Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
If so, I'm afraid that extracting a big payola from the fast food chain just got a little bit harder -- unless you live in Brazil.
A federal judge in New York has ruled that a lawsuit against McDonalds for causing childhood obesity cannot proceed as a class action. It’s bad enough that the McD's has been forcing children at gun point to eat burgers and spend all day on their Xbox. Now each and every plaintiff will have to – brace yourself – produce evidence to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between McDonald’s “deceptive marketing” and his/her obesity. This kind of setback is bad for self-esteem, which in turn causes more binge eating.
Well, the whole idea of fat lawsuits is ridiculous, right? Sure, they laughed at the tobacco lawsuits at first. The plaintiffs’ bar has been pushing this one for nearly a decade now and they’re not going to give up just because of one bad decision. For a glimpse of the future, look to Brazil where, as Lowering the Bar reports, “a judge has ordered McDonald's to pay a former manager $17,500 based on his allegations that he gained 65 pounds during his years with the company, due to such dastardly corporate practices as offering employees free lunches.”
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Comments :
Jul '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
First they came for smoking, but I didn't smoke...
May '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Let's all sue the government do-gooders who came up with that crazy food pyramid that encouraged us to gorge ourselves on carbohydrates for thirty years. They've since come out with the nevermind-we-didn't-know-what-we-were-talking-about-back-then pyramid, but it's too late: I got a spare tire. And a lawyer.
Aug '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
I blame my weight problem on starving children in China.
Sep '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
"Well, the whole idea of fat lawsuits is ridiculous, right? Sure, they laughed at the tobacco lawsuits at first. The plaintiffs’ bar has been pushing this one for nearly a decade now and they’re not going to give up just because of one bad decision."
Roger Traynor started us down this strict liability slope and the bottom is not in sight.
Aug '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
My 13 yr old told me that the class had to watch "Supersize Me" the other day in school.
Lord knows how many times the poor kiddies had to watch Inconvenal Truth.
Another job for the list. Trial lawyers.
List being : America Bucket List, or what to do lest we die.
Aug '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Carl's Jr., my love of Bacon Double Western Cheeseburgers, sitting on my rear playing Halo instead of out playing soccer with my buddies, surfing the internet, my love of reading, and required reading for graduate courses made me fat.
That's it. I'm suing my grad school.
Aug '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Well, here's the decision. Of course it's a crock: the guy might have been obliged, in his capacity as a manager, to taste his store's products, but surely he wasn't required to gorge himself on them, nor to eat snacks provided by McDonald's on breaks. I just thought I'd stick this in. Like all blogs, Ricochet is, how can I phrase this graciously, information-lite, and a little "live feed" could only do a website good. I wish this thing had more South American news, like how Brazil dropped ethanol and became self-sufficient in oil. (Hint: they drilled, baby, drilled.) Or how it met its pension obligations. But one small step at a time!
Jul '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Thank God, and a New York judge, for small blessings. But you are right, they will come back. I know that a lot of this is driven by trial lawyer greed, but underneath and around that is a profoundly corrupt ruling class attitude. As a former cigarette smoker I know this well. Because they are smart and clever, and thet know smoking/fast food/trans fats etc. are icky, then anyone who thinks otherwise must be an ignorant yahoo who needs to be saved from himself. And so they cloak there power lust with nobility. Pure decadence.
Jul '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
It's certainly light on Brazillian judicial decisions rendered in Portuguese. Care to translate?
Jul '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
We're not obese or getting fatter....... We're "evolving." And I can "prove" it.
Sep '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
flownover: My 13 yr old told me that the class had to watch "Supersize Me" the other day in school.
Lord knows how many times the poor kiddies had to watch Inconvenal Truth.
Another job for the list. Trial lawyers.
List being : America Bucket List, or what to do lest we die. · Nov 1 at 4:10pm
If you get a chance, try watching the movie "Fat Head". It's a hilarious, yet fact-filled rebuttal to "Supersize Me". It also provides insight into the world of nutrition science. Let's just say that nutrition science and climate science have a lot in common...and not in a good way.
Jul '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Nothing to worry about here.
The way our economy is heading, the only thing many Americans will be able to afford at McDonald's is hot water and a packet of ketchup.
May '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Yes. Yes, McDonald's did make me fat. That is because when I worked at McD's as my very first job ever before entering college, full time workers were allowed to have free food up to about $4. Waaaaaay back then, it would buy me a Quarter Pounder (w/ cheese), fries and a soda. Hence, after eating thus 5-6 days/week for 2 months, I gained the Freshman 10 before I was even a Freshman!
Sep '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
My nickname in college years was "tapeworm". I could eat a Double Beef Whopper with Cheese, Large Fries, Onion Rings AND a shake at 2 am and then go straight to bed. Weight gain? None.
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
You know, I love Big Macs so much that a free one is a HUGE incentive for me to work there. Where's that application...
BTW - ease up on trial lawyers. The alternative to them is heavier government regulation. Trial lawyer's work is more in line with the free market, capitalist system.
Edited on Nov 1, 2010 at 9:24pmMay '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
The Big Mac Index is informative.
http://www.oanda.com/currency/big-mac-index
People in Sri Lanka and the Ukraine must be gorging themselves at those prices.
Jul '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
Good point. Clearly, the only course of action is to sue the judge.
May '10
Re: Did McDonald's Make You Fat?
I had the following exchange with a semi-liberal friend the other day. I call him semi-liberal because he fancies himself an old-school Democrat.
Friend: "[I find it] hysterical that the booze industry is one of the biggest opponents to passage of Prop 19 because they believe it will cut into their profits. Too funny!!!"
... "don't you just love our puritanical value system pitting one vice against another?"
Me: "It's liberals, not "puritanical" conservatives, who keep taxing vices like alcohol and cigarettes. Prop 19 should be about freedom, not about saving the state from irresponsible debt. Expect marijuana to be highly taxed.
Friend: "You're right liberals tax to clean up the mess left by puritanical conservatives who can't live up to their own extreme standard. Pick your poison conservative fascism or liberal socialism one feeds the other."