Your kids will eat veggies if you put them in a McDonald's wrapper

August 07, 2007
Does the same exact food taste better when it’s in McDonald’s packaging?
It sure does, according to preschoolers.
A new report in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine found that preschool children preferred the taste of food in McDonald’s packaging to the taste of the same exact food in unbranded packaging.
“Food marketing to children is widespread. The food and beverage industries spend more than $10 billion per year to market to children in the United States,” according to background information in the article.
The article says that by age 2, children may already have beliefs about certain brands and 2- to -6-year-olds can recognize brands and associate them with products.
"You see a McDonald's label and kids start salivating," said Diane Levin, a childhood development specialist who campaigns against advertising to children. She had no role in the research.
Levin said it was "the first study I know of that has shown so simply and clearly what's going on with (marketing to) young children."