Wednesday, May 21, 2014

10-year old girl still scolding McDonald's

The girl who scolded McDonald's CEO is back — and still scolding.

Just one year ago, then-9-year-old (now 10) Hannah Robertson stood up during the question-and-answer period at the McDonald's annual shareholders meeting and politely lectured CEO Don Thompson that McDonald's should stop using Happy Meal toys and kid-targeting advertisements to "trick" kids into eating its "food that isn't good for them."

Clearly, McDonald's has bigger issues to contend with at Thursday's annual meeting — including planned protests for higher pay on Wednesday and Thursday by fast-food workers and union activists.

But it was Hannah who was far and away the story from last year's shareholder's meeting. The then-fourth-grader (now fifth-) — a guest last year of the activist group Corporate Accountability — won't make it to Thursday's meeting. The resident of Kelowna in British Columbia is on a family camping vacation.

But at McDonald's, she says by e-mail, little has changed. "If you want kids to be healthy, they need to eat healthy food. When a big company like McDonald's is pushing junk food to kids, it makes it harder for kids to choose healthy food."

Corporate Accountability again plans to have a presence at McDonald's annual meeting. Among the issues it plans to bring to the table: kid-targeted marketing, labor practices and CEO pay, says spokesperson Jesse Bragg.

Hannah gained note after she spoke for about three minutes last year, directing her question to Thompson, who listened attentively. She was featured in a USA TODAY story and was a guest on Good Morning America the next day. Her likeness appeared in a popular, animated video of the event that went viral.

Now, Hannah says she's still trying to make her point about kids' nutrition in 2014. "Kids are getting obese and have disabilities, and companies like McDonald's need to do their part and stop marketing their gross food to kids."

McDonald's executives say they continue to make improvements in their offerin! gs for kids. The chain announced plans this week to roll out in July a Go-Gurt-brand yogurt side dish option for Happy Meals in July. Later this year, it will stop listing soft drinks as a Happy Meal option on menu boards. though they will remain available by request.

"We plan to offer even more variety in the future," says McDonald's spokeswoman Heidi Barker Sa Shekhem. She also notes that since the McDonald's global Happy Meal books program began last October, the company has distributed 17 million books and e-books about better nutrition, health and exercise in the U.S. and 30 million in Europe.

Hannah's mother, Kia Robertson, isn't impressed. She's a health food blogger, activist and creator of the "Today I Ate a Rainbow" kit, which includes a color chart showing kids the best foods to eat. "The push-back against McDonald's marketing to children isn't going to go away," she says. "It's only going to get stronger as more and more parents start to see all the ways McDonald's undermines the healthy messages we are trying to instill in our children."

But Hannah admits she's not so well-versed on this year's planned protests around $15-an-hour wages. "I don't really know much about this, but I think if people are working hard, they should get paid well," she says. "Maybe Mr. Thompson can share some of his big wages?"

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