Why A McDonald's Happy Meal Toy Promoting Fitness Was One Of The Worst Mistakes Ever

McDonald's has found its way mixed into more than a fair share of controversies over the years, as you may expect. Though we bet more than a few McNuggets you haven't heard of the Happy Meal "fitness trackers" that got recalled due to skin irritations in 2016. Yeah ... we didn't think so. What may have been even more surprising is the words "fitness" and "McDonald's" in the same sentence. Though, you're not seeing funny — in 2016, the quick bites giant released a new toy alongside its kids' meals, that being a fitness tracker, formally known as the Step-It Activity Band. Though the company has experienced and sustained many scandals over the years, this one was particularly egregious.

Happy Meals have been around since 1979, allowing for longstanding relationships to develop amongst the company's customer base. With a long history of nostalgic Happy Meals toys amid iconic McDonald's collaborations with the likes of Beanie Babies, nobody could've guessed its newest release would be unsafe.

Soon after the release of the Step-It Activity Band, McDonald's reported that over 70 customers suffered injuries — in the form of burns and skin damage — from the wristbands, possibly stemming from the heat produced by the batteries. This statistic was especially shocking, as those who sustained the injuries were mostly recipients of Happy Meals, that being primarily children. How did they resolve the issue, you may be wondering? The company immediately recalled the dangerous toys and offered a free yogurt tube or different toy in exchange for the faulty fitness trackers. 

You may be wondering about the specifics of this colorful plastic nightmare — and how it was originally designed. The band had two versions: a model that would light up based on how fast it perceived you were moving, and a version that counted your steps (or at least tried to). The mid-2010s were rampant with a wearables-fixated population, an uptick in health consciousness paired with the gamification of exercise that inevitably led to a market boom. Don't you distinctly remember when Fitbits started cropping up by the millions?

In 2013, McDonald's introduced its new health-conscious era, instigated by signing a voluntary agreement with Healthier Generation. The companies worked together to change McDonald's menu to promote more balanced options, such as offering customers a side of fruit or vegetables, or including nutrition-related facts on its Happy Meal boxes. Amidst media attention and the cultural shift toward healthier eating generally, these changes created the perfect pathway for the inadvertent nightmare toy to appear. The Step-it Activity Band was therefore born, totaling at 33 million units. The "steps" fixation seemingly ruled our every movement, literally. It was only a matter of time before the concept was translated into children's toys.