Recently, the AFA (American Family Association) launched a site announcing that it will boycott McDonald's for not remaining neutral on "culture wars," particularly the corporation's promotion of a homosexual agenda. The web site shows a television commercial from last year's San Francisco Gay Pride in which McDonald's announces its commitment of support to the gay and lesbian community.
But, just how gay-friendly is McDonald's? Besides airing that commercial, just this past March, Vice President of Communications Richard Ellis joined the Board of Directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). To me, it doesn't seem as though McDonald's has a "gay agenda." Instead, it appears that the company is part of an overall corporate trend: diversity in the work place.
Apparently, the AFA was set off by a simple letter written by Pat Harris, the Global Chief Diversity Officer, in which he states the corporation's respect for employees "regardless of their ethnicity, religious beliefs, and sexual orientation." In doing so, McDonald's has simply reiterated an all-inclusive policy that is more or less standard with most big companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Goldman Sachs and Coca-Cola. There is nothing particularly revolutionary about McDonald's stance -- it's certainly not the latest shot in some kind of "culture war."
Maybe the folks from the AFA have been eating too many Big Macs. It'll probably do them so good to lay off the meat. (Last thing we want is for them to use the junk-food defense to get away with any shenanigans.)
Does anyone remember McDonald's coming out with some Happy Meal toys last year that were "American Idol" inspired? Apparently the toys were meant to represent musical genres, with named like Disco Dave and Rockin' Riley. I don't, but Devo was certainly aware of it.
According to Rolling Stone's music blog, Rock and Roll Daily, the 80's new wave band is suing the fast food giant because one of the toys, New Wave Nigel, is looks incredibly similar to what the band looked like in the early 1980's right down to the red hat. That wouldn't be a problem, except Devo had the hat, called the energy dome, copyrighted and trade marked.
According to Devo, they were never approached by McDonald's, and they are quite upset about it. I can't wait to hear about what happens next.
Do you remember the old McDonald's commercials for the Big Mac? They had that chant/rap about the special sauce and all that. Well, Micky D's wants to update that marketing campaign and they need your help.
As reported on Fast Food Critic, McDonald's wants you to enter a contest updating the Big Mac chant. You still have to use the special sauce, pickles, lettuce, etc, but they have all kinds of beats and samples you can use at their MySpace page. You can also get all the rules and more info there, too.
Just send in a video or audio tape of your remix, and be chosen by a panel of judges to be a semi-finalist, and your chant will be voted on by the public on July 22. The commercial will then air by the end of July.
When McDonald's decided that they wanted to create an advertisement that "celebrated freshness," the ad agency they turned to dreamed up a billboard where the message was crafted entirely of living, growing lettuce. There is only one billboard of this kind, and it is in the Wrigleyville section of Chicago where it has created something of a stir. A horticulturist was consulted in the design process and it was planned so that birds can't eat the lettuce (there's no place for them to perch) and disrupt the verdant nature of the sign.
If you're curious how the board came together, someone has created a 45 second video that captures the growth of the lettuce over the course of three weeks. You can find the video after the jump.
All of the McDonald's restaurants have stopped serving sliced tomatoes in all of its locations after various customers got sick in 16 different states in what might be an outbreak of salmonella poisoning. 23 people have gotten sick so far, so McDonald's doesn't want to take any chances.
Odd how all of this talk about the fast food industry and eating meat and all that, and what is making people sick is tomatoes. The chain says that they'll still keep serving grape tomatoes, but they aren't serving sliced tomatoes until further notice.
It's not that all the franchisees are against the dollar menu, but they don't want to have to spend money advertising it, either. That's understandable: they want customers to purchase the more expensive items so that they can make more money.
The franchisees argue that they're paying a higher minimum wage and food costs are skyrocketing. They're worried that more and more people are "trading down" for value menu items, and at the same time they're not getting enough new customers to make up the difference.
A spokesperson for the company said that there will always be a little bit of push and pull, but that problems will always be resolved because the company only makes money if the franchises do.
...Well, almost. The corporation has officially switched all of its cooking oils to trans-fat free in its U.S. and Canadian restaurants, but many of the premade products - like pies and cookies - still contain the artery-clogging ingredient.
You probably remember hearing about this - or even thinking it had already happened- because Mickie D's announced the plan awhile ago. In fact, while they were drumming up press, Wendy's, KFC and Taco Bell all made the switch to trans fat-free cooking oil.
So, thanks, McD's. Now Americans and Canadians have another way to rationalize our insane consumption of fried foods.
Do you remember that McDonald's chicken biscuit deal from last week, where they were handing out free samples? Well, it turns out that Hardee's was a bit miffed about that.
