Last week, I received an email from a local PR firm asking if I’d be interested in hostessing an event at McDonald’s to launch the “new and improved” HEALTHIER Happy Meal.
I said sure. Because, why not? Plus, I like the PR people from that firm, well, the ones I’ve had contact with. I don’t know them ALL so…
Last night was the big event. The turn out was more than OK. In this case, it wasn’t the quantity of attendees, it was the quality! I finally got to meet one of my original blog friends who lives near me Cardiogirl and I got to hang out with another bloggy friend, Middle State Mom. Plus, a few other Facebook friends showed. It was an all-around good time. There were a million happily screaming kids pouncing on each other in the play structure. Luckily, no injuries or vomiting occurred.
The event took place at a McDonalds that I had never been to. And it was, by far, the nicest one I’ve ever seen. The outside looked like your typical Micky-D’s but inside…GORGEOUS. Seriously. It’s in Warren, Michigan at 10 Mile and I forgot which crossroad. Listen, I was lucky to get there without getting lost.
Let’s talk about the “new and improved” Happy Meal, shall we?
It’s supposed to be more nutritiously balanced. Which, makes sense. In this day and age, consumers are more educated as to what they are putting into theirs and their children’s bodies. With the U.S becoming the fastest rising stats in obesity, McDonalds decided to help out by making their Happy Meals better for our children. Because, let’s face it, a TON of kids eat a TON of McDonalds.
The big difference in the new Happy Meal is the downsized fries and the bag of apple slices and a choice of white or chocolate milk…that are now included within the meal.
If you squint, you can see the french fries and apple slices, all 6 of them.
As you can see, it still comes in the standard Happy Meal box along with those fun toys.
OK…I got my son his standard McDonalds meal. Cheeseburger Happy Meal.
He ate it.
He happened to be ravenous. So was my nephew.
And…when they were finished, they were still hungry.
So I got them another new Happy Meal to share.
I asked this VERY important question to those in charge…
Yes, it’s all fine and good that McDonalds is trying to keep up with the health trends. But, I’m not going to McDonalds to be healthy anyways, right?
I wanted to know if, with the introduction to this “new and improved” Happy Meal, they did away with the old and un-healthy one. Because, to be honest, that’s the one I’d get for my son. And, if he wanted apples, I’ll pay a little extra for the apples.
The answer is yes. You can still get the nutritiously unbalanced Happy Meal. Which, in my opinion, doesn’t make sense. Why introduce a new one if you are just keeping on with the old one too?
Regardless, I’m glad they didn’t do away with the old when they brought in the new.
In my opinion, because that’s what the bottom line is on this whole wordy post is about…
If a fast food restaurant is trying to make their meals healthier, then perhaps fried food, no matter what quantity, isn’t the answer. There are chicken nuggets out there in the consumer marketplace that have no breading on them, called Naked Nuggets. That could be an option for a healthier meal? I’m not going to give away all my ideas for McDonalds on this blog post because I wouldn’t want them stolen. You know, just in case I decided to start a fast food restaurant or something.
Long story short…
I loved hostessing this event. It was fun.
I adored meeting some of the PR folks, they are WAY smart.
I really was impressed by this particular McDonalds.
BUT…
Way underwhelmed by the new Happy Meal. It’s more like a Happy Snack.
Just sayin’.
disclosure: i was not compensated by the pr firm or mcdonalds for this post or for my attendance at the event. oh wait, i received a gift card, which i will happily use to feed my children. i had a great time and loved doing the hostessing. and that…is my full transparent disclosure.
Ok so wait! The healthier kids meal is um “fewer fries” and now apples? I don’t eat at McDonald’s very often anyways BUT that doesn’t seem to be the answer. Fast food period is UNHEALTHY. I’m curious what the calories were on the “new” fast food option.
Gena Morris´s last blog post ..Meet our Elf on the Shelf, Sheldon
gena, according to the mcdonalds nutritional fact sheet thing…a 4pc chicken happy meal is around 450 calories w/about 20 grams of fat. from what i added up on their sheet.
Man that was a fun time! It was great meeting you and Middle State Mom and I didn’t notice the smaller sizes of anything in the Happy Meals because I kept refilling my mango peach smoothie. And I had the oatmeal which gets two huh-yuge thumbs up.
And my kids were super jacked because the food was free, there were other kids to play with and the play structure was the cool one with a faux rock climbing wall.
Thanks again for the invite and for hosting. You’re the hostess with the mostess!
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cardiogirl…
thanks for reminding me!! the oatmeal at mcdonalds is my absolute FAVE breakfast treat. ALSO…i’ve been addicted to the wild berry smoothie since it came out!! YUMMY. Not to mention, the yogurt parfaits are pretty fab too.
and it was awesome meeting you!!
For a fast food restaurant who, let’s face it, makes their money off the people who are making those obesity stats rise, I applaud them for actually offering some healthier choices. But I think people have to take it for what it is.. if you’re going to McDonald’s in the first place you’re not really going with the mindset that you are going to lose weight.. you’re going because you want a fat hamburger and greasy fries.
That’s my 2 cents anyway..
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I hope they lowered the prices on the healthier meals since they are downsized. And I really do like the apples in the meal. I’ve been getting apples in my kids’ happy meals for months now and my 11 month old baby loves them. However, I really do wish the bag of apples was bigger, came with more apples. And I also wish it didn’t come with caramel dipping sauce unless you requested it. That stuff is soooo sticky!
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That was my main complaint with the new Happy Meal: not enough apples. My daughter ate hers and then stole my apples out of my fruit salad plate. Give kids apples and they’ll eat them I say. Oh, and was she wiped out. Fell asleep in the car and barely made it to the bus today.
Middle State/MomZombie´s last blog post ..Stick a fork in it
Thanks for sharing the post. Glad that you enjoyed the new look.
If you want more apples (or fries) you can order a Happy Meal with double apples (no fries) or double fries (no apples). My oldest has started to get a yogurt on the side when he’s extra hungry.
Rick
I always order my kids the “mighty” meal or whatever it is called when we go which has six nuggets instead of four. They never eat all of the fries anyway so I don’t think they would mind the smaller fry size, but they would not eat the apples. They never have when I’ve gotten them.
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My daughter keeps trying the apples, because she LOVES apples. However, she hates the McD apples…even with the caramel dip. She said they taste chemically (that’s our word to describe any non-natural taste). It’s nice to have options, but not if they’re inedible.
We got McD’s apples on a road trip earlier this year. The kids ate a few and I tucked them in the side pocket of a bag for later. Somehow we got home from the trip with the forgotten apples still in the bag. TWO WEEKS later I found the opened bag of apples that looked just like they had the day we bought them. Yikes. I don’t want to feed my kiddos forever-fruit.
um…ew. i’m a little concerned about the preservatives used to keep the apples from turning brown. are they the same ones used in the fries…
honestly, if they want to make their food healthy, then keep the food fresh. let the apples rot! let the french fries be able to grow mold.
The fact that it comes with the caramel dipping sauce is laughable to me. I mean either make it a healthy meal or don’t. I”m sorry but I’m just not a fan of any fast food place.
jess…the meal doesn’t come with carmel dipping sauce. if it did, we didn’t get any in ours.