Did somebody say McDonald's?

Leave it to the academic geniuses to tell us something everybody already knows. From MedPage Today:

The McDonald brand leaves such a potent impression with young children that 63 preschoolers consistently said they preferred the taste of foods and drinks in McDonald's packaging over McDonald's food and drinks served in unbranded packaging (P<0.001), according to findings reported in the August issue of Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.Thomas Robinson, M.D., M.P.H., of Stanford University School of Medicine, and colleagues said that the branding preference "was true even for carrots, a food that was not marketed by or available from McDonald's."

Are we supposed to be surprised that the McDonald's brand is powerful among kids?The researchers conclude based on these results that marketing to youngsters should be regulated or banned. But wouldn't it be better to research how how such marketing works or figure out how to teach youngsters to combat it rather than proving the obvious?