Things I learned at the McDonalds Family Weekend

This is a sponsored post from BlogHer and McDonald's.

When some of my friends found out that I had been invited by McDonald's to visit their campus in Illinois, there were a few raised eyebrows and questions. You're going? Are you going to be eating hamburgers and fries for three days? Can you ask them to add carrots and grapes to the kids' Happy Meals? What do they put in those McDonald's fries?? Given the obesity epidemic in the US, it's no surprise that McDonald's is constantly under fire for nutritional content and marketing to kids, and I've often wondered what they put in those fries myself -- but I've never thought of McDonald's as one of those "evil corporations". McDonald's is quite a popular restaurant in the Philippines, where eating at a McDonald's is still considered a treat by many. And whenever we vacation in the UK, we frequently eat at McDonald's -- and find ourselves pleasantly surprised by the delicious, healthy options we've found on the UK menu. So I resolved to keep an open mind and enter the McDonald's Family Time Getaway ready and willing to learn. I was eager to attend because I would have a chance like no other to give my opinions, offer feedback, ask questions, and find out what goes on behind the Golden Arches.



I'm so glad we attended, and so grateful to McDonald's for opening up their doors to me, my family, and the other bloggers. We enjoyed three full days of presentations, tours and activities, including a scavenger hunt, a family barbecue, a session with the president of McDonald's USA, a visit to a Ronald McDonald House, a cooking session and a tasting of some of their newest products. And I learned lots of things about McDonald's business practices and culture that have left me with a much more positive impression of McDonald's as a corporation, Here are five things that I learned about McDonald's during our busy, entertaining, eye-opening weekend:


5) You can customize your McDonald's hamburger practically any way you want. The kids and I got to stand behind the counter during our behind-the-scenes restaurant tour, and building a custom burger is as easy as putting your finger to the touchscreen. No pickles? No problem. Two slices of cheese? Easy-peasy. Extra lettuce and no onions? Coming right up. Two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame seed bun? They have exactly the burger you want....


4) The only Happy Meal that appears on ads is the one that meets US nutritional guidelines for kids: a Happy Meal with 4-pc Chicken McNuggets, Apple Dippers and lowfat white milk. Also, Ronald McDonald never directly markets Happy Meals to kids. He appears in McDonald's ads promoting healthy and fun lifestyles, and he has also appeared in a number of public campaigns including seat belt safety and bicycle helmet safety. Oh, in case you were wondering: there's only ONE Ronald McDonald. When we asked the staff if the same guy was playing Ronald for the whole weekend, we were told, "He IS Ronald!". I guess he's like Santa Claus, and he can be in thousands of restaurants worldwide.


3) McDonald's restaurants around the world have a variety of healthy options for kids' meals. For example, kids in the UK can get carrots or grapes and apples with their Happy Meals. Kids in Spain can have cherry tomatoes. Kids in Japan can have sweetcorn. And if US-based parents complain about the lack of healthy options in US Happy Meals, perhaps we'd better take a closer look at ourselves: McDonald's has test-marketed healthy Happy Meal side dishes like the ones I mentioned, but not enough parents bought them for their kids to make it economically viable to introduce nationwide. In short, McDonald's tried, but the healthy stuff didn't sell.


2) There's nothing in Chicken McNuggets other than an injection of teriyaki flavor solution, breadcrumbs and white meat. That's it. No breadcrumbs or other fillers. And no hormones either; the use of hormones to grow chickens quicker has been banned for quite a while, and McDonald's chicken suppliers do not use it.


1) The French fries are just that. No preservatives, no chemicals, no fillers. They are real potatoes that have been cut into strips, partially fried, flash frozen, and delivered to your local McDonald's. Once they're at a restaurant, a crew member puts them in the deep fryer, takes them out when they're done, and salts them. So when anyone asks you, "What do they put in those McDonald's fries???", you can tell them, "Just potatoes. I have it on highest authority -- Bonggamom told me".



This summer, we're vacationing in the UK for a month. Guess which fast-food restaurant we'll be visiting while we're there? That's right, the one with the carrots, grapes and apples!


Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds reader will win a McDonald’s Family Fun Prize Pack (ARV $100) which contains:

* A Smile Tote Bag
* A $25 AMC Gift Card
* A $20 McDonald's Arch Card
* A Fleece Blanket
* A Frisbee
* A pack of McDonald's French Fry Playing Cards


To enter, just leave a comment on this post and share a fun McDonald's related moment in your life or ask me any question you like about the McDonald's Family Time Getaway, or any question about McDonald's in general. You can get extra entries by tweeting and blogging about this giveaway, making sure to include a link to this giveaway in your tweet or blog post. Just leave a comment on this post and share the link to your tweet or blog post. Entries will be accepted until Aug. 10, 2010. For full giveaway rules, click here. You can also gain extra entries by going to the BlogHer special offers page, because the other bloggers who went to the McDonalds Family Weekend are also giving away prize packs. Good luck!