Rapid responses are electronic comments to the editor. They enable our users
to debate issues raised in articles published on bmj.com. A rapid response
is first posted online. If you need the URL (web address) of an individual
response, simply click on the response headline and copy the URL from the
browser window. A proportion of responses will, after editing, be published
online and in the print journal as letters, which are indexed in PubMed.
Rapid responses are not indexed in PubMed and they are not journal articles.
The BMJ reserves the right to remove responses which are being
wilfully misrepresented as published articles or when it is brought to our
attention that a response spreads misinformation.
From March 2022, the word limit for rapid responses will be 600 words not
including references and author details. We will no longer post responses
that exceed this limit.
The word limit for letters selected from posted responses remains 300 words.
The piece by Melissa Sweet on the McDonalds and Weight Watchers co-
branding of 'healthy choices' in New Zealand referred to our concerns
about this unlikely partnership. In essence, the Weight Watchers CEO said
'healthy meals sales are increasing and thats a good thing..'. It is, but
only if these increase at the expense of less healthy choices, and our
central argument is that such partnerships create community perceptions of
corporate health promotion.
In reality, we contend that it is likely that sales of less healthy
choices increase much faster than healthy ones, and do so through
attracting customers through the 'health conscious argument'; in this
business model, many customers, or their pediatric entourages, would then
consume more of the less healthy options. This would positively impact on
total sales for McDonalds, create customers for Weight Watchers' services,
and increase the girth of consumers - an example of increases in the
'triple bottom line'.
This would require data we could never have, as such trend
information are, of course, "commercial in confidence". However, as with
the tobacco industry for decades, we live in hope for an evidence based
piece of public health information ... and, one day, perhaps MacDonalds
could undertake to publish genuine data on trends in the sales of the
standard MacDonalds fare ?
Adrian Bauman, Louise Baur, Lesley King
University of Sydney
Getting the "real deal" from McDonalds and Weight Watchers
The piece by Melissa Sweet on the McDonalds and Weight Watchers co-
branding of 'healthy choices' in New Zealand referred to our concerns
about this unlikely partnership. In essence, the Weight Watchers CEO said
'healthy meals sales are increasing and thats a good thing..'. It is, but
only if these increase at the expense of less healthy choices, and our
central argument is that such partnerships create community perceptions of
corporate health promotion.
In reality, we contend that it is likely that sales of less healthy
choices increase much faster than healthy ones, and do so through
attracting customers through the 'health conscious argument'; in this
business model, many customers, or their pediatric entourages, would then
consume more of the less healthy options. This would positively impact on
total sales for McDonalds, create customers for Weight Watchers' services,
and increase the girth of consumers - an example of increases in the
'triple bottom line'.
This would require data we could never have, as such trend
information are, of course, "commercial in confidence". However, as with
the tobacco industry for decades, we live in hope for an evidence based
piece of public health information ... and, one day, perhaps MacDonalds
could undertake to publish genuine data on trends in the sales of the
standard MacDonalds fare ?
Adrian Bauman, Louise Baur, Lesley King
University of Sydney
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests