The New York Times printed an article titled "Would You Like a Gas Guzzler With That?" about McDonald's featuring toy Hummers in their Happy Meals and environmental groups going crazy. Heck, there's even a Hummer/McDonald's online game for kids to play at www.happymeal.com. In the wake of rising gas prices that just seem to get higher and higher, environmental groups are becoming more and more outspoken. While I agree with the environmental groups that Hummers are in fact gas guzzlers, these toy Hummers that McDonald's has are just that, TOYS! I had a toy race car when I was a kid and a semi-truck and a tractor, some probably from a McDonald's Happy Meal, but I didn't become a race car driver, a trucker or a construction worker. They were just toys I played with.
Targeting McDonald's toy Hummers is just a waste of time and resources for these environmental groups. It's people like this who dilute messages and alienate people from the core message that we need to be kinder to our environment. Targeting marketing efforts to a piece of plastic that fits in a child's hand does not further the message of encouraging auto-makers to build hybrid vehicles and research vehicles that run on alternative fuels or for consumers to demand them and buy them.
The funny thing is that the environmental groups are gaining ground not because people suddenly care more about the environment, but because people are concerned about their wallets. So let the kids have their toy Hummers and let them be kids and have fun fantasies in their heads before they grow up have to worry too much about serious matters like the environment and gas prices.
Posted by Serge Gurin on August 11, 2006 6:08 PM
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