Little kids need iron, but Iron Man?

Nothing like feeling righteously indignant.

I read this morning in MediaPost that the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood (CCFC) is asking Burger King to stop a promotion where it gives away Iron Man toys with its Kids' Meals. And at first, since I had just woken up and hadn't had my cup of caffeine yet, I thought, "This is a good thing. Iron is important to a child's nutrition."

Then half a second later I remembered the 43,000 commercials I've seen for Robert Downey Jr.'s upcoming movie Iron Man and got with the program.

And then I thought: Good for the CCFC.

Now, I'm a realist. I know that if you're going to live in the real world, and if you have TV, you're not going to be able to keep your kids away from commercials, and I don't think you should, frankly. Part of childhood is practicing to be a grownup, and I figure if somehow my daughters got through life without seeing any commercials, someday they'd be 24-years-old and defenseless when watching TV. I imagine them suddenly one night going on a $35,000 infomercial shopping spree with their credit cards, buying up items like George Foreman Grills and Ron Popeil's Rotisseries & BBQs.