Youth Against MacDonald's
Animal rights activists hate McDonald’s because of the inhumane way they treat
animals. Labor activists hate McDonald’s because of the inhumane way they
treat workers. Vegetarians hate McDonald’s because their business is getting
children hooked on beef. Others just hate McDonald’s because they are a
classic example of a big evil corporation. But the common factor is that they all
hate McDonalds. And some of them are starting to act on it.
The first round of the People vs. McDonalds was the now infamous
“McLibel” Trial . In 1996 two British of “out of work anarchists” were passing
out leaflets that attacked McDonalds for essentially the reasons listed above.
McDonalds puts out their own propaganda on television, billboards, even in
school books (see opposing page), so one would think that they would be
unfazed by a little counter-propaganda. Wrong. McDonalds took the anarchists
to court on libel charges, and in 1997 a British judge found in favor of
McDonalds’. McDonald’s won the court case, but they have lost in the long run.
McDonald’s did not receive any significant sum of money from the settlement,
because being out of work anarchists the defendants had no money. Nor did
McDonalds’ get what the really wanted, which was to stifle criticism of their
company. The offending leaflets are still distributed both in print and on the
Internet, and the publicity surrounding the case has merely generated more
criticism of McDonald’s.
One of the ways that McDonald’s (and other corporations such as Coca
Cola, Taco Bell, Yahoo!, and Kmart) spread their propaganda is by funding
schools. The corporation will build a facility, such as a gym, in exchange for
their product being rammed down students throats. An example of this is Morain
Valley Community College in Palos Hills, Illinois. McDonalds’ spent millions of
dollars on the school’s student center which features a McDonald’s restaurant,
and the company’s logo prominently displayed on the center’s brick wall.
Student Jennifer Beatty acted on her disdain for McDonalds’ labor, animal rights,
and marketing practices by chaining herself to the restaurant’s metal mesh
curtains on March 5. The school was not amused. After the fire department cut
her off from the doors Beatty was arrested, charged with two misdemeanors, set
free on her own recognizance for a later trial, and suspended from school until
April 18. She was threatened with expulsion and further arrest if she set foot on
campus before then. “This is probably the best anti-McDonald’s action that’s
been done, and there’s been a lot around the country.” said Mike Durschmid,
who was involved with the afore mentioned McLibel case.
And in what is perhaps the hardest blow to McDonalds’, their workers
have begun to stand up for themselves. Complaints of unfair labor practices
from a couple of teenage workers led to a McDonald’s in Sqamish, British
Columbia becoming unionized. This is the first McDonald’s in North America to
unionize, and unfortunately for the corporation, may not be the last.
This article was about anti-McDonalds’ actions. However, I hope that it
hashelped to impart to you a few universal lessons: 1) Despite their best
efforts, governments and corporations can not stop the free speech craze. 2)
Corporations try and ram their propaganda down your throat everywhere you go,
even at school, but you don’t have to stand for it. 3) There are thousands of
exploited workers in our country, but it’s nothing a good union couldn’t solve.
Sources:
Press Cuttings: The McLibel Trial, defendants, evidence, legal issues etc.
http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/index_mclibel.html
Breaking the Fast Food Chain by Kari Lyderson
Adbusters #22, Summer 1998
Compass
Utne Reader, Jan-Feb 1999
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