McDonalds to Stop Serving Overweight Customers – Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
McDonalds plans to stop serving overweight customers in 2015.
The Truth:
It’s not true that McDonalds plans to turn away overweight customers.
The claim started with a satirical story published by the website Daily Buzz Live in December of 2014. The story was shared and liked nearly 700,000 times on Facebook. According to the report:
According to reports, beginning January 1, 2015, McDonald’s will no longer serve customers who show risks of being overweight. They will define overweight by these standards: Over 170 lbs for women and 245 lbs for men. Children’s weight restrictions will vary depending on age and height.
The fake story drew strong responses from social media users. But the website’s disclaimer states: “A few stories are works of complete fiction” — and this is one of them.
But like most satirical stories, this one was inspired by actual events. A weigh-loss expert and hypnotherapist named Steve Miller called on fast food restaurants to turn away overweight customers in November of 2014. The U.K.-based Daily Record reports:
Steve says: “Fast food staff are the key holders to weight loss in the UK. They interact with obese customers every day and quite often get to know them because they become regulars.
“If they’re trained to turn away fat people then they could help with the UK’s obesity problem. They can be taught about what to look out for, maximum weight limits and how to help. It’s not about humiliation.
Miller also called for fast food workers to use “hypnotic language” to help overweight customers eat less and choose healthier options.
So far, fast food chains haven’t taken the bait on Miller’s ideas.