Wars rage in the Middle East. Gas prices are astronomical. There's a hole in the Alaskan pipeline, and another in the ozone layer. So is now the time to cultivate the youngest generation of SUV-lovers? McDonald's thinks so. Pick up any Hummer Happy Meal and inside you'll find a tiny replica of the gas-guzzling giant.

"This marketing ploy says more about how desperate General Motors has become than anything else," said National Resources Defense Council spokesman Jon Coifman. "Management in Detroit ignored all the signs and bet the farm on big gas guzzlers. Now sales of the huge SUVs and pickups have tanked. Unfortunately, they've taken thousands of good jobs with them."

While gas prices have climbed over the last three years, GM sales plummeted 20 to 50 percent on big cars like Hummers, Escalades, Expeditions and Durangos. Just last week Toyota, second to GM in world car sales, announced that it's on track to cruise to first soon, thanks to success with selling fuel-efficient cars.

"Since General Motors can't seem to sell these things to many adults anymore, they've decided to start giving them away to kids," Coifman said. "That's a sorry statement for a pretty important industry."

Why choose Hummers over the plastic Disney figurines so many of us associate with Happy Meals? It seems that in order to separate itself from fast food's links to childhood obesity, the Walt Disney Company recently cancelled a long-standing agreement with McDonald's to do cross-promotional campaigns. With the Golden Arches looking elsewhere for toys, Coifman pointed out that it could get worse.

"Hopefully [McDonald's] won't decide to drop a pack of Marlboros into the Happy Meals next time RJ Reynolds or Philip Morris takes a sales slip," he joked.

Of the eight Happy Meal collectibles, the Laser Blue H2H, which comes complete with a hydrogen tank and 'Hydrogen' stickers for "added fun," wins the irony award. Apart from generating a fair amount of press, the Hydrogen Hummer has had little real impact on reality. Two years ago, GM delivered an experimental hydrogen version of the Hummer to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. This July, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak announced his plans to drive to the South Pole with astronaut Buzz Aldrin in a hydrogen fuel-cell powered Hummer, while director James Cameron follows along to record the feat. But GM's a long way away from growing a fleet of green Hummers for the general public.

Meanwhile, McDonald's timely campaign, "Hummer of a Summer," kicked off with earlier this month with a lunch-hour parade down Chicago's Michigan Avenue featuring Ronald McDonald riding on the hood of a Hummer. McDonald's press materials suggest children could benefit from playtime with a model tank. One press photo features a lineup of smiling children, holding toy Hummers like they're the next best things to chocolate sundaes with nuts. "Always ready for adventure, Hummer’s iconic vehicle design sparks the imagination of children nationwide," the press release states. But as these same children are inheriting a warming globe and growing waistlines, critics have suggested that a toy Prius or even a Frisbee might serve as better inspiration.