Brazil has a simple message for McDonald's: Stop luring our kids to the golden arches with shiny toys, just to hit them with fatty foods once they arrive.
The fast food company has been fined $1.6 million (3.2 million reais) for allegedly using advertisements to target children in Brazil, Reuters reports. Procon, the Brazil-based consumer agency that leveled the fine, claims McDonald's consistently aimed its marketing at children not yet mature enough to make rational decisions.
In an email to The Huffington Post, Becca Hary, a McDonald's manager of global media relations, said the fast food chain plans to appeal the ruling.
Similar cases have proven less successful in the United States. Just last year, a San Francisco judge struck down a lawsuit from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group, claiming McDonald's was unfairly using toys to lure children into the restaurant.
Despite that case’s perceived failure, Dr. Margo Wootan, the group's director of nutrition policy, told The Huffington Post that it is “no coincidence” McDonald’s made changes to the Happy Meal, including decreasing the size of the fries, around the time the case was dismissed.
Today, the average U.S. Happy Meal has around 450 calories and 16 grams of fat, less than the 590 calories and 20 grams it had previously, according to Wootan. And as of 2011, Happy Meals in Latin America have less than 600 calories and are served with fresh fruit, according to a McDonald's press release.
“The problem is that food marketing helps to shape what kids think is desirable to eat,” Wootan said. “It’s only in the U.S. that kids think of food as a burger and fries.”
The Happy Meal is one of McDonald’s most popular items and is rumored to account for as much as 10 percent of sales, NPR reports. But critics allege McDonald’s meals have contributed to a global youth obesity epidemic, with the number of overweight or obese preschool children worldwide ballooning to 43 million in 2010.
McDonald’s has taken steps to provide healthier options on its menus, like salads and smoothies, which are perceived to be healthier than its famed burgers and fries.
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