Yum Brands, the umbrella corporation who owns the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, has announced that all of their restaurant locations will have calorie content displayed next to names of all menu items and their prices by January 1, 2011. Therefore, by knowing exactly what you're getting before placing an order, it's possible that consumers no longer could file high-profile lawsuits under the premise of, "the Chihuahua made me do it!"
The fast food empire, which also owns the Long John Silver's and A&W Restaurant chains, announced the corporate-wide change as a way to do California Governor Schwarzenegger one better in his efforts. The day before Yum's announcement, Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law that would require all restaurants with 20 or more locations in the state to disclose calorie content on all items by January 1, 2011. Yum has also vowed to refrain from future television advertisements targeting children under 12.
Now, for anyone whose been reading my blog for a while, you probably know that I'm not that big of a fan of any kind of restrictive action. I mean, if kids don't see an ad during Saturday morning cartoons conning them to eat at KFC they'll still get the message when they watch TV with their folks. Therefore, I don't agree with that portion of this new measure.
On the other hand, in the age of blogs, You Tube, and people making movies about gorging themselves on a McDonald's-only diet, we all crave information. We want to know what something is, where we can get the best price on it, and, in this case, exactly what we're getting ourselves into by purchasing it. Many years ago, packaged food manufacturers begin placing government-mandated nutrition facts and ingredient lists on all of their products. This way, the guess work is taken out of whether or not an allergy-prone person should consume something.
The food industry has also taken a page from the no fax payday loan industry who, since its infancy, has lent money to people who have fallen on temporary financial times. But even before a customer begins filling out an application, all terms, conditions, fees and repayment schedules are disclosed up front. Then, a customer must verify, in writing, that they understand what they're getting themselves into, before the funds change hands.
Certainly, our society would be a better place to live if all companies were to take a cue from Yum Brands and no fax payday loan companies.
