As college students, most of us are keenly familiar with McDonald’s. They seem to have successfully marketed to just about every demographic imaginable, and unfortunately, that includes children. I am certain a lot of us remember begging our parents to buy us a Happy Meal so that we might attain that amazing toy from whatever movie or video game was popular at the time. Some of us might even have fond memories of the playhouses many McDonald’s locations feature. These things appear fairly fun and innocent to most people, but I take issue with the fact that a fast food giant like Mickey D’s would base a large portion of its advertising initiative towards appealing to children. This strategy, whether intentional or not, is only exposing people to an incredibly unhealthy and frankly addictive habit before they even reach an age to understand it. The Guardian, citing research done on the effects of McDonald’s marketing, states, “The menu choices of children aged seven to 10 who watched a series of adverts for meals in which carrots and apple could replace french fries were not significantly calorifically lower than they otherwise might have been. The children exposed to adverts for the Happy Meals were, though, more likely to express a liking for McDonald’s and fast food in general.” It does not take research to conclude that children are especially susceptible to fall victim to advertisements. It matters little that McDonald’s might “feature water, milk and juice as beverages for children”, as they state on their Global Guidelines for Children’s Marketing. This is because what it all amounts to is pushing some of the most unhealthy food on the planet onto humans that lack the cognitive abilities to question where their McNuggets come from. Using action figures and a plastic tunnel system as incentives is laughable, when the only real goal is to encourage those kids to make their parents spend money. Of course, these kinds of advertisements are incredibly common and very carefully placed in the appropriate time slots. The American Psychological Association states, “Food ads on television make up 50 percent of all the ad time on children’s shows. These ads are almost completely dominated by unhealthy food products.” This bombards children with rose-colored images of adventure in order to sell a food product while staying away from adults who might be keen to notice the commercials’ predatory nature. Really, when one just sits down and looks at the situation plainly and objectively, this practice is reprehensible. The commercials McDonald’s puts out there might seem harmless and fun, but their effects are far-reaching, and they fly under the radar. They deserve to be given more attention. I usually take a fairly moderate approach to many of the issues I am opinionated on, but this one to me is one that requires an extreme solution. I believe that McDonald’s— or any other fast food company—should not be allowed to advertise their products specifically to children. The practice preys on underdeveloped minds and helps to create habits that will follow those children for the rest of their lives, all for the sake of lining the pockets of the Mickey D higher ups. It is not just wrong, it is disgusting. Most importantly, it needs to be discussed more. It affects our future in a significant and negative way, and with that in mind, I can safely say I am not in fact loving it.