McDonald’s Has Issued a Recall on its Activity Trackers Because They Were Doing This to Kids

McDonald’s Has Issued a Recall on its Activity Trackers Because They Were Doing This to Kids

McDonald’s has issued a recall on their new fitness trackers for kids.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall last Tuesday, saying the small device given away in MacDonald’s Happy Meals was causing burns, skin irritations and blisters.

Is it a big deal? It could be. In the U.S, twenty-nine million units had been distributed at the time of the recall, and in Canada, 3.6 million.

In response to questions about the recall, MacDonald’s reported that they received more than 70 complaints about the product.

Do you have a McDonald’s fitness tracker on hand? If you do, the restaurant has stated that the device is to be returned immediately to any McDonald’s restaurant, where customers can receive a free replacement toy and either a yogurt tube or bag of apple slices to go with it.

“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of our customers which is why upon learning about concerns with these bands we acted swiftly to stop distribution of these products,” said MacDonald’s spokesperson Terri Hickey in a press release on Tuesday. “We apologize to our customers who were impacted and for the inconvenience this recall has caused.”

OK, an apology is nice, but I’ll go there: is anyone really that surprised? Is it shocking to find out that a fitness device being given away for free with a tiny hamburger and fries in a box, doesn’t always actually work that well?

It is a shame that some children were physically hurt by the device, something that was supposed to make them healthier. And one would hope that no more harm comes to anyone.

But maybe the technology was onto something: eating at MacDonald’s isn’t actually healthy, and perhaps it can harm you, even though it tastes good.

Maybe this technology is smarter than we think. That’s all it was: it just took a broken activity tracker to call everyone out on the potential gimmick.

If you want something to get the kids off the couch, a ball and a jump rope can work just as well. Or this wristband from Unicef that gets kids moving and also helps malnourished children around the world.

Photo Credit: Ratana21/Shutterstock

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