.. c'mon now.. its all just free market economics. After all, there is nothing more important than free markets... not even the survival of our species as well as every other living being on the planet. I mean, hell... we can sell out our freedom for the illusion of safety from terrorist attacks that are unlikely anyway... but no way should we sell out the freedom of large corporations to make obscene profits just because it damages those who work for their substandard wages with no benefits and a near 100% turnover rate and it is destroying our health with frightening speed.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Each one comes with a little plastic redneck who throws little McDonald's bags and cups out the window.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

1. By the time the kids are grown, gas will be so costly that there's no way in hell any of them will be able to afford to drive a Hummer anyway.
2. The really big one, the H1, has been discontinued.
3. If not this, it'll just be some other cheap plastic crap that will clog our landfills.

Tasteless promotion, I agree, and the signs are cute, but this is just fruitless and moot.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I couldn't wait to move out of my parents house so that I could finally dress up like the hamburglar.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Hey, be a nice PR coup. Or maybe just a waste of time. Not like any of us would take our kids to Mickey D's if we could help it. Um, my hypothetical kids with my hypothetical wife. But, you know.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

I don't really think my two-year-old nephew is processing that toy on the level of "I must have a REAL one" when he plays with his little toy H1.

I admire the sentiment, but I think the energy can be focused toward a more fruitful method of fighting the battle.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

We can teach our children well. Fireworks are still legal in many states...so how about selling D.O.T. Class C IED's to place under the toy Hummers? Our kids wil have a "blast"!!!

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

First, over it's lifespan (creation to destruction) the Hummer uses less total energy than any hybrid currently avaliable.. Including the Pirus.

"Oh no! Not the Pirus! That can't be! It's holy and good, ordained by mother earth herself and it's culturally sensitive and respects Indian burial grounds! It's a good car! It would never do something like that! No! NO!" Yeah.. the Pirus too. Sheesh.. Don't you people think before you say stuff like this?

Second, it's called free enterprise. It's none of anyones damn business what McDonalds gives away. If they thought giving a house away would sell hamburgers, they'd do it. That's their business. The hummer is popular, so they selected it instead. Don't like it? The start McTofuCrap next door and give away whatever you want. If the public likes you and your product, then evil, horrible McDonalds and their evil, horrible, HumVee will pass away into nothingness. If you know so much, just go right on ahead and beat them at their own game. Have at it!

Third, McDonalds isn't "making people fat" People are making people fat. And kids? Kids are fat? Really? Where are their PARENTS to send their little butts out to play and feed them decent food in proper portions? Come on.. Do you expect McDonalds to raise your kids now? In addition to doing everything they already do (like feeding more people on a daily basis than the Federal Government) you expect them to drop everything and raise your kids? Why? Why should they care? Why should I care? Why are your fat kids and substandard parenting skills anyones problem but your own? It didn't "take a village" to make your kids fat little butterballs, it took bad parenting.. Likewise, to remedy the situation will require something called personal responsibility. (Look it up)

I'm sick to death of sharing the earth with reactionary nit-wits who got it in their tiny heads that I should care about their problems. I don't. I don't care. I don't care about their fat heathen children and I don't care if McDonalds is giving away Hummers with both hands. Please stop expecting me and every corporation under the sun to be your parents, grandparents and stewards to your fat, ugly kids. Newsflash: We DO NOT care and there's no good reason we should. They're your kids and you are their guardian, perhaps you should behave like one?

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

Or Chilis? Or The Outback? Or Bennigans?

McDonald's is a rather impressive example, IMHO, of the assembly line applied to food production. The meals there are very inexpensive; the quality is controlled; and the portions are not ridiculously large. I've never purchased an Extra Value Meal at McDonald's and later felt sick because I had eaten too much.

However, this has happened to me at any number of more expensive franchise family restaraunts, such as those I listed above. At TGI Fridays, for example, you get unlimited refills of soda, massive portions, and are tempted throughout your meal with massive desserts. Nearly every time I go to one of these more expensive restaraunts I eat far more than I would at home or at a fast food joint.

So why does McDonald's get the hate? Cuz it's cheap. And most American leftists harbor some elitism these days, so it's easy to take our frustrations out on things that appeal to poor people.

I appreciate that it's cheap. I appreciate that it requires a much smaller work force than other restaraunts, per customer. It has a certain elegance in its efficiency that is actually not at odds with international approaches to dining. Sure, if we compare it to the Euro-style of "spend 4 hours eating a single meal", it's strikingly different, but what about Asia? In Asian cities, from what I've learned from my Taiwanese co-workers, it's common for people to stop in small food stands and pick up things to eat to take home. Cooked things, efficiently prepared. Sounds a little like our fast food establishments, which are changing every year, and providing a larger variety of food at higher qualities.

As for our children getting "fat" - who cares? I'm pretty sure Americans are living longer than ever before, and our children are facing incredibly long lifespans. Should we go back to 100 years ago, before fast food, where the average lifespan was 40?

We're fatter (marginally, if you look at the data) for a simple reason: we have lots of food. Let's be thankful for that, because it might not last much longer, and then we'll really have something to complain about.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

My 6 and 2 year olds love these. I'll inform my kids about doing there part for the environment and the economy. I use to have a toy fire truck and a toy tank. Was that so wrong? But I never dreamed of actually owning one. Do you even have Kids? Its people like this that forced Bugs Bunny of the air. Get over it. I like McD, my family is fit and healthy. Attack walmart or something, let the toys be toys. I think some of you just need to chill. Are you that hard up fo something to complain about? Save some trees, help the poor, pass food out in Iraq, but leave the toys alone.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]