McDonald's Ditches Happy Meal Activity Trackers

McDonald's isn't exactly seen as a healthy eating option by most parents. It's more seen as a cheap place to fill your gob with food that is questionably tasty and not particularly good for you. The company is seeing demand for its food sag as parents and consumers in general have started to flock to eateries with healthier options. To combat this McDonald's has relied on Happy Meals for kids with toys that grab their interest leading to parents taking kids in not so much for food as for the toys.

The latest thing McDonald's crammed into those Happy Meals was a very basic activity tracker wearable. The wearable was to be offered in the Happy Meals in the US and Canada over the next month or so as an active tie in to the Olympic Games. The trackers were very basic with one having a red light that blinks slowly when the kid isn't doing much and blinks faster when the kid is running around.

The other style of wearable was a pedometer that counts steps that kids take. The wearable was offered in red, orange, green, blue, yellow, and pink. The problem for McDonald's with its attempt at a wearable device to get kids moving were limited reports that the wearables caused skin irritation.

After these reports were made, the chain decided to pull the wearables off the market early and says that it is fully investigating the issue. McDonald's always offers younger kids an alternative toy. This push to make the hamburger joint look healthier didn't work out so well. In the past, McDonald's changed its meals to make them healthier by reducing the size of the french fries in the bag and by offering apple slices as an alternative.

SOURCE: AP