Kids are getting desensitized all the time. Look at the video games. Killing animals/people. I believe it desensitizes them. The tv shows are doing the same. You are right, Bryan.

I'm pleased to say that my children would be traumatized by it and I would have to get them out of there as if a melee had broken out.
Thankfully my kids don't eat McDonalds and I only do if I'm being paid WELL

I would be upset as well. My advice, for what it's worth, don't put yourself through it. If you have to be in eyeshot of the tv, don't look. Those headphones are a good start.

Um, then don't look....at the television...might be your answer?......

To simply not watch and not report would be enabling. As a shopper, we are supposed to put ourselves in the place of regular customers. I would be offended to find a loud TV with Fox News or CNN if I was dining. Both can be quite graphic, and the pure anger that spews from the former's commentaries turns my stomach. Why can't they put it on PBS or muted with closed captioning?

The content of the TV is an issue that may bother many customers as well as shoppers. I haven't done one of these shops in a long time, but I never saw anything that asked about the content or volume of the TV sets. Perhaps a question to the MSC regarding any interest by the client in this issue might be enlightening and helpful. Perhaps the client cares, perhaps not.

It is interesting there is something not more family friendly viewing at a Mc D's, however personally what they are viewing is reality and why we vote!! If one avoids reality of the world they will never make a difference and the USA, do not yip about taxes or the president or living in the USA. Why would you stop going its a shop.

I get reality on my terms. The major news networks are in the business to selectively report and to sensationalize. Sitting, having a meal, while people are ranting and raving is not pleasant, informative, or constructive. Saying no to Faux News and Cable Nonsense Network will not make anyone less informed. Trust me.

I don't care where I am--restaurant, hospital waiting room, etc.--if the content is too loud, obnoxious, or inappropriate for children, I ask the staff to change the channel. Ok, I insist. I have found that every event doesn't have to be reported to the MSC. One time I had a medical issue on a shop but I reported it as how the staff responded to a "customer". It was reported and the staff wouldn't ID me. So asking that the TV channel be changed doesn't have to be the mystery shopper doing it. Maybe after conversation the diner at the next table will do it.

I have requested the TV channel to be changed, shop and non-shop. I am not easily offended, so if something offends me, I imagine it would others as well.

I remember doing a bar shop back in April or May of 2008 and completely losing it at the news footage on TV. It was about the number of soldiers being lost in Afghanistan, and they were showing raw recorded footage of an IED explosion.

I'd just lost my best friend on March 8th, 2008 to an IED attack in Afghanistan, and seeing that footage... It gave me vivid imagery of what his last moments were like, and I lost it. I asked for it to be changed, and the bartender quickly changed it to a game show.

Chix Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Um, then don't look....at the television...might
> be your answer?......


Well Chix. WHEN do we not look when we see/hear violence, rape, child abuse, animals being abused etc. It doesn't solve the problem you know. We should do something about it and if I was in that restaurant, I would definitely tell them to change the station.

heartlandcanuck Wrote:
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> To simply not watch and not report would be
> enabling. As a shopper, we are supposed to put
> ourselves in the place of regular customers. I
> would be offended to find a loud TV with Fox News
> or CNN if I was dining. Both can be quite graphic,
> and the pure anger that spews from the former's
> commentaries turns my stomach. Why can't they put
> it on PBS or muted with closed captioning?

Reporting the content that's playing on the TV and stating what you think is appropriate or not is subjective and out of your scope.

Canuck Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chix Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Um, then don't look....at the
> television...might
> > be your answer?......
>
>
> Well Chix. WHEN do we not look when we see/hear
> violence, rape, child abuse, animals being abused
> etc. It doesn't solve the problem you know. We
> should do something about it and if I was in that
> restaurant, I would definitely tell them to change
> the station.


This is reality. Do you plan to live in a bubble and only listen to news that doesn't offend you?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2014 04:54PM by Tarantado.

