• by Thom Forbes  @tforbes, December 1, 2011

Never underestimate the wiliness of a marketing organization that could get us believing that ingesting a Big Mac constitutes giving ourselves “a break.”

You may recall that the San Francisco Board of Supervisors -- overriding a veto by Mayor Gavin Newsom and thumbing its nose at the editorial voice of the San Francisco Chronicle and countless constituents wagging their finders at “government-by-nanny” -- last year passed an ordinance that banned “toys that go along with fast food drenched in sugar, salt and fat” (as even the disapproving Chronicle editorial put it). Well, the law goes into effect today. And as a fresh Examiner editorial observes in a headline: “McDonald's outwits S.F. City Hall on Happy Meals.”

Parents who fork over a dime can not only get the Happy Meal toy for their little shavers, they can and feel righteous about it, too: all proceeds will be going to Ronald McDonald House of San Francisco. Burger King quickly announced that it, too, will charge 10 cents for toys, Rachel Gordon tells us in SF Gate this morning, but it hasn’t identified where the windfall will be directed.

"Rather than fight city hall, I am complying with the letter of the law," says McDonald's franchisee Scott Rodrick, who owns just over half of the 19 McDonald's franchises in San Francisco, Reuters reports.

Some folks believe that Rodrick and the Bigger Macs in Oak Brook are being a bit disingenuous.

“As McDonald’s long has, it is again using a charity that helps children get well to defend a practice that contributes to a range of diet-related conditions like diabetes,” Corporate Accountability International group tells the Los Angeles Times in an email.

Harold Goldstein, executive director of the California Center for Public Health Advocacy, tells the New York Times’ Stephanie Strom that the move allows McDonald’s to “gut this health ordinance,” and to “continue to seduce children to eat junk food.” He adds: “In the battle over children’s health, consider this a win for obesity and diabetes.”

Under the new law, CNN reports, meals that give away toys for free must be fewer than 600 calories, contain fruits (a half-cup) and vegetables (3/4 of a cup, have less than 35% of the total calories coming from fat, less than 640 milligrams of sodium and less than 0.5 milligrams of trans fat. Meals that cost a penny or more have no restrictions.

Says McDonald’s spokesperson Danya Proud: “While we will fully comply with this law, we also have a responsibility to give our customers what they want. Parents have told us they’d still like the option of purchasing a toy separately for their child when they buy them a Happy Meal.”

Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, director of occupational and environmental health at San Francisco’s Department of Public Health, tells the Times’ Strom that McDonald’s work-around tactic is not evidence that the ordinance is a failure.  “We are going to learn from how the industry responds,” he says, “and do what’s necessary to improve regulation.”

San Francisco City and County Supervisor Eric Mar, who proposed the ordinance, actually agrees with critics of the law who say that responsibility for what kids eat is ultimately a parent’s responsibility.

“But, fast-food restaurants play a role and ‘benefit from the pester power of the kids of young ages,’ he tells CNN’s Madison Park. "It's our job as a local legislator to protect public health. Nothing is more important than children's health."

How much of a role the toys play in enticing kids to ingest the Happy Meals is a debatable topic, with opinions running the gamut.

“The toys are the only reason kids want Happy Meals and the only reason parents buy them,” nutritionist and New York University professor Marion Nestle says in the New York Times. “It’s not about the food.”

Hmmmm. In case you missed it, one Don Gorske, 57, has consumed 25,000 Big Macs -- two a day and counting -- since 1972 and lived to be written about for his accomplishment. And there’s not a shredded lettuce’s worth of evidence that he was ever enticed by the likes of Sharkboy or Lavagirl to do so.