# If your kid won't eat, take him out to a restaurant. Mm hmm. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 10, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941 "2010-03-10T03:03:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/41 "2010-03-11T05:07:47Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > I used to get the “EAT YOUR FOOD! PEOPLE ARE STARVING!” routine. My favorite companion to this, which I still use: Drink your beer. There are sober children in China. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/42 "2010-03-11T05:10:45Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Seriously. My mother always told me to eat everything on my plate, and now that I’m 27 and my metabolism has gone from a raging wildfire to a smoldering ember, this is no longer a practical method for determining how much to eat. I’m grateful my parents never did that. I was never good at eating past the point I was full, and my parents never were, “Just one more bite” types. They just believed in eating when you were hungry, not because you had to. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/43 "2010-03-11T05:54:34Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Would it be waaaay over the top for me to suggest that a commercial like this plays a part in normalization of bad child-rearing methods? Dunno. Maybe. The impression I get from the commercial is that kids will always hate what parents cook for them at home. Probably because parents cook vegetables, and those are yucky. Boston Pizza, on the other hand, makes vegetables fun! Look, they’re on a pizza! Dad likes the pretty young lady who brings their orders, and Mom likes the fact that the Kids don’t argue if the green peppers, mushrooms, and onions that they won’t eat at home are on a Boston Pizza. Kids get to color, and high-five the waitress. Everybody wins! You may have a point, **Cat** , but with all due respect, I believe that Boston Pizza isn’t concerned about child-rearing methods. Boston Pizza is out to attract people to their restaurants. This ad does just that–parents, your kids will eat if you bring them to Boston Pizza. We can supply healthy vegetables, grains, and meats. We don’t really care how you raise them, as long as you contribute to our bottom line. Hey, you want bolognese sauce with that garlic bread? Kids like it! Boston Pizza must be a godsend to people whose kids refuse to eat broccoli, spinach, onions, and/or peppers at home. Put them on a pizza or in an appetizer, and the kids dive right in. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/44 "2010-03-11T13:26:35Z")
Hijack – Who the fuck would name their chain “Boston Pizza”? Pizza around Boston is almost universally vile. Soggy, greasy, and flavorless. There’s exactly one decent local place that I’ve found, and that’s only if you eat it in the restaurant because it turns into an inedible soggy mess in ten minutes flat. That’s not even enough time to pickup pizza and get it home, let alone get it delivered… ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/45 "2010-03-11T13:33:02Z")
> [@MitzeKatze](#): > > I can’t speak for most parents, but I do dish up food onto my kids’ plates (including the 20 year old) but I also fix my husband’s plate and often plates for guests as well. That’s just how I do it…I cook and serve in the kitchen then place the prepared plates on the table. > > I know about how much my kids eat (or need to eat) so I have become pretty good at what amount to put out, and there is always plenty for seconds if need be. I never insisted they clean their plates if they were full, but I did insist on minimizing the waste…so there was no convincing Mom you are full when you just aren’t in the mood for whatever was cooked. What I found useful when the kids were small was when they said they were full with more than half their plates uneaten, I would offer dessert. If they were enthusiastic about ice cream (or whatever dessert we had) then I knew they weren’t really full and would make them eat some more. But if they turned down the dessert as well, it was a pretty safe bet they really were full and would be excused from the table. > > These days no one has to clean their plate, but they usually do on their own and the youngest is only encouraged to finish her plate when the food left behind is her vegetable or for other nutritional reasons, not based solely on the amount of food. Serving other people can be a recipe for disaster. I generally underestimate how much the sprog will eat because he can always ask for more if he wants it. On the other hand, his grandmother will dump adult-sized portions onto his plate and expect him to eat all of it before she will give him dessert. And there always has to be dessert. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/46 "2010-03-11T13:59:26Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Hijack – > > Who the fuck would name their chain “Boston Pizza”? Pizza around Boston is almost universally vile. Soggy, greasy, and flavorless. There’s exactly one decent local place that I’ve found, and that’s only if you eat it in the restaurant because it turns into an inedible soggy mess in ten minutes flat. That’s not even enough time to pickup pizza and get it home, let alone get it delivered… Obviously, the chain appeals to folks who live far, far away from Boston. 