https://blogs.ubc.ca/kami/

I am writing a response to Kamila’s blog on the ethics of McDonalds advertising that is targeted towards children. The advertising on the blog of the baby eating the burger was quite eye-catching. It reminds me of McDonalds food, which instantly made me hungry for McDonalds and I had the instant urge to go to McDonalds and get some food. As Kamila noted, this may be one of the side effects of having eaten McDonalds from such a young age. I was one of those children who had birthdays at McDonalds and who grew up eating the food from a young age. I do have this certain affection towards the food that the company produces.

I do not necessarily see the negative side effects of McDonalds targeting children. That is as long as the children understand that it is not something that is meant to be eaten on a daily basis and that the food is not as healthy as many other types of food. As long as the parents are able to pass that message along to the children, then I believe from personal experience that it is not exactly unethical to target young children.

It is just like any other business that attempts to attract certain customers so that as those customers gain more income with age, they are more likely to retain those customers. Many other companies do it (we talked about the fridge company with college students), yet McDonalds may seem unethical because its food is not as healthy as other foods on the market. People make conscious decisions about where they go to eat and what they eat and it should not be blamed on McDonalds if someone wants to eat themselves to death.