Sick Kids dumps Burger King from food court, but Pizza Pizza and Subway remain
A minor victory for anti–junk food forces came last week as the creepy despot of the beef kingdom, Burger King, served its last meal from the Hospital for Sick Children’s food court. Some doctors at Sick Kids had been agitating to get Burger King shut down through a Facebook group suffering from severe friend anemia (seriously, 258 members?), but the process has apparently been underway for some time: Sick Kids had decided to auction off BK’s slot, and has managed the process so that something a bit healthier would win the competition.
According to the Globe and Mail:
Whatever some physicians may have thought of the burger chain’s menu, the hospital has benefited from the association. According to a statement from Cameron Loopstra, senior marketing manager at Burger King Canada, the chain has raised more than $2.5 million for the Sick Kids Foundation since 1999, mostly through initiatives such as the Toonie Bear campaign.
Mr. Loopstra says Burger King will continue to raise money for the hospital throughout this year.
Stuart Howe, director of business services and development at Sick Kids, says that when he was hired last January, he reviewed the hospital’s retail operations and surveyed staff to see what they wanted. Then, in June, an open bidding process began for a handful of leases; Burger King submitted a proposal, but didn’t win.
The dissonance between the excellent care people get at Sick Kids and the lack of care they do to their bodies by eating at Burger King has been irking some people for a while now. That dissonance is going to stick around for at least a little while, as Pizza Pizza and Subway get to remain in the food court. (How healthy is a veggie slice? Does the cheese need to be scraped off?) We eagerly look forward to the feedback from Sick Kids’ latest health food consultant, Jared Fogle.
, but the process has apparently been underway for some time: Sick Kids had decided to auction off BK’s slot, and has managed the process so that something a bit healthier would win the competition.
According to the Globe and Mail:
Whatever some physicians may have thought of the burger chain’s menu, the hospital has benefited from the association. According to a statement from Cameron Loopstra, senior marketing manager at Burger King Canada, the chain has raised more than $2.5 million for the Sick Kids Foundation since 1999, mostly through initiatives such as the Toonie Bear campaign.
Mr. Loopstra says Burger King will continue to raise money for the hospital throughout this year.
Stuart Howe, director of business services and development at Sick Kids, says that when he was hired last January, he reviewed the hospital’s retail operations and surveyed staff to see what they wanted. Then, in June, an open bidding process began for a handful of leases; Burger King submitted a proposal, but didn’t win.
The dissonance between the excellent care people get at Sick Kids and the lack of care they do to their bodies by eating at Burger King has been irking some people for a while now. That dissonance is going to stick around for at least a little while, as Pizza Pizza and Subway get to remain in the food court. (How healthy is a veggie slice? Does the cheese need to be scraped off?) We eagerly look forward to the feedback from Sick Kids’ latest health food consultant, Jared Fogle.
• Burger King loses foothold at Sick Kids [Globe and Mail]){kind=link}
It seems a little odd that the hospital is quite willing to accept the donations from B King and McD’s but won’t let them sell the products that create the ability to make the donations.
It’s the same reason you see the Salvation Army looking for donations at the LCBO over Christmas. Being a hypocrite doesn’t seem to matter as long as the $$$ are coming in.
If anybody thinks that Pizza is better for you over the longer term than a burger then they are crazy. The sad thing is that Burger King has no way of fighting this without looking like a poor corporate citizen. Stop giving money to the hospital and get slammed by the public and the media. They basically have to take their lumps and head back to the kingdom they came from.
Sick Kids is sadly mistaken if they think pizza is more healthy than a burger. At least not the way Pizza Pizza makes it. And they obviously have no scruples over the fact that Pizza Pizza’s founder is a convicted con man.
Lead by example. Would you serve pizza, burgers or any other unhealthy food patients as their daily in-room delivered hospital food? Also, does this mean that if I donate a respectable amount of money I can influence Sick Kids integrity? Sad.
The Globe and Mail article also states that you still can get ‘junk food’ at the Shoppers Drug Mart located in the hospital. The eviction of Burger King is the scapegoat for Sick Kids.
Well, I guess the kids got it in the ass this time; Pizza Pizza serves shite pizza and Subway serves shitely undertoppinged, tasteless and dry sandwiches. Go capitalism.
Guess this is gonna turn out like the ‘healthy choices’ in school cafeterias recently that the kids fought back against by going to the local chain restaurants at lunchtime.
-Pre-God.