Three meals with the Weight Watchers logo will go on sale in New Zealand today and are expected in Australia later this year. The deal is part of a six year push by McDonalds to change its image and comes three years after the company paid $330,000 to put the Heart Foundation’s tick on seven meals, including burgers and nuggets.
Weight Watchers spokesman Chris Stirk said the partnership had been formed after similar successful alliances with other restaurant chains in the UK and the US.
“People have a greater chance of losing weight and keeping it off when they did not have to deprive themselves of every indulgence,” he said.
The meals include the Filet o Fish (1390 kilojoules), Chicken Nuggets (1560 kilojoules) and the Sweet Chilli Seared Chicken Wrap (1640 kilojoules), each served with salad as well as water or a diet drink. They add up to 6.5 Weight Watchers points each, which those in the program must factor into their daily intake of between 18 and 40 points each day in order to reach their goal weight.
According to McDonald’s New Zealand Managing Director, Mark Hawthorne, the menu items were carefully chosen.
“We were able to include some of our most popular items because of the many changes we have made over the years. For instance, the switch to a healthier canola blend cooking oil means menu items such as the Filet-O-Fish and Chicken McNuggets contain 60% less saturated fat than they did six years ago,” he says.
But Nutritionists and Obesity Experts say the deal is just a marketing ploy to lure people into McDonalds so that they can buy more burgers.
“Make no mistake, this is about selling more burgers and fries,” Boyd Swinburn, from the Australian Society for the Study of Obesity at Deakin University, told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“Mum can go in and feel good about her Weight Watches meal while she buys the kids burgers. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive.”
Nutritionist Rosemary Stanton agreed, telling the SMH that sales of burgers and chips soared when McDonald’s brought in its Deli Choices rolls back in 2004.
Weight Watches Spokesman Chris Stirk defended the move, saying that while the partnership may be unexpected, the new meals were part of their philosophy.
Spokeswoman for the Fight the Obesity Epidemic group, Dr Robin Toomath, told the New Zealand Herald that the move would be okay if it encouraged existing McDonald’s customers to make a healthier choice.
However, she said it was more likely that the promotion would attract new customers and thus normalise the regular eating of McDonalds.
