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McDonald's grimaces at Happy Meal lawsuit Photo 12:20pm EDT By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A lawsuit seeking to stop McDonald's Corp from offering toys with Happy Meals must be dismissed because parents can always choose not to buy the meals for their children, the hamburger giant said in a court filing late on Monday. The lawsuit accuses McDonald's of unfairly using toys to lure children into its restaurants. The plaintiff, Monet Parham, a Sacramento, California mother of two, charges that the company's advertising violates California consumer protection laws. The Happy Meal has been a huge hit for McDonald's...

If Monet Parham gets her way, McDonalds will be forced to remove the toys from its popular Happy Meals. The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a consumer advocacy group based in Washington, filed a complaint in San Francisco Wednesday accused the fast food giant of "deceptive marketing and business practices", according to an article at Business Week. Parham, a California State employee, told Business Week, “I don’t think it’s right to entice children into wanting Happy Meals with the promise of a great toy.” Apparently, Parham's 6 year old daughter, Maya, is a big fan of the toys...