We have the option of watching that "Reality" on our own time. News is available free online, and many people have cable and can watch it in their own homes if they want. We shouldn't be subjected to it constantly no matter where we go. Who can really enjoy their meal hearing a TV blaring a story about a man STONING his daughter to death?? That kind of news has no place in a restaurant!

Chix Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Um, then don't look....at the television...might
> be your answer?......


The point is, as a customer, would I want my 5 yo grandbaby to be watching this as we are sitting at a kid friendly restaurant???

Short answer, NO and I can't believe they put this on in an environment like that. It's MC DONALD'S. I would complain.

Now on the other hand. As a shopper being paid to audit. I would put it in the "other comments" and I would put it in every time there was unsightly programming on. Other than that, it is not your job to tell them what to do, only to report what you see.

What if someone else is watching? Why should something be changed because you're offended?

I respect your view, BBird0701. The way Canuck worded his/her response sounds as if he/she avoids reality altogether... That's what I was responding to.

What I am disagreeing with is what heartlandcanuck stated, when he/she thinks it's our responsibility as shoppers to report this, when that's outside of the scope of work for the McDonald's mystery shops. If the volume is unusually loud, then you have an argument to report that. Even then, the guidelines specifically focus on staff interaction, cleanliness and food quality. So if that's what they want, that's what they should be getting; not our opinions on what's showing on their TV's.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2014 05:18PM by Tarantado.

Tarantado, there are places in most shop reports to comment on anything unusual or something which could, technically, fall under a subjective observation.

I have overheard a McDonald's employee cursing at another employee, in the kitchen area, and I found it inappropriate and reported it. It was loud enough for me to hear it from the counter while I was ordering my meals.

It was not the volume of the employee's voice, but rather, what was said, that was inappropriate, and I did not think it was appropriate in a child-friendly restaurant, or in earshot of customers. So I reported it in my report.

Honestly, I think the TV content falls under that as well. It is not hard for them to switch between news channels when something gruesome comes on... It's in a restaurant, for goodness sake.

If I was a restaurant owner or manager, I'd change it just to avoid the possibility of a customer seeing it as an opportunity to complain and get a refund. "The television program is highly inappropriate and I lost my appetite(even though I completely finished my sandwich and almost all of my fries) ! I want my money back!"

If I was in a restaurant NOT ON A SHOP, I would report it. I choose not to have blinders on.

Those that know me here would understand what I'm saying.

Reality IS in my face, every single day. I live in pain 24/7 and deal with it.

I am in my 60's, female and have a lot of life experience. Living in a bubble? Don't make me laugh..

Got it?

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2014 05:52PM by Canuck.

BBird0701 – I completely agree with you with your situation with the foul-mouthed employee. Especially since the staff is one of the main focuses.

I guess the TV content is where we don't see eye to eye. Where do we draw the line on what's appropriate or not? Would it be better if they showed the Today Show or Good Morning America or something on PBS instead? Probably not either, huh? What about anything that shows a hint of religion? Restaurants may as well avoid showing anything broadcasted on TV altogether.

I'll back off the topic now, as it's becoming more and more off-topic on what should be a "mystery shop discussion."

Canuck – My previous response directed at you was a bit off-topic and would have been better left not said in the first... I apologize.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/22/2014 05:55PM by Tarantado.

Tarantado, videos and photos of a man stoning his daughter to death has no place in a restaurant dining room.

If you walked into a restaurant dining room and saw a 42" photo of a man being beheaded, mounted on a wall, would you report that as inappropriate in your "unusual observations" section? You probably would, wouldn't you? So why is it any different that it's being displayed on a 42" TV, mounted on a wall? Because it's "news"???

Graphic, gruesome imagery has no place in a dining room where people are enjoying a meal.

I am wondering if you were still on the shop at 2:39...seems unrealistic for the standard shop although perhaps this wasn't a regular shop.

Liz

Phx602 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What if someone else is watching? Why should
> something be changed because you're offended?

