Giving candy to strangers

It’s remarkably hard to survey people if they have little children around - kids want complete attention. This past week I brought a few big bags of candy to hand out so that the kids would be happy while I was surveying. It was cheap & remarkably effective.

On the other hand, all sorts of time and money is spent on improving diets, and it seemed a bit hypocritical of me to ignore an issue I care about just to ask some questions. That said, our budget is small and I couldn’t think of anything better while still cheap. Anyone have experience with this and/or suggestions?