McDonald's (MCD) is Putting Pedometers in Happy Meals Because Why Not
McDonald's Corp. (ticker: MCD) is doubling down on its recent health push by encouraging kids to exercise through a new Happy Meal item: the "STEP-it" fitness tracker, reports Engadget.
Customers can sport one of six pedometers on their wrist for a limited time -- four weeks -- with the purchase of Happy Meals in the U.S. and Canada. The pedometers blink slower and faster, all according to the rate a child moves.
Engadget notes this isn't the fast food chain's first foray into physical activity products, as it offered a Go Active! adult Happy Meal pedometer more than 10 years ago in Britain. The website also points out the timing is in line with McDonald's sponsorship of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
One commercial for the product paints a theoretically ideal scenario of kids using their Step It! tracker, with two girls running and hopping in place and comparing their steps. One girl even does a cartwheel and discovers it counted toward her steps. "Saturday Night Live" could have a lot of fun with this one, if past commercial spoofs are any indication.
Like many companies in the food industry, McDonald's is trying to please a complicated platter of consumers. Its recent efforts have included expanding its all-day breakfast menu and eliminating artificial preservatives across some of its menu. One restaurant -- a "McDonald's of the Future" -- even announced all-you-can-eat french fries.
McDonald's stock price has been flat in 2016 after seeing an up-and-down last few years, though whichever effort (or efforts) ultimately pays off will likely be the one that resonates with the most consumers.
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David Oliver is Associate Editor, Social Media at U.S. News & World Report. Follow him on Twitter, connect with him on LinkedIn, or send him an email at doliver@usnews.com.
