San Francisco Bans the Happy Meal

It seems the San Francisco Board of Supervisors has accomplished what the Hamburglar never could. They've made off with McDonald's fare.

The supes passed an ordinance [Nov 2, 2010] that will require meals to meet nutritional guidelines if restaurants wish to include a toy with the food purchase.

More importantly, the supes passed the so-called "Happy Meal Ban" by an 8-3 vote -- meaning it can survive a promised veto from Mayor Gavin Newsom. That's right: San Francisco done banned the Happy Meal. Robble robble.

All along, the critical vote on Supervisor Eric Mar's ordinance belonged to Supervisor Bevan Dufty -- you could label him the city's Burger Kingmaker. For weeks, Dufty refused to disclose which way he was leaning. Now we know.

It's an interesting choice for a mayoral candidate running as a pro-business moderate. But it's not a decision that was arrived at lightly. Dufty's office began to resemble a McDonald's, actually: Billions and billions of stakeholders served.

Then again, local young people have rated the toys found in happy meals as "sucky." So it's not such a grand haul.