A Hummer with your Happy Meal
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 08.10.06
The honeymoon with General Motors didn't last long, but hey, how often do we get to kick two of our favourite cans in one post? According to the New York Times, McDonalds is giving away toy Hummers in its Happy Meals. Environmentalists are not happy: Charlie Miller, a spokesman for Environmental Defense, says “Anything that sends a message to kids that these are the cool vehicles to buy is the wrong message.” The Times goes on: Anne Korin, co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, a policy research group based in Washington, said that large, inefficient vehicles were unpatriotic and detrimental to America’s national security. With toy Hummers, McDonald’s is “sending a message to children that utter waste of this precious resource that is causing us such national security problems is O.K.” Whoever thought this up was a few fries short. ::New York Times
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Hubby and I went on a "last hurrah" vacation this weekend and left the kids with his mother. She took them to McD's (because she likes it and we NEVER go), and the first thing we heard when we called to say goodnight that night was, "Allie got a Hummer in her Happy Meal tonight, and Mommy's going to be soooooooo mad!"
M-I-L offered to prompt the girls to flip it off for a picture a la fuh2.com.
I wouldn't be too concerned about this. By the time these kids are old enough to drive, gas will probably be way to expensive to fill a hummer's tank anyways.
"large, inefficient vehicles were unpatriotic and detrimental to America’s national security."I hate hearing that. it is so untrue. Security? Please. Take a look at American auto history, it's filled with inefficient vehicles. How can it all of a sudden be UnAmerican. Man talk about a plea to ones patriotism. How sad. Come up with a real argument.
"Please. Take a look at American auto history, it's filled with inefficient vehicles. How can it all of a sudden be UnAmerican."
I'm not sure I understand what you're saying.
Because it was a problem in the past, it can't be a problem now? So much of the US' foreign policy and the frictions it has with the rest of the world are centered around oil that it seems pretty obvious that using more oil is causing more problems (including economic -- look at how much of the deficit comes from fossil fuel importation, and I won't mention air/water/soil quality and climate change).
I'm not saying this is the best argument - even without it, inefficient vehicles would still be a bad idea - but from a geopolitic point of view it makes perfect sense.
Word, maybe GM is hoping that they'll bug their parents and keep mentioning the Hummer to them. An insidious form of advertising :)
Maybe McDonalds and GM figure that if you start eating there are a kid, by the time you're old enough to buy a car you'll be so obese that you won't fit in anything but a Hummer..?
I kind of think patriotism as any kind of argument is a little silly to begin with, but that's probably just me.
If you're going to not buy a car like the hummer, don't buy it because you thought long and hard about things like cost, use, environmental impact and why you need so desperately to prove something to yourself.
I like how one of their commercials ironically summed up that last factor: A mom gets pushed around by other moms in the playground, and since she doesn't have the will to fight back, she buys a hummer to feel better about herself.
MGR, ah, kinda like candy cigarettes! :)
Why I do understand the issue with the symbolism these toys present, let's not forget that they are infact just toys. Why aren't we complaining about all of the Hot Wheels cars that would be fuel inefficient in real life scale?
I can't remember any of my happy meal toys when I was younger and I doubt they had any MAJOR influences in my consumer behavior up until this point in my life.
While am all for molding young minds to be environmentally conscious consumers as adults, personally I think more responsibility should fall on how parents influence their children's green habits, rather than blaiming huge corporations for our youth's downfall.
when i first saw mcdonalds giving away toy hummers I was a little annoyed... but the happy meal bag tops it all.... take a look
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a349/nilsvik/hummer1.jpg
Interesting to hear the opinion across the pond that driving a hummer etc. could now be deemed 'unpatriotic'!. That car has summed up the American 'abundancism' (my word...) to the rest of the world for a while. Now it can suddenly be an 'un-American' thing to do - crazy!!
It's interesting to me because even at the $6 gallon gas that we pay in the UK, 4x4s are everywhere and the people opposite where I work have just bought a new Discovery and a bright yellow Hummer!
You can see the power of advertising over sanity when people can justify carrying around an extra 1.5 tons of metal because 'I prefer the higher driving position'
The PR person in charge of this campaign is
shanelle.armstrong@us.mcd.com
Take a close look at the people who dismount from Hums in the parking lot. They're not all "Ahnolds". Lots of them are petite women folk. Americans wear their rides like European aristotracy wore their wigs: for all to see. Social status indication and poltical display are the end games. As long as conspicuous consumption gets bonus points in the displayer's mind this will continue. At the first sign of a protracted gasoline shortage, driving of the hog will lose status and the Big Hum disappears.
Hey guys, wouldn't it be cool if you could get GM to develop a hybrid hummer ? And wouldn't that be great promotion for them, too ?
Love TH - daily reader
check out www.ronaldmchummer.com to make your own McD's sign instantly. it's a cool little toy.
Get a life people! It's just a friggin toy. You people should get out of your mini coopers and get in a SUV. You would not believe the extra room you will end up with.
I love my Mini cooper and would never buy an SUV. There are just so many moral and responsiblity issues with them let alone the super dumbness to throw your hard earned cash away to the fat cats in the oil industry. As an economical issue alone SUVs aren't the brightest idea anyways...unless you love giving away your money to the corporate world. Your choice. I am even starting to look for an 80 mpg vespa scooter!
Erin, make sure to get an electric scooter, or you may be making more pollution than those irresponsible SUV owners!
"EPA studies show that motorcycles [scooters are basically motorcycles] have much higher emissions than cars. A motorcycle emits as much hydrocarbon in 10 miles as a car driven 850 miles." source: US EPA
Four-stroke scooters are cleaner, but may not be as clean as a car. I would go to EPA or EU sources to get the facts on this. A scooter salesman will definitely disagree with this!
""large, inefficient vehicles were unpatriotic and detrimental to America’s national security." I hate hearing that. it is so untrue. Security? Please. Take a look at American auto history, it's filled with inefficient vehicles. How can it all of a sudden be UnAmerican."
When you fill up your car, where you do think your money goes? Sovereign wealth funds in the Middle East are extremely large today. With this increase in wealth comes a massive transfer of power away from America and towards the Middle East and Asia.