New Zealand Police End McDonald's School Marketing Program

by Bob Burton — October 21, 2006 - 5:12am
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New Zealand Police have terminated McDonald's sponsorship of a road safety program in schools and pre-schools because it was inconsistent with their policy banning corporate sponsorship. As part of the $NZ40,000 ($US26,700) a year deal, "Ronald McDonald" accompanied police on their school visits and children were awarded vouchers for use in the fast food company's outlets. McDonald's said they were "extremely disappointed" at the decision, but Acting Superintendent Sam Hoyle, the national manager of youth services, described their funding as "a drop in the bucket" of the road safety program. Obesity Action Coalition spokeswoman Celia Murphy welcomed the decision. "Every time the kids crossed the road at school the McDonald's brand was there on the vests of the patrol monitors. The whole deal was outrageous," she said. The New Zealand Police decision followed questions raised about the deal in Parliament by Greens health spokesperson Sue Kedgley.

Main Source: 
New Zealand Herald, October 19, 2006

Comments

Several points here: 1)

Submitted by jupiter on October 21, 2006 - 7:52pm.

Several points here:

1) It would be a welcome change if the kids of the world might realize that things like safety are a subject apart from hype. It does not cost hundreds of dollars to teach kids to be careful when they cross streets.

2) Also kids might as well catch on to the fact that in our world today, MARKETING seeks to parade around under different guises like safety, or whatever. If I was a kid, I would be very tempted to think that a staple diet of McDonalds' hamburgers were also perfectly safe, and why not, if Ronald himself endorses them, just as he endorses "safety."

Seems there were some other points that have already slipped my mind on this, but this world is FULL of hype about different subjects, and this hype has nothing much to do with the subject matter over which it looms/capitalizes.

I'd like to write more on this, but I've gotta go.