McDonald’s Is Replacing Happy Meal Toys With Activity Trackers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL6aI_5v59Y

We all know that eating fast food isn’t good for you, even though Facebook memes about Big Macs get the science completely wrong. And McDonald’s has been trying to reform its image as America’s premier provider of junk food, starting with stories about athletes eating McNuggets, and moving on to putting a Fitbit in a Happy Meal.

Well, OK, it’s not exactly a Fitbit. The Step-It Activity Tracker is an LCD activity tracker comes in six colors and blinks at different speeds depending on how active you are. As you might have guessed, it’s not exactly the most precise activity tracker out there. That said, when people, even tiny growing people, know they’re accountable to something and can track their progress, they tend to be more active.

Will a cheap plastic bauble that probably won’t last six months really inspire more active lifestyles in children? Probably not. Kids generally imitate their parents and their peers in that regard, which is why gym class is still a thing. But if it gets them used to the idea of running around, that’s no bad thing. Then again, McDonald’s is teaming up with Pokémon Go, so maybe they’re more committed to get kids active than we realize.

(Via Technabob)