For all the significant achievements companies are making as corporate citizens,

the issue of their real impact on society - and what as a result society may ac
tually need back from them - raises the question of whether we are adequately de
fining what is expected by being socially responsible.
Happy Meal_Flickr_byfranzconde_Feature
A McDonald's Happy Meal
The issue of marketing to children really brings that into focus; with food mark
eting a timely lens, the issue of obesity a hot health care crisis, and McDonald s
handling of responsibility, as one of the world s largest fast food chains, a cas
e in point.
As background, McDonald s Happy Meals for children with toys has come under attack
. San Francisco is one of the cities that has voted to ban selling toys with fas
t food for children that exceed certain levels of salt, fat, calories and sugar.
McDonald s was accused of deceptive marketing practices to children over the lur
e of toys as an inducement to buy Happy Meals. Healthy alternatives are availabl
e, apple slices in place of fries and milk instead of soda if kids are willing t
o eat them. But, there is still the issue of high sodium content in burgers.
At McDonald s May 17, 2011 shareholder meeting, activists focused attention on McD
onald s marketing to children. In February 2011, in anticipation of McDonald s share
holder meeting, Corporate Accountability International launched a campaign to fi
re Ronald McDonald, the clown mascot for the last nearly 50 years, and encourage
headquarters to stop marketing to children by delivering petitions to individua
l restaurants. They also asked the chain to address directly the relationship of
fast food to obesity. Beginning the campaign in a Portland, Oregon suburb, by M
ay they had gathered 20,000 parents and community residents signatures on petition
s which they delivered to the shareholder meeting.
In Oregon, McDonald s threw down the gauntlet, and affirmed Ronald s job security, s
aying he is the heart and soul of Ronald McDonald House Charities, which lends a
helping hand to families in their time of need. The response demonstrated how McD
onald s infuses the emotional and the marketing: Ronald, the symbol to families de
aling with sick and dying children, is also the brand, signifying the food and f
un atmosphere to eat it in.
A letter signed by 600 health professionals and organizations, critical of the l
ink between fast food and obesity, was read at the shareholder meeting. It had r
un as full page ads in newspapers across the country. In addition, shareholder P
roposal 11, by the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia, requested McDonald s un
dertake a report on its policy responses to public concerns about the linkage of
fast food to childhood obesity, diet related diseases and other impacts on child
ren s health. The proposal was soundly defeated.
In his remarks at the meeting, CEO Jim Skinner asserted the company s right to adv
ertise freely, to offer its menu and lifestyle selections, and leave to parent s t
he right to chose what their children eat, saying it is up to personal responsib
ility. McDonald s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) information indicates the
company serves a balanced array of quality food products and provides the informa
tion to make individual choices.
Marketing to children, whether the subject is food, toys, clothes or anything el
se raises enormous concerns for Susan Linn, director and co-founder of a nationa
l coalition of health care professionals, educators, parents and others called t
he Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
There is no ethical, moral, social, or spiritual justification for targeting chil
dren in advertising and marketing, said Linn recently at a Conscious Capitalism
Conference. Linn, who also teaches psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, cited o

besity and a number of other issues impacting children and society that stem fro
m targeting kids, including youth violence, sexualization, underage drinking and
smoking, excessive materialism and the erosion of creativity.
Kids are inundated with advertising in a way never before, she said in an intervi
ew. I don t believe in any advertising to children.
The food industry has been effective in limiting the Federal Trade Commission s ab
ility to regulate marketing to children, and unless Congress changes the rules,
companies self-regulate. I asked Linn what protection the Children s Food and Beve
rage Initiative provides. Linn indicated it didn t provide any because it has no a
ctual authority and the standards are voluntary.
The Coalition advocates that children be able to develop a healthy relationship
to food, but McDonald s, Linn says, entices kids not because of the food but becau
se of the toys and the message of happiness that is part of their advertising.
Marketing to children is inherently deceptive because kids take things literally
and media characters play a big role in their lives, Linn says. They don t unders
tand persuasive intent until they are eight years old; and the brain s capacity fo
r judgment isn t developed until their 20s which makes them very vulnerable as mar
keting targets.
Of course parents are accountable for educating their children about responsible
choices and healthy foods. And, they have the choice not to take their kids to
McDonald s. Except...if you serve more than 64 million people in 117 countries eac
h day and many of your restaurants are open 24/7, the chain has created a compel
ling draw.
Add to that, a recent report by Yale University s Rudd Center for Food Policy and
Obesity that more fast food marketing dollars for toys are being spent (to get k
ids in the door) while marketing efforts to promote healthy meals haven t really i
ncreased.
I asked Cheryl Kiser, the former managing director of Boston College s Center for
Corporate Citizenship for her take on marketing to kids. CSR has had an enormous
influence helping companies reduce their global footprint by addressing human ri
ghts and other issues, said Kiser, now the managing director of Babson College s Le
wis Institute. But companies are socializing kids and the imprint on those kids i
s not necessarily creating common good outcomes.
Having a young over-sexualized population of kids who have no awareness of the im
plications or consequences of their choices is unhealthy," she adds. Foods appeal
ing to kids because they are tasty, high fat and zero nutrition is also unhealth
y. When we start to imprint early in behaviors and consumer choices things that
don t lead to personal and common good, and that need to be corrected in teen yea
rs by good CSR programs, is CSR doing its job?"