McDonald’s, which is the world’s largest toy distributor has begun recalling its fitness trackers with children’s Happy Meals after reports of the wearables causing skin irritations.
As of 2001, the fast-food chain was giving away 1.5 billion toys annually. 20 percent of all their sales include a toy and they presumably sell more than 75 hamburgers a second. Apparently, this kind of volume doesn’t come without some quality control issues and the fitness tracker isn’t the first fail that the company suffered.
After widespread complaints of the trackers causing skin rashes, McDonald’s removed the trackers from their locations in the United States and Canada.
In an attempt to rebrand itself as a healthier option McDonald’s recently started sharing fitness trackers with their Happy Meals. Nobody ever knew where they came from, just that they were made by McDonald’s. Unfortunately, the first rule of wearables which is making sure they aren’t toxic to human skin wasn’t followed by the company.
In 2010 they had to recall the Shrek-themed drinking glasses which contained cadmium, a carcinogen that can generate bone softening and severe kidney damage. Also, in 2014, choking problems were reported because of Hello Kitty toys. Moreover, despite loads of reports that the prerecorded voice in the Minion-based toys was uttering curse words, McDonald’s refused to recall them.
McDonald’s has been holding controversial McTeacher’s Nights for years in which teachers will work for McDonald’s. In exchange, a part of the revenue will go to their school. As children respect and trust their teachers, this is a way of selling kids junk food which had been highly criticized.
The fast-food chain also found the best way to ingratiate to busy parents and kids under 13 by offering a free McMeal to kick off the school year. They do so, in the hope of this habit becoming a part of the morning routine. In Houston, the company offers free breakfast to teachers and students in third through eighth grade.
McDonald’s U.S. President Mike Andres mentioned the importance of their presence in schools.
Attempting to improve their reputation, the company even started promoting salads but that backfired when it was proved that a salad had more calories than a Big Mac.
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