McDonald's Thinks of Marketing Healthier Food Variants

McDonald's announced Thursday that it will no longer market some of its less nutritional options to children and said that it also intends to include fruits and vegetables in the menu, according to the NY Times.

It plans to make the changes to its menu in 20 of the company's largest markets, which account for more than 85 percent of its overall sales, including overseas. But it will take three years or more to put them into place in about half the restaurants in those markets, and the remainder may not have the changes until 2020.

The offerings, which were announced in conjunction with the Clinton Foundation's campaigns to reduce childhood obesity, are part of McDonald's efforts to compete for health-conscious customers by featuring food choices that are lower in fat, salt or sugar content than its more traditional burger-and-fries options.

Although it has added salads, fruits and cut raw vegetables to its menu in recent years, the chain has experienced flat sales across much of its business in the United States and Europe, and forecast earlier this summer that little would alter the company's financial picture anytime soon.

The millennial generation, a key demographic that is being wooed by fast-casual restaurants like Panera Bread and Chipotle, in particular has not become a loyal patron of McDonald's. As part of the new menu changes, the company said it would use its arsenal of marketing tools, from menu boards to national television advertising campaigns, to help customers understand the nutritional choices available.

"Companies like McDonald's play a powerful role in shaping the culture and environment that influences the health-related behaviors of young people," said Howell Wechsler, chief executive of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, an organization set up by the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association to reduce obesity in children, which has reached epidemic levels in the United States and is growing globally.