Our eldest daughter had a hockey game about 1 1/2 hrs away. My husband is one of the coaches, so normally he takes her, but he was tied up in a hearing. Thankfully, she caught a ride with the other coach along with three girls. They were so ecstatic! One van with four girls pumped for one of the biggest games of their season!Hubby met up with them at the rink, and they had their game. But, the talk on the drive home between dad and daughter was not so much about the game, but rather the trip to McDonald's. I knew the other girls would all be having something to eat on the drive, so I had packed a lunch for our daughter, and also some cupcakes and cookies for the other girls (and the coach... I say thanks with cookies)!
I didn't know the other girls would be stopping at McD's for their snacks (though it certainly didn't bother me that they did). But, here's the thing, this was our girl's first step through those doors (because, when else would she have been there?) and it was not what she had imagined. From some of the ads she's seen, I think she was expecting to find a carnival in there! She said "it's just like a little restaurant, and the menus are up on the wall, and there's just these little tables... there's nothing going on there, and there were no clowns anywhere!" Oh, I laughed!! It was funny to hear her reaction once that perception met reality, and that it wasn't the cool thing she thought it might be.
She did, however, bring home a toy. They get them with those toys, huh? It's all in the marketing, as we know. Get those kids while they're young, hook 'em with 'fun' meals and toys and catchy commercials. But, if you wait long enough, your kids might just be as underwhelmed as our daughter, and have no interest in the food - the toy maybe - but not the food. Hurrah!
And, that reminds me, this is a commercial that should really get more airtime... yep, this is what should be hooking us...
