I was mildly surprised and, yes, I admit, more than a little pleased to read of fast-food giant McDonald’s sales going backwards here in Australia.

Last month, at an investment seminar in the US, McDonald’s global chief executive and president Don Thompson warned investors that “lower levels of spending in Australia and cut-throat competition among fast-food chains in the region had slashed revenue for the company”.

While Thompson blamed the downturn mainly on youth unemployment (which he curiously quoted at 25% despite recent ABS figures putting it at around 11.6%), I couldn’t help thinking that he had the wrong guy, so to speak.

You see I feel…well, kind of responsible for the pickle McDonald’s has found itself in.

Not only have I managed to easily bypass those Golden Arches over the years, but my husband and I have instilled in our boys the kind of anti-Macca’s sentiment that would be right at home on a Tecoma picket line.

And we’re not alone. At a time in our lives when out-sourcing kids’ birthday parties has become something of a priority, if not an outright obsession, the McDonald’s Birthday Party invitation has been conspicuously absent from our fridge door.

It’s curious, really. At around $10 per child, a Macca’s (as we Aussies have dubbed the franchise) birthday party is as close to value-for-money as themed parties get, so it doesn’t seem to me to be a decision driven by cost as much as by fashion and favour. Once a Mecca for hungry kids nationwide, we’re now wise to the fact that a Macca’s menu comes packed with more than just preservatives.