Health experts have criticized A-League side Western Sydney Wanderers over a sponsorship deal with McDonald's that will involve the club "promoting a meal named after the club," according to Dominic Bossi of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. While the naming of a McDonald's meal after a local football club "is a sign of football's surge into the advertising mainstream," academics and health organizations labeled the Wanderers "irresponsible" for partnering with the fast food company. The Wanderers signed a one-year deal with McDonald's "which includes a meal named after the A-League club and has already involved a player public appearance for promotional purposes." "The Wanderers meal" -- including chicken nuggets, a Quarter Pounder burger, large fries and a large soft drink -- will be part of a new deal between the fast food conglomerate and the A-League club. Partnerships between fast food and sporting associations are not new, "but the manner of the Wanderers' sponsorship deal, which sees the football club lend its name and brand to a McDonald's meal, has borne the brunt of most the criticism." Curtin University Professor of Health Policy Mike Daube said, "This is rampant promotion for the obesity epidemic. Two-thirds of adults and a quarter of children are overweight or obese. The last thing they need is sports idols promoting junk food" (SMH, 10/15).
