McDonald's has never been on the list of healthiest anything. I would say that it's safe to say everyone knows McDonald's is not very healthy. McDonald's spends billions of dollars each year advertising their food, and it sells. However, some people abuse the cheap prices and delicious food.
In 2003, an unidentified man tried to sue Mcdonalds for making them fat. The judge of the case immediately dismissed the trial because of its unconvincing logic.
The plaintiff cited that McDonald's food was making him and many other people obese. Obese does not just mean a little out of shape, obese is when your body mass index is above 30kg/m2. That would be a 6 foot tall man weighting more than 225 pounds (would make them legally obese). The argument that eatingMcDonald's food made them obese, is logically incorrect. It fits into the logical fallacy of non-sequitar.
The conclusion the plaintiff made does not follow the premise. Just like saying because it rained, i forgot my lunch. Because i ate McDonald's, i got fat does not add up. Just because McDonald's food is unhealthy does not mean that eating it is the sole reason that a person might become fat.
This court case was made famous for its stupidity. The plaintiff obviously just wanted to make some money any way he could, but honestly his try was very weak. He presented no evidence and his statement was completely non-sequitar.
http://money.cnn.com/2003/01/22/news/companies/mcdonalds/
People always seem to blame someone or something in their life when something doesn't go their way. They don't want to believe that its their fault and that they could have avoided their issue. And with that, I think this story could have been the logical fallacy of slippery slope too. If I eat McDonald's, then I get fat. I agree with you that they obviously don't add up and there are many more reasons why you have become over weight. They try to blame the fast food and want some type of compensation. They are using the slippery slope and non-sequitor logical fallacy and not getting anywhere while doing it.
Posted by: jack badger | 10/12/2011 at 09:54 PM
McDonalds has always been associated with overweight/obese people. Well, it's not the blame can't be put solely on McDo and other fastfood chains. Consumers who entertain their products are also to blame for their actions. With self-discipline and proper moderation, perhaps no one would be obese at all.
Posted by: Dennis Rode | 12/08/2011 at 08:44 AM