Kids not eating their veggies?

Perhaps you should turn to the McDonald’s marketing campaign for advice.

In a study, researchers found preschoolers deemed food branded with the corporate empire’s signature golden arches tastier than its unmarked counterparts.

The results came just a few weeks after companies, including McDonald’s, surrendered to government and consumer pressures by offering to voluntarily curb advertisements for unhealthy food during children’s television programs.

Researchers provided 63 children, ages 3 to 5, with two food choices – one in a McDonald’s wrapper, another in a similarly colored wrapper – and asked them to identify if they tasted the same or to select which tasted better.

In 60 percent of the trials, kids chose the McDonald’s labeled food. Even “McCarrots” were preferred, the study showed.

So next time you’re sitting around the dinner table, deeply entrenched in the battle of the broccoli, you can whip out some secret weapons: a curly, red wig and clown nose.

-STEVEN OVERLY, Daily Record Business Writer