“Happy” Meal?
Several months ago I posted a brief essay titled How Stupid Do They Think We Are. It spoke of the extreme efforts of manufacturers to avoid litigation by including ridiculous disclaimers on their products. Examples: Label on a sleep aid—May cause drowsiness. Or this one on an ATV fuel tank—Never use a lit match or open flame to check fuel level.
What I say here probably whould have been included in that earlier post, however, I just heard this on the radio the other day, and I had to say something. It was on an NPR report, and the voice sharing this news actually sounded serious. At least I heard no laughter. The person had more restraint than I would have had.
We were first introduced to the McDonald's Happy Meal in 1979. Personally, I was never fond of McDonalds anyway, but our kids ate their share of the burger and fries, and looked forward to the special toy that was inside. In 45 years I don't recall any child, including our own, being traumatized by the smiley face on the container.
Be that as it may, from May 13 to May 19 McDonalds Restaurants in the UK, excluded the smiley face from their Happy Meals. We are told that this is in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week.
Since I am somewhat at a loss for words to try to explain this I will quote an independent news source. This is to reflect the current mental health decline among youth in the UK. In a 2020 study from the country’s Office for National Statistics, 48 per cent of children reported feeling pressured to feel happy. The new design will leave the iconic meals with a blank expression so that children can stick an array of stickers conveying different emotions to suit what they are genuinely feeling.
I guess I shouldn't be so surprised by this. Not long ago, I was watching cartoons with my grandson. And I noticed that much children’s TV today, has been completely sterilized of all danger, risk, or conflict.
I was surprised, to say the least, that...Popey and Bluto (who were bitter enemies when I was a kid) are now good buddies.
The big bad wolf has become a friend and helper of the three little pigs, instead of one who wants to “blow their houses down and eat them up.”
And Jack climbs the beanstalk to discover a friendly giant, rather than one who wants to, “grind his bones to make his bread.”
I am still at a loss for words except to say, “How fragile we have become!”
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