A MOTHER FROM California has launched a class-action lawsuit against McDonald’s, claiming that the toys given out with the fast-food company’s Happy Meals are part of a cynical marketing campaign that targets very young children and is akin to exploitation.

RTÉ reports that Monet Parham is leading the suit, supported by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). The lawsuit aimed at stopping McDonald’s use of toys to market directly to young children.

According to Parham, the main reason her six-year-old daughter, Maya, asks to go to McDonald’s is to get toys based on Barbie, i-Carly, Shrek, or Strawberry Shortcake. The food seems almost beside the point to her children, says Parham, because the toy monopolises their attention.

According to CSPI, fast-food companies—with McDonald’s in the lead—spent over $520 million (€393m) in 2006 on advertising and toys to market children’s meals. It claims that toy premiums made up almost three-quarters of those expenses, totaling over $350 million (€264m).

The centre also quotes the Institute of Medicine and the American Psychological Association, which says that children as young as Maya do not have the cognitive maturity to understand the persuasive intent of advertising. SPI litigation director Steve Gardner said:

Every time McDonald’s markets a Happy Meal directly to a young child, it exploits a child’s developmental vulnerability and violates several states’ consumer protection laws, including the California Unfair Competition Law.

CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson said:

McDonald’s congratulates itself for meals that are hypothetically possible, though it knows very well that it’s mostly selling burgers or chicken nuggets, fries, and sodas to very young children. In other words, McDonald’s offerings consist mostly of fatty meat, fatty cheese, French fries, white flour, and sugar—a narrow combination of foods that promotes weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease—and may lead to a lifetime of poor diets.

Parham, from Sacramento, says: “What kids see as a fun toy, I now realise is a sophisticated, high-tech marketing scheme that’s designed to put McDonald’s between me and my daughters. For the sake of other parents and their children, I want McDonald’s to stop interfering with my family.”

Meanwhile, McDonald’s said it would defend itself against the lawsuit. Spokeswoman Bridget Coffing told the LA Times:

We are proud of our Happy Meals and intend to vigorously defend our brand.

She added that Happy Meals offer quality foods in smaller portions that are appropriate for children. The company has also recently pointed out that parents can choose apple slices instead of French fries for their children, and order milk instead of fizzy drinks if they wish.

“We are confident that parents understand and appreciate that Happy Meals are a fun treat, with quality, right-sized food choices for their children that can fit into a balanced diet,” Coffing added.

The action came after San Francisco last month agreed to ban promotional toys served with food that does not meet strict nutritional standards, as did nearby Santa Clarita in April.