My jaw dropped this morning when I saw that McDonald’s corporate twitter account had insulted Casey Hinds, mom and author of the kids’ health blog KY Healthy Kids:
Go parent your kids? REALLY? Parenting our kids is EXACTLY what we’re doing.
The insult arose because Casey, like I am, is part of the #MomsNotLovinIt movement to stop fast food marketing to kids. When Ronald got his hipster makeover a couple of weeks ago, moms like us were not happy, because a clown with cargo pants marketing junk food to kids is still a clown marketing junk food to kids.
We know that the real makeover Ronald needs is retirement.
So moms have been challenging the #RonaldMcDonald hashtag with #MomsNotLovinIt — so much that the Today Show mentioned us. (After its #McDStories & #CheerstoSochi campaigns failed miserably, McDonald’s really should have seen this coming–maybe third time’s the charm).
I guess McDonald’s can’t take the heat–how else can you explain blatantly insulting a mom who is simply and bravely trying to protect her kids from this corporation’s attempts to undermine her?
This specific tweet was a mistake on the part of Lizzie, the McDonald’s twitter team leader. She intended to insult Casey from her personal account, and sent it from the corporate account. And she did apologize (not for the insult, but for using the wrong account). Then McDonalds acknowledged the mistake, but never apologized. Even thought THEY employ Lizzie…
Yes, Lizzie should apologize from the official McDonald’s Corporate account, but this is about way more than an apology.
McDonald’s Corporate Culture Undermines Moms
This tweet is a glimpse into the terrifyingly callous and manipulative way that McDonald’s views mothers. To McDonald’s, moms are “gatekeepers” – that’s what McDonald’s executives call us. We are the bodies they need to charm, trick, and shove out of the way to get to our kids.
For decades, McDonald’s has undermined parental authority by marketing to kids in the most insidious and aggressive ways imaginable. It’s WAY beyond turning off the TV. McDonald’s lures kids everywhere parents are not: in schools, in libraries, in hospitals, on facebook and twitter and snapchat, on fun websites, even with my son’s report card…. it doesn’t end.
How People are Speaking out About McDonald’s Predatory Marketing Practices
Moms around the world, moms like Casey and me and thousands of others, are fed up. We are NOT going to let McDonald’s continue to lure children into a lifetime of disease. That’s exactly why another brave spokesperson, 10-year-old Hannah Robertson, issued a call to action earlier this week calling on McDonald’s to stop co-opting kids’ role models. Please watch and share Hannah’s (adorable) new video, and join the movement.
Is Lizzie allowed to make a mistake? Yes. But I think the issue is more about the corporate culture of McDonalds and their consistent marketing to children with products that cause a lifetime of diet related diseases. I’m against McDonalds marketing fast food to my children. I’m not okay with being just a “gatekeeper” to them and finding a way to circumvent my wishes.
And I think that’s parenting my children.
Call me crazy…
Thank You Cheerios for Going GMO Free
I do not eat at McDonalds or think anyone else on earth should eat there either.
I do think that McDonals is genius at advertising though and that is why they are so successful. I do not eat there, but I ALLOW my daughter to, every other month. She is nine years old and I capitalized “allow!” I also live in Japan where McDonalds is a lot more aggressive at targeting children. There are fat Japanese kids everywhere now.
Healthy eating starts at home with whole foods, but it’s easier to eat out so the majority do now. There’s a shifting baseline taking place in the world where fat is considered curvy and skinny is considered sick.
Can alcoholics blame cheap booze? Can gambling addicts blame cheap slots? Can fat people blame fast food?
Moms are the superheroes of the world, but allow their children to become their kryptonite.
I do not eat at McDonalds or think anyone else on earth should eat there either.
I do think that McDonals is genius at advertising though and that is why they are so successful. I do not eat there, but I ALLOW my daughter to, every other month. She is nine years old and I capitalized “allow!” I also live in Japan where McDonalds is a lot more aggressive at targeting children. There are fat Japanese kids everywhere now.
Healthy eating starts at home with whole foods, but it’s easier to eat out so the majority do now. There’s a shifting baseline taking place in the world where fat is considered curvy and skinny is considered sick.
Can alcoholics blame cheap booze? Can gambling addicts blame cheap slots? Can fat people blame fast food?
Moms are the superheroes of the world, but allow their children to become their kryptonite.
