away from strangers offering candy, but companies have made an end run by laundering their perfidy through electronic media. Now kids absorb countless commercials touting premiums based on their favorite characters -- Shrek, Batman, Barbie, Beanie Babies, etc. -- and, surprise, surprise, ask their parents to take them to McDonald's. Consumer-marketing guru Adam Hanft said, "Happy Meals proved that you could actually 'brand' a meal and make children harass their parents for it."

Seriously? I'm all for blaming as many of America's woes on McDonald's as possible, and I've personally given away at least a dozen copies of Fast Food Nation to friends in need, but talk about passing the buck! You want to sue someone, CSPI? Sue the lazy parents who plunk their kids in front of the TV all day and then get mad because the idiot box turns them into idiots. You don't want your kids begging for Land of the Lost finger puppets? Turn off the tube and play with them.

And please don't give me the "parenting is hard so I need the free babysitting service" song and dance. I have 50% custody of my 6-year-old, I work my ass off every day, and she still has no idea what a Happy Meal is. This is probably, in part, because I don't have cable television. Yes, there are occasions when I'm completely overwhelmed and I need to drop her in front of the tube, but it's nothing a commercial-free Little Mermaid DVD can't fix. Otherwise, if I need to do something and no one else is there to entertain her, she's more than happy to keep herself occupied by reading, or playing, or listening to the stereo and dancing. Does this style of parenting make my job harder? You bet it does, but it's my job. It's what I signed up for, so I deal with it.

And even when she does figure out about Happy Meals, I'll sit down and explain to her roughly the same thing I explained to her when she asked about Coca-Cola - that it's vile and rots a body from the inside out. That said, I'm not a complete ogre, so I let her have the occasional 7-up as a treat. With that in mind, while I don't and won't eat at McDonald's, I'm guessing her mother takes her there on occasion, but that doesn't bother me (that much) because it's on occasion, which is how that type of food was intended to be eaten. If your child isn't happy with a Happy Meal every couple of months, it's not McDonald's job to teach them they can't have everything they want exactly when they want it. It's your job.

We are our own worst enemy when it comes to the obesity issue. The notion that McDonalds needs to dump the Happy Meals toys as to remove a possible temptation for the masses is akin to saying women shouldn't be allowed to wear bikinis on the beach because it tempts men. Sure, there are times when the public needs a little help on the road to wellness, such as when it comes to trans fats or carcinogens, but if the CSPI actually follows through with this lawsuit, it's just a silly publicity stunt and a frivolous waste of tax money.

For the record, I know this is slightly off topic for The Real Fitness Nerd and I apologize. Maybe if I hadn't watched so much TV as a child, I'd be able to keep better focus. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go clean my collection of Return of the Jedi Burger King glasses.