😃 It is a mostly Canadian chain, and to Canadians, “Boston” sounds appropriately American - associated with authentic tasty pizza. I can’t imagine what sort of food would be associated with Toronto in the minds of those who live far away from here. Montreal is easy - bagels and smoked meats. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/47 "2010-03-11T14:15:58Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > The wheelchair industry would appreciate (from a financial standpoint) kids being permanently crippled. But I bet you’d take issue with a wheelchair manufacturer putting out a commercial encouraging parents to shatter their kids legs when they miss curfew. I never said I thought this commercial was what they should be doing. I said I understood why they do it, which is not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/48 "2010-03-11T14:20:38Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Obviously, the chain appeals to folks who live far, far away from Boston. 😃 > > It is a mostly Canadian chain, and to Canadians, “Boston” sounds appropriately American - associated with authentic tasty pizza. Heh. But… why not name it after New York, or Chicago? They’re both more justifiably famous for good pizza. Pizza in Boston is a bad imitation of New York style pizza. > [@](#): > > I can’t imagine what sort of food would be associated with Toronto in the minds of those who live far away from here. Montreal is easy - bagels and smoked meats. And poutine. Also Tim Horton’s… and that’s pretty much the limit of my knowledge of Canadian cuisine. Though Windsor has some pretty rockin’ Chinese food. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/49 "2010-03-11T14:27:08Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Boston Pizza must be a godsend to people whose kids refuse to eat broccoli, spinach, onions, and/or peppers at home. Put them on a pizza or in an appetizer, and the kids dive right in. Not in my experience. Most kids I know only like their one type of pizza, usually cheese. They’ll actively take all the veggies off their pizza. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/50 "2010-03-11T14:37:06Z")
> [@lazybratsche](#): > > Heh. But… why not name it after New York, or Chicago? They’re both more justifiably famous for good pizza. Pizza in Boston is a bad imitation of New York style pizza. The good folks who live in Butthurt, Alberta don’t have a clue that pizza really purchaced in the city of Boston actually sucks. “Boston” just means “An American city, reputed to have folks who talk with a funny but apparently upscale accent”. A place called “Boston Pizza” thus combines two general impressions - American-ness (and Americans are supposed to make awesome pizza) and a hint of tony-ness, too. The message is intended to be that this is a place where you can get pizza that is also a trifle upscale, clean and friendly; if you called in “Chicago Pizza” it would have a more gritty, authentic feel. Think of the difference between a Kennedy sitting down to a slice, and Al Capone. > [@](#): > > And poutine. Also Tim Horton’s… and that’s pretty much the limit of my knowledge of Canadian cuisine. Though Windsor has some pretty rockin’ Chinese food. There is great food in Toronto, but not specificly Toronto food. Toronto has great food that comes from everywhere else - Chinese, Greek, Vietnamese, you name it. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/51 "2010-03-11T16:09:31Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > I never said I thought this commercial was what they should be doing. I said I understood why they do it, which is not the same thing. IMO, you weren’t \*just \*understanding–you were _condoning_. I \*“understand” \*why Hitler set up Jews as a scapegoat to pull his country out of a major economic depression, but I’m not going to make excuses for him or try to pretend that it was a good thing, just because there was a reason behind it. _Godwinize’d!!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/52 "2010-03-11T16:12:04Z")
Encouraging kids to eat at a pizza place = shattering their legs/Hitler-esque? Between this and the “Hey FATTIES” thread, I have to ask, **Shot From Guns**. Are you [Meme Roth](http://the-f-word.org/blog/index.php/2009/05/27/the-skinny-on-meme-roth/)? ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/53 "2010-03-11T16:19:12Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > IMO, you weren’t \*just \*understanding–you were _condoning_. I \*“understand” \*why Hitler set up Jews as a scapegoat to pull his country out of a major economic depression, but I’m not going to make excuses for him or try to pretend that it was a good thing, just because there was a reason behind it. > > _Godwinize’d!!!_ I said nothing about whether what they were doing was good or bad. I did say that taking parenting advice from someone who benefits from your poor parenting is probably not a good idea. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/54 "2010-03-11T16:44:09Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > Encouraging kids to eat at a pizza place = shattering their legs/Hitler-esque? My problem isn’t the pizza place \*qua \*the pizza place; it’s about encouraging children to be _whiny fucking brats_. ---