Dear Leah and Casey,
What the world needs is more fierce mama’s like the two of you!!!!!!!!! Thank you for standing up for what is right, shining a light on what is really going on with fast “food” giants like McDonald’s, and for inspiring other parents to make healthy choices for their kids. Hannah and I are so excited that you shared the KidsNotLovinIt video 🙂 Good luck in Chicago!!!!!!!!!
They’re not going to apologize to anyone because they don’t need to.. America is expendable to them just like our children are. When all of America stops buying their food, they’ll be fine because other countries will continue to buy into their marketing tactics! China and India want to live like Americans, and McDonalds is part of that way of life…
Parenting is exactly what she is doing! Even if a parent does everything right, kids are still marketed to in school, via online games, it’s endless. Thanks Leah for shedding light on this and for Casey’s continued advocacy for a healthier, sane world.
Thank you Leah and Casey for standing up and doing the right thing! We need more moms like you willing to challenge the predatory tactics of McDonald’s and usher in this wave of corporate defiance–we won’t let them continue to fray our social fabric
One of the syringes in the picture should say GMO’s.
I may not be a mom, but as a dad this sickens me. I haven’t taken my son to mcdonalds in a couple years, not due to just the detrimental effects of the food on personal health. It’s also their shameless promotion of the food as healthy. Who cares if you serve apple slices and milk when it’s coupled with a grease patty topped with pseudo cheese between two fake bread pieces? The fact that not even bacteria will eat the food should deter any sane, educated person from consuming that filth.
We, here, in Tecoma have been fighting McDonalds for over three years. With their big money buying high priced lawyers (and at least a few legislators, too) they managed to sue their way into our town in spite of overwhelming opposition to them, including a unanimous vote by our local council to deny them a permit. It opened a month ago, right across the road from a primary school and a preschool You can read more about it here,: burgeroff.org.
The fight goes on. We will not let up until they close this awful stink hole they call a reataurant.
Nick Seidenman
Tecoma VIC
Austraila
Wonderful post and graphic. This situation has so much to deal with McDonald’s overall lack of accountability and responsibility.
“McDonald’s @McDonaldsCorp
Inadvertently sent from wrong acct. Mistake that was rectified w/in 1 minute. Responsibility & accountability taken.”
How is McDonald’s, or even the people they employ, being held accountable? Sending out a tweet that barely resembles a sympathetic concern doesn’t seem to be sufficient or genuine for that matter. This is just one of the many examples of how McDonald’s isn’t being held accountable for what they do our food system in America, especially when they prey on kids who perhaps don’t know better. Sure, parents do have the choice to guide their children to healthy lifestyles, but that role is undermined when these profit-driven corporations use cheap tricks to lure kids. The fact that these McDonald’s corporate officials aren’t being held responsible for these terrible consequences should be brought to light, and I support Leah and Casey’s decision to do so.
Also, the comments that suggest “parent should just not take their kids to McDonald’s and stop complaining,” are disturbing. Why is voicing your opinion about a crucial health concern complaining? It’s not. Complaints are rooted in self-interest, self-concern. I think what Leah is doing is bring light to this problem that is in the interest of so many people.
Thank you Leah for drawing attention to this shameful tweet and more importantly McDonald’s insidious marketing to children. The fact that someone from McDonald’s social media team would tell a mom to “go parent your kids” is particularly offensive to me considering that McDonald’s purposefully tries to reach children in places where parents are not. When moms are doing their best to teach their children good values but McDonalds attempts to undermine them at every turn, something is very wrong. Thank you for bringing this issue to light!
This just shows that their marketing department hired a really inept social media manager. He or she is probably fired.
Great post, Leah. I agree that this incident illustrates how McDonald’s sees parents as gatekeepers and you’re certainly right that it undermines parental authority by marketing to kids directly. Considerable research backs this up–for instance, the the American Academy of Pediatrics deemed that marketing to young kids is inherently deceptive because kids can’t understand persuasive intent. They don’t know that a toy in their Happy Meal or a fun online game is actually an advertisement designed to build brand loyalty. And kids are inundated with advertisements wherever they go…. even the most careful parents can’t ward off ads online, in schools, on billboards, etc. Research from public health institutions like the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity demonstrates that marketing directly influences what kids eat (but of course it does–why else would fast food corporations spend billions of dollars a year on it). I think your post draws attention to a key point: we need to level the playing field, so that parents truly do have the ability to make healthy choices for their kids without incessant interference from the fast food industry’s marketing tactics.
