Why the Happy Meal is a Crime—and Not Just a Culinary One - Michele Simon

in inglese, ma ne vale la pena.

...Now, what about marketing to children? Ample science, along with statements by various professional organizations tells us that marketing to young children is both deceptive and unfair. Why? Because young children simply do not have the cognitive capacity to understand that they are being marketed to; they cannot comprehend "persuasive intent," the linchpin of advertising. Here's how the nation's trade group for kids' doctors puts it: "The American Academy of Pediatrics considers advertising directly to young children to be inherently deceptive, and exploits children under the age of 8 years."

So, if advertising to young children is inherently deceptive, and deceptive advertising is illegal under federal law and in most states, how is it even happening? And doesn't this mean that not just food, but all marketing to young children is currently illegal? I get this question a lot. The answer is yes...

...But if you still think that protecting kids is all up to parents because they are actually purchasing the Happy Meals, I asked Steve Gardner, litigation director at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and architect of the lawsuit, to respond to this argument.

His answer was simple and elegant: "Just because it's possible for a parent to intervene doesn't change the fact that what McDonald's is doing is illegal." In other words, there are often many ways that parents can act to protect their children but that doesn't make it OK for others to break the law.

And that is exactly what McDonald's is doing, until someone stops them.

da qui