Hardee's says that they've had the best chicken biscuit since 1972, and they're out to prove it. So from now until June 30, you can get the purchase price refunded if you don't agree that the Hardee's chicken biscuit is the best one out there. According to one company spokesman, Hardee's is pretty confident that they won't be refunding much money.
I haven't had a Hardee's biscuit in so long I can't even count the years, but I do remember them being delicious. On the other hand, I had a McDonald's chicken biscuit a couple years ago when they first came out, and I thought it was horrible. I don't know how much has changed at either place, but based on my (albeit sketchy) experience, I'd say Hardee's is probably right. Does anyone have any more recent experiences they'd like to share?
Whether the motive is to get word out to consumers about how a new product tastes or to lure customers into a restaurant with free food in the hopes that they'll buy other stuff, too, the practice of "sampling" is becoming more and more popular. Sampling used to be restricted to smaller companies that couldn't afford million-dollar advertising campaigns, but now even huge corporations like Starbucks and McDonald's are doing it.
How this affects social psychology, business, and marketing, we'll leave to other blogs, but here, we're just concerned about the free food! The last few months, especially in April when consumers' wallets were hit with taxes, companies gave out everything from free burritos to frozen yogurt.
Coming up, both McDonald's and Dunkin Donuts will be giving away free samples on May 15.
I'm a sucker for TV commercials. I even think they should be put on TV DVDs, though I bet some people would hate that idea.
But it got me thinking about all of the great TV commercials we've had for food over the years. After the jump, eight classics. I'm not saying that these eight are the "best" (though some could be), but they're eight that I really enjoy.
I'm pretty sure I've never even seen a McDonald's sign that had a single arch. However, for the residents of the Alabama town of Huntsville, a single arch sign has been a familiar sight for more than 40 years. Their arch, which is only one of two left in the country, will soon be coming down.
The sign is falling apart from the inside, and no longer meets building codes. City residents are sad to see the sign go, as for many it represents simpler times. Unfortunately, the time always comes to put old horses out to pasture, and the single arch is headed out to a very nice pasture: the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati.
Bruce Oldfield - who has designed clothes for Catherine Zeta Jones, Bianca Jagger, Jerry Hall, Jemima Khan, and Diana, Princess of Wales - has designed a new uniform line for McDonald's UK staff.
According to Daily Mail, McDonald's spokesman David Fairhurst said, "It's a mark of respect for our staff that an internationally-renowned designer has created the uniform especially for them. Our people do a challenging job serving two million customers a day and we want them to feel good doing it."
Daily Mail has some more photos of the other new uniform designs. Check them out and tell me if these new uniforms would make you feel better about working for McDonald's.
Do you wear a uniform to work? Does it affect the way you feel about your job?
McDonald's is really reaching now. They're in the process of converting hundreds of their restaurants into feng shui havens to create soothing environments for their customers. The first restaurant to undergo the transformation is, where else? Los Angeles.
Feng shui is a philosophy that manifests in very specific arrangements of space and arrangement of objects. In this first McDonald's with a feng shui environment, earth tones, plants, and running water replace the circus red and yellow of old.
So you can relax while you're throwing down a couple of Big Macs now.
Thinking about the coming recession? Wondering where on your already tight budget you can make some cuts?
Don't worry. Fast food is here to save the wallet!
Apparently, fast-food chains have already felt the pinch of recessions fears with slacking sales, and in anticipation of what might become a full-blown hit, have begun offering value items on their menus. Wendy's introduced the double cheeseburger "Stack Attack" on its 99-cent value menu, Burger King's usually $2 Double Cheeseburger is half price for $1 now, and even non-burger fast food restaurants like Tao Bell are in the discount game with 99 cent gorditas.
I'm just waiting for In N Out to offer a $1 Double Double. Animal-style, of course.
Recently, the AFA (American Family Association) launched a site announcing that it will boycott McDonald's for not remaining neutral on "culture wars," particularly the corporation's promotion of a homosexual agenda. The web site shows a television commercial from last year's San Francisco Gay Pride in which McDonald's announces its commitment of support to the gay and lesbian community. 
All of the McDonald's restaurants have 
It's not that all the 
Do you remember that McDonald's chicken biscuit deal from last week, where they were handing out free samples? Well, it turns out that 
Whether the motive is to get word out to consumers about how a new product tastes or to lure customers into a restaurant with free food in the hopes that they'll buy other stuff, too, the 
I'm a sucker for TV commercials. I even think they should be 
I'm pretty sure I've never even seen a McDonald's sign that had a single arch. However, for the residents of the Alabama town of Huntsville, a single arch sign has been a familiar sight for more than 40 years. Their arch, which is only one of two left in the country, will soon be coming down. 
Cakes so amazing they'd be hard to cut into
Fruit juice: An invitation to diabetes?
Morbid thoughts? Have a cookie
