McDonald's sparks outrage with Little Mermaid food packaging: 'Surprised nobody has sued them'

McDonald's is selling its apple slices using plastic packaging with branding from The Little Mermaid on it, a move the fast-food giant is known to replicate with many major Disney films.  

A Redditor posted a picture of the packaging to highlight the irony, considering how so much plastic wrapping ends up in our oceans, writing, "One apple slice in this plastic baggie, advertising a movie about the ocean…"

The image was posted on the popular Reddit community r/Anticonsumption, which has 605k members.

Much of the plastic used to wrap the products we purchase, including items from fast food restaurants, ends up under the sea, where the animated Disney classic "The Little Mermaid" takes place. 

Today, 80% of all marine pollution is plastic, with around 9 to 11 million tons of plastic ending up in our oceans each year, according to UNESCO's Ocean Literacy initiative. This garbage can stay there, in some form, for anywhere between 500 and 1000 years, and even when it eventually breaks down, it still becomes microplastics, which make their way into our food supply and put us at risk.

While a large percentage of the plastic trash in our oceans comes from fishing nets, an estimated 44% comes from takeout. Meanwhile, 914 marine species, including whales, dolphins, sea turtles, and all those depicted in "The Little Mermaid," are known to ingest or get tangled in plastic.

Redditors had no shortage of opinions on the McDoanld's product, with one saying: "I played airsoft using biodegradable bb's over 15 years ago, still wondering why biodegradable plastics aren't more popular in everyday things."

Another added, "These apple slice packs are standard in Happy Meals. McDonald's sells 4.1 million Happy Meals a day. Imagine 4.1 million of these wrappers in a pile." 

"Surprised nobody has sued them for false advertising as it says apple slices and there's only one apple in the bag," commented a third. 

Speaking of fiction and fantasy, this Redditor had a creative idea: "If only we could develop an apple that grows its own packaging." 

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