Happy Meals are officially sad in California’s Santa Clara County. After debating the issue, the board of supervisors in that Silicon Valley area has voted 3-2 to ban toys and other promotions from high-fat, sodium-loaded kids meals. The new ordinance won’t take effect for 90 days, giving fast-food restaurants a chance to bring their kids’ offerings up to a better nutritional standard. (Hint: If it hasn’t happened by now, I doubt three months will make much difference.) The ban doesn’t cover a large geographical area—just the unincorporated parts of the county—but the repercussions might be felt far and wide. It’s a bit of a test case for other municipalities that might want to fight the child-obesity epidemic by attacking the trinkets that come with burgers and fries. The delay in enacting the ban means a number of summer movie tie-ins will still happen as planned. The rest of the year? Still to be determined.
—Posted by T.L. Stanley