**Author:** ![otternell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecc23a/32.png) [@otternell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/otternell)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/55 "2010-03-11T17:41:08Z")
**SFG** I just like you more and more! Keep it up! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/56 "2010-03-11T19:35:55Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Dunno. Maybe. The impression I get from the commercial is that kids will always hate what parents cook for them at home. Probably because parents cook vegetables, and those are yucky. > > Boston Pizza, on the other hand, makes vegetables fun! Look, they’re on a pizza! Dad likes the pretty young lady who brings their orders, and Mom likes the fact that the Kids don’t argue if the green peppers, mushrooms, and onions that they won’t eat at home are on a Boston Pizza. Kids get to color, and high-five the waitress. Everybody wins! > > \ > > Boston Pizza must be a godsend to people whose kids refuse to eat broccoli, spinach, onions, and/or peppers at home. Put them on a pizza or in an appetizer, and the kids dive right in. Ah yes, the problem of kids and vegetables. There are a few factors at work there, judging from my own personal experiences both as a kid and as a professional cook/chef. 1. Adults/parents usually fail to understand that the sense of taste diminishes as the years go by, especially if a person drinks and/or smokes. Taste buds simply become less sensitive, and adults forget that a child’s brand new taste buds are much, _much_ more sensitive than their own. As a result, many foods that taste perfectly fine to an adult can be completely overpowering and unpleasant to a child. Some vegetables, particularly dark greens like broccoli and spinach, actually have a predominant bitter component that is going to be more evident to a child than to an adult. Yes, Mom, that bitterness is why I would so often _throw up_ when you forced me to eat those things. Also, the psychological remnants of being forced to eat things that made me throw up mean that, 30+ years later, I still can’t stomach (heh) the thought of eating those kinds of vegetables, ultimately to my detriment, as those dark green vegetables are a good source of vitamin A and other important nutrients. 2. Parents of young children are, more often than not, young themselves, and frequently have no idea what they’re doing in the kitchen. This is simply a combination of ignorance and inexperience. And so young mothers cook what _they_ like to eat and what they know how to cook, and (unreasonably, IMO) expect that their children should like those things too. In my case, it also didn’t help that my parents are early Baby Boomers whose parents grew up during the Great Depression. My mother’s not-unreasonable idea of a proper dinner was meat, vegetable, and starch. Okay, sure, that makes for a nice basic starting point, and is in fact the template for most of the “fancy” plates I put together now as a banquet chef at the city convention center. But my mom, being young and inexperienced, served almost everything in the most basic way possible. Meat seasoned with nothing but a little salt, plain potatoes or rice with nothing but margarine to put on them, and boiled vegetables. My mom was also utterly incapable of making gravy. I was in my 30s before I discovered beef stew could be very tasty, because my mom’s idea of beef stew was beef, potatoes, carrots, and celery all boiled (in water) together in a pot, with a little salt for seasoning. So nearly every dinner I got as a kid was comprised to two mostly flavorless components and one completely unpalatable (to me) component. As a footnote to that, I used to blame my mother’s bland cooking on _her_ mother, because on the rare occasions we ate at Grandma’s house we got the same bland fare. Much later, as an adult, I learned it was actually my grandfather’s fault. He was a cranky, chain-smoking alcoholic who pretty much wouldn’t eat anything but meat and potatoes, and Grandma, being the dutiful wife, cooked that kind of thing for him. When he finally died (dude stuck around until he was 83) and Grandma could eat what she wanted, my sisters and I were utterly astonished to discover that Grandma absolutely _loved_ hot and spicy Mexican and Italian food, and onions, and peppers, and all sorts of things like that, which she unfortunately was never able to pass along to my mom. 1. Many mothers, I think, fail to take the time to discover vegetables that their kids _will_ eat, and continue to try to force them to eat the unpalatable stuff on the basis of “it’s good for you!” When I was a young kid, I’d happily eat peas, carrots, green beans, corn, radishes … but Mom would continue making a huge issue out of my unwillingness/inability to get down things like broccoli and beets, the two biggies that I just couldn’t stomach. And, believe it or not, kids _do_ pick up on the hypocrisy of a mother who expects them to eat what they don’t like, but who also never serves anything _she_ doesn’t like. Hey, guess what, Mom? _Peppers and onions and mushrooms are good for you too!_ ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/57 "2010-03-11T19:40:55Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Dunno. Maybe. The impression I get from the commercial is that kids will always hate what parents cook for them at home. Probably because parents cook vegetables, and those are yucky. > > Boston Pizza, on the other hand, makes vegetables fun! Look, they’re on a pizza! Dad likes the pretty young lady who brings their orders, and Mom likes the fact that the Kids don’t argue if the green peppers, mushrooms, and onions that they won’t eat at home are on a Boston Pizza. Kids get to color, and high-five the waitress. Everybody wins! > > You may have a point, **Cat** , but with all due respect, I believe that Boston Pizza isn’t concerned about child-rearing methods. Boston Pizza is out to attract people to their restaurants. This ad does just that–parents, your kids will eat if you bring them to Boston Pizza. We can supply healthy vegetables, grains, and meats. We don’t really care how you raise them, as long as you contribute to our bottom line. Hey, you want bolognese sauce with that garlic bread? Kids like it! > > Boston Pizza must be a godsend to people whose kids refuse to eat broccoli, spinach, onions, and/or peppers at home. Put them on a pizza or in an appetizer, and the kids dive right in. My point isn’t that Boston Pizza is doing anything wrong (I totally agree that they’re in the food-selling business, not the raising your children properly business), but that people will see commercials like this and consciously or subconsciously think that if other people are doing it, it must be okay. I’ve never really associated Boston Pizza with pizza from Boston. I do know one thing, though; the pizza is probably the worst thing on the menu there. Maybe they got the name right. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/58 "2010-03-11T20:02:14Z")
> [@Mister\_Rik](#): > > 1. Adults/parents usually fail to understand that the sense of taste diminishes as the years go by, especially if a person drinks and/or smokes. Also that their children are not small copies of themselves, or blank slates. Kids come pre-programmed with likes and dislikes, which may or may not match those of their parents. Your kids aren’t going to like everything you like. This is true whether you’re talking about tastes in food, music, hobbies, sports, clothing, hairstyles, classes in school, careers, significant others/marriage partners, or lots of other things. > [@](#): > > 1. Parents of young children are, more often than not, young themselves, and frequently have no idea what they’re doing in the kitchen. This is simply a combination of ignorance and inexperience. Lots of people don’t know how to cook, or how to pick out groceries. The latter is important- if you buy low-quality produce or meat, even the best chef in the world is going to have a hard time getting them to taste good. If there are foods your kid will eat in a restaurant but not at home, that’s a big hint that they might not dislike that food, but dislike the way you cook it. Find a good cookbook (Mark Bittman’s _How to Cook Everything_ is good for this) and find out how it’s supposed to be cooked. Find some other ways to cook it. ETA: Yes, this is harder than just cooking things the way you already know how to cook them. If anybody told you parenting was supposed to be easy, they were lying or deluded. And don’t take it personally when somebody doesn’t like the way you cook something. Everybody has different tastes in food. Not liking something you cook is not a rejection of you as a person. It really isn’t. > [@](#): > > And, believe it or not, kids _do_ pick up on the hypocrisy of a mother who expects them to eat what they don’t like, but who also never serves anything _she_ doesn’t like. Hey, guess what, Mom? _Peppers and onions and mushrooms are good for you too!_ Kids can see that kind of hypocrisy from a mile off. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/59 "2010-03-11T20:12:48Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Kids can see that kind of hypocrisy from a mile off. Heh: “Don’t worry that children never listen to you; worry that they are always watching you.” – Robert Fulghum ---
**Author:** ![Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Hentor\_the\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hentor_the_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941/60 "2010-03-12T03:11:12Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > My point isn’t that Boston Pizza is doing anything wrong (I totally agree that they’re in the food-selling business, not the raising your children properly business), but that people will see commercials like this and consciously or subconsciously think that if other people are doing it, it must be okay. Do you really think that people are going to start reinforcing undesirable behavior from their children because of a television commercial that they saw? Are you worried that people are going to start tackling old ladies because they saw it on a Snickers commercial, or throw people out of windows if they suggest doing away with buying beer for meetings, or racing through traffic so that they can bring their child a happy meal? Do you realize how many commercials over the past several decades have humorously featured behavior that would not be good to emulate in order to sell a product? Also, is this the first time you’ve ever seen a commercial which suggests that if your family is unhappy with your food regimen, you ought to make them happy with a particular product? Either you’re extremely young, new to television watching, or Canada is really a wonderland of goodness and light. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-your-kid-wont-eat-take-him-out-to-a-restaurant-mm-hmm/531941.md?page=4)