Things I Hate: The Avatar Happy Meal

December 29, 2009 in Ask Glinda, Baby Haters, Big Bad Business, Entertainment, That's Just Wrong with 7 Comments

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What is McDonald’s thinking?

Now listen, before y’all go judgy-judgy on me for eating McDonald’s, I’ve got a two month old, a seven year old, and I’m moving residences next week. So yeah, we got some McDonald’s because I didn’t feel like cooking after spending a day wrapping up all my fragile glass items. Which happens to be a lot, which in turn makes me wonder how the hell I got so many fragile glass items.

Anyhoo, it seems that the new Happy Meals are Avatar-themed, to which I say, WTF?

If I’m not mistaken, Avatar is rated PG-13 and I have the feeling that there isn’t a large contingent of 13 year olds that still eat Happy Meals. So why is my kid receiving a toy from a movie in which he has at least five more years until he can even think of seeing it?

The figures have extremely limited play value, and they mean absolutely nothing to him because he doesn’t even know the movie exists. So why force the marketing onto a demographic the movie by all indications shouldn’t even be attempting to reach?

I’ve got lots of questions in this post, to which most of them only McDonald’s can answer. I say most because even though they are a rich, powerful company, I don’t expect them to know why I have so many lead crystal vases.

About Glinda: Playing against type, Glinda lives in the West with her husband, eight year old son and year old daughter. She is in a constant state of worry that her wand is going to break at any moment.

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7 Responses to “Things I Hate: The Avatar Happy Meal”

  1. raincoaster December 29, 2009 at 9:30 pm #

    To be honest, I still eat them. 500 calories or so, depending on your choices, and CHEAP!

  2. Galadrium December 30, 2009 at 2:51 am #

    They are thinking that a lot of parents don’t really pay attention to movie ratings. Sadly, from what I’ve seen in theaters, they aren’t too far off target. But that’s a whole different can of worms!

  3. Kimmer December 30, 2009 at 3:09 pm #

    EXACTLY what I said!

  4. Tara December 31, 2009 at 12:49 pm #

    My son is 3 and likes them because they light up and are blue. I don’t think he cares so much about the movie. The ones that really irk me are the “prizes” that are cd’s to load a game on a pc. Because what kids need are more things to zone out on that don’t require human interaction.

  5. PaperPusher January 4, 2010 at 11:52 am #

    McDonald’s having Avatar themed Happy Meals = James Cameron (or his backers) hard up desperate for $$$ to finance his movie.

  6. Chiken January 4, 2010 at 5:33 pm #

    And that movie is REALLY not appropriate for a 13 year old. It is extremely violent. I couldn’t believe the rating when I saw the movie; it should have been “R” for sure.

  7. CJ January 4, 2010 at 10:42 pm #

    I suspect they’re targeting the early 20s male geek market who goes to McD’s and gets happy meals just for the toys. (I dated a guy like that, once.)