I just think that this is geared to be a child's restaurant. You wouldn't expect to see that on at the Disney Store, or Lego Store.

Internet Cafe, Coffee house, sure... but I don't want to order the 5 yo a Happy Meal and sit down to death and destruction on the TV. I am not even saying play cartoons or Sesame Street either, there has to be some sort of sanity to the adults who bring the kids there when they leave. How about regular TV shows like TV land or stream something in company wide on a closed circuit, they could play all of the new promo item ads, some "donate to the Ronald McDonald house" ads and maybe give it a throw back with some of the old commercials...

I just think that seeing scenes like described in the original post is not appropriate for young children and toddlers. This is a place where you freely take those little ones so it should not be displayed.

Tarantado.

At no time, for any reason... not even on the most horrific day in recent history (9/11) would it be appropriate for my 5 year old grandbaby to be sitting in McDonald's playing with her Happy Meal toy and seeing the reality of war, natural disasters, the rantings of a news reporter (for any reason... no ranting, not in this environment) or even the soap operas they have on tv now!! They are just as inappropriate for her as the real life horrors.

My job is to protect her innocence. This means that at 5 years old we go to the playground, to a G rated movie and/or go out to eat at a place where she can feel safe. Watching that stuff on TV, no matter how real it is... will scare her. As children can not make appropriate realizations as to what can and can not happen at that age. I would prefer if the child's restaurant I bring her to does not show age inappropriate shows, reality or not!!

She's 5, she should be able to play with her happy meal toy without looking at the TV content and wondering if it is going to happen at her house, to her family. She is too young to realize, and too young to be able to give an explanation.

That content should not be played in that venue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/2014 01:15AM by Kathee70.

Apology accepted, Tarantado. It felt like an attack on my character.

I am an animal advocate. I have friends who rescue abused dogs throughout America. They are dog bloggers and are internationally know. I have another friend who helps abused women from Africa. The horrors they had to endure would make you throw up. I am anything but in a bubble and I took offense to what you said.


Thank you, Tarantado. I appreciate it. Have a nice day.

FWIW, generally they do not have the TVs blaring directly in front of you, and if I had a young child with me I would personally engage them and/or position them away from any television stations. Have done that frequently in the past.

My son's bubble:

Tonight my six-year-old son saw a photo over my shoulder. It was of two men in traditional military dress uniforms standing in front of a memorial. (He did not ask about the kilts, which was what I was expecting him to ask.) This is where I got to explain to my son, in words I hope he would understand, that the men in the photo were guarding a memorial in Ottawa, and that the photo was taken this morning, not long before a gunman opened fire and killed one of the men.

Had it been on cable news, there may have been chatter, chatter, chatter about the gunman and any sensational details that would keep a grownup watching through the commercials. We're in the States, granted, so the media might not have gone on and on about an event in Canada, but I am sure the Canadian stations were buzzing. This is important news, we cannot pretend it did not happen (or the other recent attacks by terrorists) but there is only so much a six year old needs to know or can understand. Cable news is not for young children, unlike McDonald's.

If something that could be disturbing to children was on a TV in a family restaurant, I would report that. If it happened to be news footage featuring replay after replay of a man beheaded, a woman stoned to death, or a images of a mass grave, I would talk to the manager as well as report it.

I thought Mcdonald's always kept the TV's muted with CC turned on. I guess I assumed it was a corporate policy.

ces1948 Wrote:
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> I thought Mcdonald's always kept the TV's muted
> with CC turned on. I guess I assumed it was a
> corporate policy.


I thought I was McD's policy to be muted with CC also. I also thought there is a law, at least in Michigan, that TV's in bars and restaurants must have either the news on and/or sports, either of which could be at a local or national level.

beadzoo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I also thought there is a law, at least in
> Michigan, that TV's in bars and restaurants must
> have either the news on and/or sports, either of
> which could be at a local or national level.


They actually made a state law for *that*?! A *law*. Sheesh.