McDonalds Blames Childhood Obesity On Video Games
A survival technique one eventually learns is that the easiest way to avoid someone's wrath is to redirect it at a more convenient scapegoat. Case in point: Steve Easterbrook, of McDonald's UK division, is willing to give a little ground by admitting that his chain's food quality isn't really doing much to help the ever-increasing problem of childhood obesity; he then follows this statement up by claiming that the real culprit is, of course, video games.
“The issue of obesity is complex and is absolutely one our society is facing, there’s no denial about that,” said Easterbrook. “But if you break it down I think there’s an education piece: how can we better communicate to individuals the importance of a balanced diet and taking care of themselves?Then there’s a lifestyle element: there’s fewer green spaces and kids are sat home playing computer games on the TV when in the past they’d have been burning off energy outside.”
I can almost see this smug bastard standing standing atop a teenaged lackey (or two, I kind of expect a McDonald's executive to be on the portly side) and pointing an accusatory finger at some hapless game developer whilst screaming, "There's the real killer of your children! Get the little shit!"
While I'm more than happy to admit that a general lack of physical activity, combined with an unhealthy diet (ahem), is definitely going to result in an unhealthy body, I think that blaming games for that inactivity is a bit baffling. You burn up less energy by reading a book, watching television, or sitting in a movie theater with a tub of popcorn in your lap, but I generally don't hear any of these activities vilified anymore now that games are getting blamed for anything.
Personally, I think that the gaming industry should follow Easterbrook's example and go after abstinence-only education, since it could easily be argued that anyone who promotes that nonsense is discouraging some of the best cardiovascular exercise around.
McDonald’s boss: ‘Games to blame for childhood obesity’ [MCV]
[via GamePolitics]
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Miscellany on 9 January 2008
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: childhood, exercise, junk food, mcdonald's, obesity, video games
[*]The Truth of the Dinosaurs[*]
---by Steve Easterbrook and Jack Thompson---
Wanna know the truth behind the mass extinction of the dinosaurs? the truth is that aliens from the moon, no, another galaxy was performing an experiment. they came in and introduced a space age technology they called video games. after playing video games the dinosaurs began to kill and eat one another until one dinosaur played a certain how-to-make-a-nuclear-bomb simulator.
that dinosaur made several of these bombs and spread them out all over the flat world. and then he played more video games. the video games made him so dumb that he forgot what the red button did and pressed it.
and that's when it happened. all the dinosaurs died.
and also a little known factoid- the explosion actually caused the world to get round, because it used to be flat.
Jack Thompson's disclaimer on the last page:
HOLY COW! THE VIDEO GAME PHENOMENON IS HAPPENING ALL OVER AGAIN! I REPEAT- VIDEO GAMES WILL BE THE DEATH OF HUMANITY IF SOMETHI--ooh! what's this? a video named "Men on Meat"
Speaking of mcdonalds...i am hungry
hey i have that card.
Much like Jeb, I'm excited to say I have that card, too. Crazy!
My local Mcdonalds actually has two booths with N64's hooked up to play because they torn down the play area (the thing with the tubes and stuff.
I have that card too.
It used to freak me out when I was little. I always kept it in the back of the binder.
You raise a good point- a LOT of MacDonalds have taken down their play places- and kept there game stations... Morons....
Btw- You dont play computer games on a TV you douche!