Representatives from the McDonald’s Corporation announced last Thursday their efforts to campaign for healthier substitutes in their top twenty market stores, which make up 85% of their profits. Under this campaign, customers will be able to choose a side salad, fruits or vegetables as a substitute for fries in a value meal.
The company has also proposed that their advertisements will now promote healthier options as well, encouraging young customers to get water, milk or juice rather than a soda in their commercials. The packaging of their happy meals will also be changing to reflect these new health-conscious ideas on all bags and boxes. These changes will soon be taking effect in 30%-50% of McDonald’s markets and in all markets by the year 2020.
In addition to hoping to appease their haters, McDonald’s has recently acquired organically-grown-conscious company, Chipotle with no plans of changing their current food operations.
Although McDonald’s has taken strides to be more health-conscious and provide their customers with better options, it can be said that these strides are more like steps—baby steps. McDonald’s already offers side salads and fruit on their menu—their efforts are simply to make them easier to order. People don’t order fruit and salads from McDonald’s because no one goes to McDonald’s for the purpose of ordering fruit and salads. Although I appreciate their efforts, I will be surprised if it appeases their critics.
There is also the nearly laughable fact that this campaign won’t be rolled out into all of their markets until 2020. Seven years? Really? You shouldn’t have.