McDonald's Corp. CEO Don Thompson landed in some hot water after a 9-year-old girl accused the fast food giant of trying to "trick kids into eating food that isn't good for them."
During McDonald's annual shareholders meeting in Chicago on Thursday, Hannah was first up at the microphone when the meeting opened up to questions.
"It would be nice if you stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat your food all the time," she told McDonald's CEO Don Thompson, according to NBC news.
"There are things in life that aren't fair-like when your pet dies," said Hannah, boldly. "I don't think it's fair when big companies try to trick kids into eating food. It isn't fair that so many kids my age are getting sick," she said-blaming McDonald's for unfairly targeting kids with advertisements for food that isn't good for them.
"We are not the cause of obesity. Ronald is not a bad guy," Mr. Thompson said. "He's about fun. He's a clown. I'd urge you all to let your kids have fun, too."
"We don't sell junk food. My kids also eat at McDonald's and we sell a lot of fruits and vegetables and we're tring to sell more. We are making a lot of changes and will continue to do so," he said.
Thompson later added that McDonald's sells food made with real beef, real chicken, real eggs, etc., in a way that is affordable.
The question is whether people will turn to McDonald's for those kind of items. A quarter of the company's sales still come from core menu items such as burgers and fries, the company said.
