McDonald's quest to help their customers with their fitness by providing a fitness tracker with all Happy Meals will no longer be continued since the company have been intimated about irritation of the skin for those who wear the tracker. According to several reports, there have been complaints from customers about skin irritations from wearing the tracker and the company has decided to do away with the whole thing altogether. Terri Hickey, who is a McDonald's spokesperson, said in a statement, "We have taken this swift and voluntary step after receiving limited reports of potential skin irritations that may be associated from wearing the band. Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and we are fully investigating this issue."
A report on CNN stated, "Casey Collyar of Arkansas, wrote on Facebook last week that her child was burned by the Happy Meal toy after playing with it for eight minutes. Her post was shared more than 100,000 times.The fitness trackers, which come in six bright colors, were already being distributed and were set to be available for four weeks in the United States and Canada. The plastic wrist-worn pedometer measures steps and blinks quickly or slowly depending on the pace of the person wearing it." However, the report also added that the "exact number of reports was not specified".
Many believe that the initial move to give a fitness tracker with Happy Meals was a slick marketing ploy to promote physical activity and in fact Dr. Lisa Thebner, a pediatrician said the same when she spoke to CNN. She said, "It's nice to be able to have something that encourages kids to be more active, instead of handing out a big ice cream cone along with it." The report also stated, "McDonald's has long faced criticism regarding low nutritional values in its food. In recent years, the company has been increasingly committed to improving its food quality, including introducing the low-fat Go-Gurt yogurt in 2014 and removing artificial preservatives from its chicken nuggets in August."
