Happy 50th Anniversary, McDonald's?

This year, McDonald's is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It was exactly 50 years ago, on April 15, 1955, when company founder Ray Kroc opened his first restaurant in Des Plains. The year before, Kroc had visited a hamburger place in San Bernardino, California, run by brothers Dick and Mac McDonald, and bought exclusive franchise rights entitling him to open other sites under the same name.(1)

Criticised all around the world for its promotion of unhealthy food habits, for many within McDonald's the 50 year milestone is seen as the beginning of a new chapter in the history of the corporation. In the last few years McDonald's has tried to reconstruct its image by adding healthy options to its menu, such as fresh fruit, salads and vegetarian burgers, and introducing nutritional labelling for its products.(2)

The 50th Anniversary celebrations have kept McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner and Chief Clown Ronald McDonald very busy. For this occasion a new restaurant was opened in Chicago on April 15. Called the 50th Anniversary Restaurant, this two-storey construction boasts 60-foot golden arches and can accommodate up to 300 people.(3) The celebrations were soured, however, by the results of a brands study which showed that, despite McDonald's recent efforts to present itself as a health-conscious corporation, consumers still regard its products as unhealthy.(4)

According to internet monitoring company Envisional, McDonald's has the most negative perception online followed by Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Nestle and Unilever.(5) Not much of a result considering the over US$2 billion-a-year spent by the company to broadcast its glossy image to the world. (6) In Australia McDonald's spent $40 million on advertising in 2004 to promote its healthier alternatives, but Australian consumers still regard its products as fattening and unhealthy.(7)

Even on its home ground, McDonald's continues to face image problems due to claims that its food leads to obesity and other health problems. In 2004 the documentary film 'Super Size Me' showed how a steady diet of McDonald's food was harmful to people's health, while this year a US federal appeals court reinstated a lawsuit brought by two teenagers who claim that McDonald's food made them obese.(8)

However, the icing on the (anniversary) cake was most certainly provided in February by the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, which declared that the two Britons found guilty in 1997 of libel against McDonald's did not receive a fair trial. The Court also offered the pair a retrial and ordered the British government to pay them 35,000 euros. Helen Steel and David Morris distributed pamphlets in 1984 which accused McDonald's of destroying rainforests, contributing to starvation in the Third World and promoting animal cruelty.(9)

Photo: The Korea Times http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/nation/200504/kt2005041517212211960.htm

All over the world, anti-McDonald's activists have been busy celebrating the company's 50th Anniversary with their own special ways. In the UK, following the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in favour of Steel and Morris, a brand new McLibel feature documentary was released on DVD and in cinemas, and broadcast by the BBC - all in the week of McDonald's celebrations.(10)

Also in the UK, at 12 noon on Friday 15th April, the McLibel pair stamped on a McBirthday cake outside McDonald's European headquarters in London. Dave crushed the cake with his shoe, which bore the words 'public opinion', while Helen held a placard saying '50 Years of McJunk, McJobs, McLitter' alongside campaigners with a banner saying 'Celebrate 20 Years of Global Resistance to McWorld'.(11)

In South Korea, a civic group called the Citizens' Movement for Environmental Justice (CMEJ) held a campaign on Thursday, 14th April, in Seoul to alert people to the 50 years of damage McDonald's has caused to people and the environment. The group had previously promoted a project, dubbed the Korean version of 'Super Size Me', in November 2004, in which one of its activists, Yoon Kwang-yong, consumed only fast food for about a month and demonstrated his health decline.(12)

Finally, in South Australia, anti-McDonalds anniversary activities centred around the most hypocritical symbol of the corporation, that is, Ronald McDonald. Vegetarian Action prepared specially-made birthday cards which were delivered almost daily throughout the month of June to the sculpture of the clown in the Myer Centre, Rundle Mall, Adelaide. The cards highlighted McDonald's perpetuation of an animal-eating culture, its brainwashing of children and the animal suffering and deaths associated with its products. All in all, it turned out to be a birthday which McDonalds may prefer to forget, and the whole debacle begs the question: unless dramatic changes occur to the company's modus operandi and products, will McDonald's survive long enough to make it to another fifty years? © Vegetarian Action July 2005 See also: Happenings - Happy Birthday McDonalds, from VA!

References

1. McDonald's Corporation. 'McDonald's Celebrates our 50th Anniversary', www.mcdonalds.com, accessed 26/4/05
2. 'Will Apple a Day Keep the Critics Away?', The Advertiser, 7/8/2003
3. Herman, Eric. 'McDonald's to Mark 50th Year', Chicago Sun Times, 11/4/2005, reported on www.mcspotlight.org, accessed 26/4/05
4. Sydney Morning Herald, 19/4/2005. Cited in Vegan Voice, No 22, June-August 2005, p.39
5. BBC News, 21/04/05, reported on www.mcspotlight.org, accessed 26/4/05
6. www.mcspotlight.org, accessed 26/4/05
7. Sydney Morning Herald, 19/4/2005. Cited in Vegan Voice, No 22, June-August 2005, p.39
8. Herman, Eric. Op. cit.
9. Animals Today, Vol. 13, No 1, 2005, p.18
10. McLibel Support Campaign. 'Anti-McDonald's Campaigners Pour Scorn on McDonald's 50th Anniversary Celebrations'. Press Release 14/04/05, reported on www.mcspotlight.org, accessed 26/4/05
11. McLibel Support Campaign. 'McCampaigners "Stick the Boot" into McDonald's 50th Anniversary Celebrations (April 15th) - and Stomp on a McBirthday Cake Outside the Corporation's Euro-HQ'. Press Release 15/04/05, reported on www.mcspotlight.org, accessed 26/4/05
12. Rahn, Kim. 'Activists Wage Campaign Against Consumption of McDonald's Food', Korea Times, 15/4/2005, reported on www.mcspotlight.org, accessed 26/4/05