THERE ARE MANY REASONS to be mad at fast food giant McDonald’s. For starters, there was the decision, in the early 90s, to switch from deep frying its french fries in tasty beef tallow to 100 percent vegetable oil (something I’ve lamented before). Then there was the more recent switch from its current vegetable oil (a soy-corn oil) to one that has fewer trans fatty acids–another move in a healthier, less flavorful, direction. And then there’s the decision to run television commercials to the tune of INXS’s “New Sensation.” (If Michael Hutchence were still alive, this would have never happened.) But most astonishing complaint being made is this: That McDonald’s is bad for you and that the company owes you millions of dollars because you can’t stop eating its delicious food.
Over the summer, New York lawyer Samuel Hirsch filed two lawsuits–one involving a man and another involving two girls–blaming fast food restaurants for obesity.
First, there’s Caesar Barber. He’s 56 years old, 5’11”, and a whopping 270 pounds. He’s diabetic and has a heart condition. And he’s enjoyed fast food for years. But now it has dawned upon him that his favorite eateries are responsible for his ill health and, with the aid of Samuel Hirsch, he is suing McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, and KFC.
Second, there’s Jazlyn Bradley and Ashley Pelman. Jazlyn is 19 years old, 5’6″, and 270 pounds. (She weighs the same as Caesar now, but at her height–width?–she was pushing 300.) She liked Egg McMuffins, Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets, Super-Sized-fries and Cokes, and apple pies. Ashley is 14 years old, weighs only 170 pounds–but she’s also only 4’10”. Again, with Hirsch’s help, these girls are suing McDonald’s for giving them unhealthy food and providing insufficient information about its menu.
But did this trio really need a nutrition chart to find out that eating fast-food on a daily basis is bad for you? As Kim Ode sarcastically riffs in the “Star Tribune,” “Girls, in case no one’s mentioned this before: The pointed end of the pencil is for writing. A light switch flips up for ‘on.’ (Oh, and down for ‘off.’) Don’t try to breathe when you’re under water.” But maybe her advice should be taken to heart. After all, as Jazlyn’s 60-year-old father told People magazine, “If you had told me the food was unhealthy, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
As law professor Donald Garner said to the Washington Post, the lawsuits portray “Americans as the most pathetic, pitiable people in the world, that we are incapable of limiting what we eat.” And the clients are more than happy to play the role of the helpless victims.
Hirsch and others liken their case to the infamous tobacco lawsuits, in which smokers claimed they had no idea cigarettes were harmful to them and that the tobacco industry knowingly concealed vital information about its products. The only difference is that nicotine is openly considered addictive while a Big Mac is not. Not yet anyway. (Does anyone really know what McDonald’s puts in their “special” sauce?)
Jokes aside, there’s no denying the sadness of the situation–sad because Caesar, Jazlyn, and Ashley are becoming typical in America. According to the latest statistics, 60 percent of adults and 13 percent of children are overweight. 300,000 deaths each year have been linked to obesity. It seems that people have lost their self-control. Why go medium-sized when for a few cents more you can go “Super-Size”. Or go “Biggie.” Or “Go Large.”
Such irresistible deals are one reason why fast food giants are vulnerable to legal action in the first place. Most notable is the Dollar Menu at McDonald’s: You’re hungry, waiting in line, and deciding what to order. You go for a Big Mac Value Meal, large, with a Coke. And then you notice that for just a dollar more you can get a Big N’ Tasty hamburger (the supposed answer to the Whopper). Or the McChicken. Or a dessert. Next thing you know, your meal contains 1,980 calories and 92 grams of fat. (The Washington Post offers an excellent calorie counter on the web.) Burger King answered with a 99 cent menu where you can get a Bacon Cheeseburger or a Grilled Sourdough Burger or even a Baked Potato.
Secondly, while adults are able to make informed choices, kids are often not. And offering McDonald’s or Taco Bell in schools is a lawsuit just waiting to happen–because kids don’t know any better. If I were in the third grade and had a choice between normal cafeteria slop and a Quarter Pounder, you know where I’d be headed. Every single day. McDonald’s lawyers will argue that these children have parents who have the power to tell them what to eat or make them (gasp!) brown bag it, but this argument may not be enough to stop the current class action suit from going forward.
Of course, there is still a chance that the current crop of lawsuits could falter when they go to trial–although Judge Robert Sweet of the U.S. District Court in Manhattan has yet to dismiss the cases and it could take weeks or months before any decision is made. But regardless, there will be more suits in the future. Hirsch has already proposed at least five more plaintiffs (one of them, according to the Washington Post, is a 15-year-old boy who has diabetes and weighs 400 pounds).
In January, Burger King starts offering its 99-cent Whopper. Who can resist that?
Victorino Matus is an assistant managing editor at The Weekly Standard.
