McD- and McKids

McDonald's to kids: Eat fruit, drink milk, visit Arches - chicagotribune.com: "The Oak Brook-based fast-food giant says it's doing the right thing for its customers and its brand. But activist groups, who see McDonald's as the emblem of what's wrong with American eating, decry any advertising to children under age 12, who critics say are too young to know when they are being targeted with ad messages.

"We're a leadership brand, whether it's for children's advertising or the food we serve in the restaurants," said Marlena Peleo-Lazar, chief creative officer of McDonald's USA. "We saw an opportunity to take a ... stance, not from a duress standpoint but from a leadership sort of way, and as a brand it really does illustrate that we believe in doing the right thing."

McDonald's spent about $115 million advertising Happy Meals during 2010, about 13 percent of the company's $884 million in measured U.S. media spending, according to Kantar Media."

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