Anti Gravity: Truth in Advertising; April 2003; Scientific American Magazine; by Steve Mirsky; 1 Page(s)

The fault, Shakespeare once almost said, lies not in our stars but in our stuffing our faces. That sentiment is basically the reasoning behind a federal district court judge's January dismissal of a recent lawsuit against McDonald's, brought by two obese New York City teenagers who claimed that the fast food was at fault for their fat. "Common sense has prevailed," read a statement issued by a no doubt relieved McDonald's, which had probably contemplated a future where "over 99 billion served" would include the word "subpoenas."

"The plaintiffs have alleged that the practices of McDonald's in making and selling their products are deceptive and that this deception has caused the minors who have consumed McDonald's products to injure their health by becoming obese," observed Judge Robert W. Sweet in his ruling. In other words, the kids asked, how were we to know that a steady diet of hamburgers and french fries was going to make us fat? And the judge's response was, well, they should know and they therefore "cannot blame McDonald's if they, nonetheless, choose to satiate their appetite with a surfeit of supersized McDonald's products."