MCD McDonalds Corp

By Nathan Olivarez-Giles 

If your child recently got a fitness tracker with the purchase of a Happy Meal, you might want to exchange it for a new toy. This week, soon after rolling out its Step It activity band, McDonald's Corp. began removing it because some children complained of wrist irritation.

The toy tracker began appearing in Happy Meals in the U.S. and Canada on Aug. 9, and its removal from Happy Meals is voluntary, a McDonald's spokeswoman said.

"We have taken this swift and voluntary step after receiving limited reports of potential skin irritations that may be associated from wearing the band," McDonald's said in a statement. "Nothing is more important to us than the safety of our customers and we are fully investigating this issue. Our restaurants are now offering our youngest guests an alternative Happy Meal toy."

The plastic toy tracker wasn't exactly a Fitbit: It simply counted steps and blinked encouragement, based on how fast the wearer was moving. There were four buttons on its face: a power button and three more for tracking walking, jumping rope and sports in general.

Speaking of Fitbit Inc., the maker of the most popular Bluetooth trackers is no stranger to skin-irritation controversy. Fitbit recalled its Force wrist wearable in 2014, and in 2015, it received complaints over the Fitbit Surge as well.

McDonald's declined to say how many Step It activity bands were distributed, and whether or not the company would redesign the fitness toys for future Happy Meal promotions. But it's a setback for a company that has spent years working to refashion its junk-food image, said Elisabeth Honka, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of California Los Angeles.

"There's a general trend in fast food to include healthier options: salads, milks, fruits, especially in kids' meals," Prof. Honka said. "Healthier toys are all about making parents not feel so bad about taking their kids out for fast food."

The Step It tracker also appeals to children wanting to emulate their parents. "The Apple Watch and Fitbit are cool gadgets for adults," she said. "Kids see that and aspire to have them."

While a bit embarrassing for McDonald's, asking parents to swap toy fitness trackers for other toys shouldn't have an impact on the chain's business, as long as it doesn't become a pattern, said Steve Callander, a professor of political economy at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.

"A skin irritant is very different from something that could seriously harm children," Prof. Callander said. "As of now, it's not a catastrophe. [McDonald's] just needs to be more diligent about making sure their tech toys work properly before trying this again."

Write to Nathan Olivarez-Giles at Nathan.Olivarez-giles@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 18, 2016 17:01 ET (21:01 GMT)

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