It sounds like “parenting her kids” is exactly what she was doing. I guess the irony was lost on McDouchles. I have made it very clear that my son is never to have McDs. I haven’t eaten there since I was 12. However, my son is now asking to go to the McDonald’s Park when we drive by. He wants to go to their play place and he’s seen their commercials. It drives me mad that this “food” can be so blatantly marketed to children. Luckily, people like Casey and I have chosen to parent our children and steer clear of the Golden Arches.
There are two things at play here:
1. A group of people upset by McDonald’s food and marketing, and
2. A social media slip after a string of harassment.
The two are separate, at least in this situation. While Casey was/is going after Lizzie for what I’m going to assume she feels is direct advocacy, it stopped being about McDonald’s marketing tactics and started being about harassing behavior on social media. Blocking someone yet consistently trolling their feed and talking about them is definitely going to elicit a reaction, quite possibly one that boils over on social media. And while it isn’t that hard to log in and out of an account, I’m pretty sure all of us who are community managers have ultimately made that slip at least once in our careers. We may not have tweeted something like this in frustration, but I know I’ve accidentally posted something meant for my feed or another client. It happens. It’s unfortunate, but it happens.
I don’t know all the details of what led up to this, but I can surmise from what I do know that it’s a bit of a stretch to draw a conclusion that because a community manager was sick of being trolled means that McDonald’s thinks Casey and other moms are doing a crap job at parenting their children. There is much to be said on all accounts here, but the main thing that frustrates me is seeing this be painted as some corporate evil going down,.
So was Casey Hinds being a jerk? I agree that Lizzie could have handled it better and I can understand where she’s coming from.
Whoever said that McDonalds is health food? It’s not. But it is comfort food and iconical of American culture.
I can see Lizzie’s point at the heart of the matter though. Why doesn’t Casey focus more on parents actually parenting their kids and teaching them the value of a healthy diet rather than blocking and then lambasting McDonalds? So are you, Leah Segedie, on the side that it’s ok for mom-bloggers to talk trash from the shadows?
Reminds me of a quote from Henry David Thoreau, “There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root.” The root of the problem is that parents are not spending enough time educating their children and simply buying fast-food because it is convenient. Shame on you Casey Hinds. Shame on you, Leah Segedie.
I’m going to disagree with other commenters and say that McDonalds should not apologize. They’re not sorry, and that’s okay. It’s good information for people to have.
I looked at Lizzie’s personal twitter account and she seems to have young kids. Every day she goes to work and if she’s successful at her job her children and their peers will consume some of the unhealthiest food on the planet. I’ve got to imagine that she’s at least a little envious of a mom blogger who is home with her kids all day and can talk about her passions.
Or maybe not. Maybe I’m wrong. But when I look at this tweet and her timeline I see a woman who was pushed to her limit defending the job she does and we all know that the best defense is a good offense. So she hit where she thought it would hurt. Casey is supposed to feel inferior for not having a career like Lizzie’s. I’m guessing Casey feels just fine right about now.
I am upset about the marketing done to children by fast food and junk food companies such as McDonald’s. I don’t believe that have any place in the schools, hospitals, libraries, etc.
As far as the tweet goes, it’s not that hard to switch accounts on twitter (I do it all the time) maybe Lizzie needs a lesson in social media. McDonald’s needs to apologize not just for using the wrong account but also what was said. Go parent my child? I will and I am and why don’t you focus on atop marketing to kids #momsnotlovinit
I’m consistently frustrated with fast food marketing to kids. I’m tired of people saying that it’s up to the parents to just not take their kids there. It’s a hard fight when schools, TV shows, etc., use food as rewards or incentives (as a teacher, I understand why schools use certain items as incentives — it’s often money for the school to get needed equipment, and that’s an entirely different problem).
All that said, McDonald’s is in the wrong here regardless of whether it was just one person in their corporation who made a boo-boo or not. They should issue a public apology not only to this blogger but to everyone who is regularly bombarded with their advertising tactics.
WOW, McDonalds really need to apologize.
Wow! I didn’t realize it was all about that! I initially thought the teeet was intended for someone else regarding something else. Yes, I believe there needs to be a corporate apology. Do you mind if I share your article on my blog?