Carrot sticks, and why they are pointless.

McDonald's launched an idea a while back. The logic was thus:

Children are getting seriously obese. Aside from the obvious benefit of the reduction in paedophilia, this could only be a bad thing. After all, children are the future. And if mainstream society has established anything it is that fat people are wrong.
The future is wrong.

But what's this? Out of the darkness, a pearly white horse gallops forward with a heroic figure on its back. He wears gallant robes of yellow with fashionably striped red and white arms. His face is an alabaster wash and his hair a powerful shock of red.
It's Ronald McDonald.
He proclaims:
"For no extra cost, you can now swap the high calorie fries for low calorie carrot stick in children's Happy Meals"

McDonald's has saved the future. Hurray.

But wait.
There is a problem here isn't there.

I don't think children are getting fat because they occasionally have a packet of McDonald's fries. I mean, it's not good for them, I'm not saying that, but logic suggests that anything is fine in moderation. I know lots of people who ate McDonald's occasionally and are thin as anything.

I'm certainly not slim, but I can promise you I wouldn't be rail thin if you swapped out all the McDonald's fries I've eaten for carrot sticks.

The problem isn't occasional consumption of fries.

So, if there is a problem with McDonald's it must be that children are eating them too often.
If this is the case then carrot sticks are not going to help.
If your parent believes that a balanced nutritional dinner is a greasy burger, a large sugary drink and a packet of some carrot sticks, you're a bit fucked.

In fact, possibly the carrot sticks are making things worse.
Because now the parents see a possible nutritional benefit to McDonald's where there was none before.

Carrots are a vegetable, they'd reason, combine that with the lettuce and tomato ketchup in the burger, and you've had three of your five-a-day.

At least with the fries there could be absolutely no question that McDonald's was bad for you. Carrot sticks seems to give the parents an excuse to bring their kids to McDonald's for the health reasons.