BOSTON The Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood is demanding that McDonald’s Corp. stop advertising on report cards from schools in Seminole County, Fla.
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade there received report cards last week in envelopes featuring Ronald McDonald and a promise of free Happy Meals for students with good grades, behavior or attendance.
The promotion is a “new low” in in-school marketing, said Susan Linn, director of Boston-based CCFC.
“It bypasses parents and targets children directly with the message that doing well in school should be rewarded with a Happy Meal,” she said in a statement.
For the past several years, McDonald’s has been encouraging children to exercise and eat more healthful meals, and it offers Apple Dippers, low-fat milk and juice as Happy Meal options.
However, Linn said the report card promotion explicitly mentions cheeseburgers, French fries and soft drinks as Happy Meal options.
In a statement, McDonald’s spokesman William Whitman: “McDonald’s does not advertise in schools. However, we continue to support education initiatives in the communities we serve.”
Report cards in the school district reportedly have contained advertising for the past 10 years, with sponsors picking up the cost of their printing. McDonald’s paid $1,600 in printing costs for the current school year.
Pizza Hut had been a sponsor previously but declined to participate this year. The chain’s Book It! program, which awards gift cards for pizzas when students achieve reading goals, came under fire earlier this year from the CCFC, which said it promotes bad eating habits among children.