McDonalds & Nintendo Together at Last

I was so disheartened to hear today that McDonalds and that Nintendo are teaming up to offer free Wi-Fi in nearly 6,000 McDonalds restaurants so that Nintendo owners can play networked games online for free. As if it is not bad enough that American children are already spending unprecedented hours in front of televisions, computers, and gaming machines, but now many kids will surely be spending some of these sedentary hours in a McDonalds restaurant surrounded by 99¢ value meals and other low cost junk food. At least luring kids into McDonalds to play in their in-house playgrounds is somewhat forgivable in that it offers kids a safe place to play and be active, but this new partnership sounds like a prime example of all that is wrong with marketing, branding, and advertising to young people. By inviting young people to come to the restaurant and stay to play video games it is clear that McDonalds is aggressively recruiting younger and more impressionable customers. Despite all McDonalds’ hype around salads and apple slices, health and wellness are clearly good PR points for McDonalds but don’t have any real bearing on actions and decisions made by the fast food giant.