I'm loving it

Recent news lets us know that McDonald's, long the bastion of grease and a certain flaunting of an unhealthy attitude, has decided that it's time to revamp their children's play areas. They have begun inserting mini-gyms in place of the playlands in a few restaurants already, looking to get the kids stuffing themselves on Happy Meals to stuff themselves into the R Gym for stationary biking or other fitness activities.

Of course, once the R Gym is seen at McDonald's outside of California, people will begin to look differently at the fast-food outlet. They'll stop seeing just the Big Mac, or the Supersize of fries and a soft drink. Instead, they'll see that McDonald's really cares. About our children, and their health. McDonald's wants our kids to exercise, to keep them from becoming obese, and to assert their dominance over other fast-food restaurants in the battle over who cares more about their customers' well-being. After all, Wendy's may have salads, but McDonald's has the R Gym.

Or people will see through the shameless attempt to polish an image tarnished by years of overweight clientele and health risks associated with their food, and ignore the latest publicity stunt. After all, people aren't hitting McDonald's because they want something healthy... they go to McDonald's because they want something quick and inexpensive. So McDonald's? Get your gyms out of our ball pits.

On second thought, keep 'em there. If we can get the kids motivated to do something, it should save you money in the long run. After all, if you keep the future generations thin enough, you won't have to renovate your stores with bigger doors and more clearance around the cash registers. Now that's forward thinking.