[ZTWsquared]

NOS2Go4Me,May 15 2006, 10:49 AM Wrote:Would an ad campaign that scaled back on the burgers and endorsed healthy food be good? Would shifting their offerings in the other direction (maybe 1-2 burgers, the rest healthy food) be an even better step? Yes. Will they do it? No, because profit margins are too appealing when you're selling 50c burgers for $4.99 in a combo that costs you like $1.00 to supply, tops.

The shareholders would flip out if they actually did something health-conscious, and that's why all the lazy and indifferent people are doomed to a life of obesity and bad health. They eat what's put in front of them at the most attractive price point. That price point always has been, and will likely continue to be, dominated by burgers and other quick-to-prepare fatty fast foods.
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You're not wrong, but you're not right either. The real profit margins in that business are associated with the soft drinks, which BTW are a significant source of the problems associated with poor fast-food nutrition.

The good thing about our free market system is that consumers get to vote with their dollars ... so you can't blame the fast food industry for the choices consumers make. It was created by and exists solely because of consumer demand.

Of course, the bad thing about our free market system is that consumers get to vote with their dollars -- and if en masse they make poor choices, it negatively affects society as you and others have pointed out.

But in reality market demand will ultimately dictate what is being offered for sale (even if the time-frame for change is measured in years and not months) and so what is being offered today is nothing more than a reflection of the poor choices consumers have made in the past. What the fast food industry offers tomorrow will also reflect consumer demand as it evolves over time -- and we've seen plenty of evidence of that in the past few years.

So IMO you have to blame undisciplined parents for caving in to the demands of their young and ignorant progeny.

My kids rarely eat at McDonalds ... it's usually at home but occasionally at Swiss Chalet. And it's salads usually as opposed to fries (but occasionally it is fries because they're not pure evil if eaten in moderation) ... the point being that my kids eat according to mom and dad's choices and our selection critieria is their health and nutrition first, with "convenience" and "cost" way down the list.

Having said that, I understand that we're lucky to be able to have my wife stay at home and not every family has that luxury. But I don't think that relieves parents of the obligation to make the right choices.

And so where I condemn parents who put their own convenience ahead of their kids health, I don't condemn the fast food industry for responding to the choices those parents make -- because IMO the alternative is unpalatable to a free society.