Public Health Association widely misrepresented on Ronald McDonald House Charities

“The Public Health Association strongly supports facilities for families of children in hospital with serious conditions receiving publicly funded health care. Our criticism is of the undesirable marketing of the fast food industry arising from the naming rights held by the McDonald’s brand”, says Warren Lindberg, Chief Executive of the Public Health Association.

“Funds to maintain the services provided to families come from community fundraising efforts and Ministry of Health subsidies as well as from the fast food industry. Yet by holding the naming rights, there is a powerful perception that the service is dependent on the generosity of McDonald’s. People are unaware of the funding sources and of the power of branding,” Lindberg says.

“It is time powerful figures in the food industry are willing to join us in changing the environments that promote ‘junk food’. If McDonald’s Restaurants (New Zealand) Limited and its corporate partners have any sense of social responsibility, they will continue to contribute to the delivery of such a valuable health service and give up the naming rights.”