McDonald's, bowing under growing public pressure to give consumers healthier food options, will discontinue its Super Size offering at the end of 2004. A move that defies logic...
First, there already are plenty of healthier food choices than McDonald's (or even at McDonald's for that matter). It's not McDonald's fault that American's are fat. American's want to be fat. OK, I doubt anyone really wants to be fat, but most people are unwilling to sacrifice the food and/or conveniences they've come to love just for their health. Otherwise, they'd change their eating habits. Some of the largest people I've seen in my entire life are at Souper Salad. The mountains of food piled on their trays suggests their attitude toward food really hasn't changed even though the food consumption context has.
Second, I think it's a bad financial move. The concept of the Super-Size is brilliant! Let's give the consumer what they want (more food at a good value) and give it to them in one simple, convenient upgrade. Oh, and let's charge them $0.50 to do it... genius.
Finally, let's look at the nutritional math:
- Big Mac Value Meal (includes medium fries and Coca-Cola Classic): 1,260 calories, 55g fat, 9g fiber (that's 28 points for you "WeightWatchers":http://www.weightwatchers.com types; a full day's consumption allotment for a person weighing in at 250 pounds).
- Marginal nutritional values for Super-Sizing the above meal: 360 calories, 7g fat, 2g fiber (8 points)
To believe that the Super Size itself is the evildoer in the nutritional equation suggests that the nutritional content of the pre-Super-Sized value meal was a healthy food option to begin with!
Disclaimer::
I hesitated to write any of this as I'm not the epitome of healthfulness myself, but I do know a little bit about how my body reacts to certain foods now and the things I need to do to reverse years of unchecked bad habits. I'm doing many things right, but am far from 100%.
