Talk:McDonald's/Archive 4

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Very Biased pie

Hey vegans and PETA activists, just because you don't like McDonalds, or any thing else mainstream for that matter, doesn't mean that it's evil. McDonald's success is a testament to it's popularity. It employs hundreds of thousands of people and feeds millions. It contributes substantially to local, regional, national and global economies. Any organization has things it can do better, even your local vegan coop, but why do all the negatives about McDonalds have to be listed more prominently then information about the organization and it's products and services? That, in and of itself, is unencyclopedic. I'm sure you would all rise up in self-righteous protest if criticisms of veganism and/or PETA were placed before subjective information about them. Let's be fair. Yes you can have your adolescent rants about how evil capitalism and meat and the dominant paradigm are but put them AFTER the discussion of what McDonalds is and what it serves. --12.181.190.99 (talk) 15:10, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

What a rant. Let me put it a little more succinctly, in the words of Rita Rudner: "When we moved, we wanted to be politically correct, so we hired vegetarian movers. Then we had to help them, because they were too weak to lift anything." Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 15:13, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

Article balance

There is as much content about the criticisms of McDonald's, defense of criticisms, and lawsuits against the company as there is about the company's history, structure, products, and achievements. Most of the criticisms seem more like recent articles of just-barely-newsworthy froth tacked on the end of the article. Is all this criticism really noteworthy? --75.146.61.185 (talk) 01:01, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

No. It's a case of "piling on". Feel free to pare it down. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:04, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

McDs is a lighting rod, and everyone feels they should add to it. It needs information on the company's support of the US olympic team and it Ronald McDonald children's charities. The company isn't all evil.

--- Jeremy (talk) 01:44, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

It just happens to be Number One, so it's a bigger target, as you say. One could make the same complaints about White Castle, but what would be the point of that? You could put White Castle out of business, and it would hardly make a dent in the fast food world. No, the critics go after the big fish filet. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:58, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

I'm back. (I was 75.146.61.185, posting from work.) What's the usual method, here? My inclination is to include only the landmark legal cases and the criticism that is, itself, worthy of being in an encyclopedia (such as Supersize Me), because the rest of it seems like it should be in WikiNews, not Wikipedia. --CorbettGM (talk) 02:09, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Use your best judgment. Unless it's from a legimitate and reasonably respected source, it probably doesn't belong. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 02:30, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

I have pared down the Criticisms section. I felt it unnecessary to recap the entire McLibel trial here when an article existed already; ditto for the debate over Supersize Me. Legal Challenge over Trans Fats shouldn't be listed under Criticisms in the first place. Statements needing citations removed. --CorbettGM (talk) 19:15, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

For a laugh, and if it isn't already covered, someone could add the proposed legislation in Mississippi, to prohibit restaurants from serving overweight people. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 19:42, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Why put it on this page particularly? --CorbettGM (talk) 20:02, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

For a laugh. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 20:05, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

"Today, American Association of Mascots and Trademarked Advertising Personalities has disbarred Mayor McCheese for discriminating against customers with darker buns, joining in exile the Hamburgular, disbarred in 2002 for taking too long at the self-checkout grocery counter. In other news, Grimace has a big butt." --CorbettGM (talk) 21:14, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

There ya go. Now we're talking "encyclopedic". Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 21:24, 7 February 2008 (UTC)

Bangladesh?

There is not a single McDonald's in Bangladesh; hence, this country's name should be taken off the list under 'Global Locations'.

And if it is removed from the article, Mr. 58.145.184.7, are you going to give us the common courtesy of updating that the reverts have been fixed? Or even delete your section so others don't have to double check? Neal (talk) 21:17, 15 February 2008 (UTC).

Wow, he was just verifying a mistake on the page. Who put a wikistick up your wikiass? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.172.8.201 (talk) 02:02, 23 January 2009 (UTC)

Sources of McDonald's inventory

There is only a brief mention of how and where McDonald's sources its inventory in the "Arguments in defense" section. The article would be improved with a section explaining this more fully. Specifically it should state what types of livestock, potatos, dairy products and chemicals are used, and their policies on domestic sourcing. These factors are important because they help in understanding the company's success and its impact on local economies and environments. Also, the article mentions coffee and organic milk use, but it is not clear if this policy only applies to the UK. --The Four Deuces (talk) 19:12, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Some years ago, the paper mats they put onto trays had some facts, such as that they consume a significant portion of the Idaho potato crop. That suggests that such info might even be available on their website. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 19:28, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Guatemala

I removed Guatemala from being a subcategory of the U.S. Believe it or not it's its own country (and was already on the list as such). Papercrab (talk) 19:51, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, but surprisingly Guam is.--- Jeremy (talk) 20:26, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Criticism?

Why is it that the McDonald's article has a paragraph on criticism and legal issues, while its main competitors, Burger King and Wendy's, have no such sections in their entries. This seems to cast McDonald's in an extraordinarily negative light, when compared to the other two companies, which are both global and employ most of the same industrial strategies, tactics and philosophies. Can anyone venture to answer? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.197.70.15 (talk) 16:08, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Really? you must not be looking that hard. I personally have been contributing to the Burger King article for 18 months now and can tell you there is a section about its controversies and legal issues here. McD's is just a natural target as the largest, single branded fast food company on the planet. --- Jeremy (talk) 16:57, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

Precisely. When you're Number 1, you're the biggest and best target. The anti-fast-food protestors could criticize White Castle and their infamous "sliders", but who would care? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 17:32, 7 March 2008 (UTC)

The Burger King criticism section is the biggest I've ever seen on Wikipedia. I don't know how anyone could miss it; it's half the article. --67.172.13.176 (talk) 07:18, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

That is a little exaggerated, it is only a little over a fifth of the total article. --- Jeremy (talk) 09:16, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

I didn't say it was the biggest ever on Wikipedia, I said it was the biggest I've ever seen on Wikipedia. --67.172.13.176 (talk) 06:58, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

The criticism section is small because I reduced it. I found it excessive, uncited, and restated entire lawsuits that had separate pages already dedicated to them. Do the same for Burger King if you feel it necessary. --CorbettGM (talk) 17:53, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

There are only three law suits, out of many against the company, and those listed are the ones that had the most impact in legal precedence or greatly affected the company. There are only four controversies listed, and they are only the ones that least trivial in nature and actually brought about change. That is not excessive... --- Jeremy (talk) 20:30, 21 March 2008 (UTC)

Heh. You shoulda seen the section before I changed it in February.  :) --CorbettGM (talk) 15:44, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

I did, it seems that every time Ronald McDonald farts, some one thinks it needs to be included: Someone got food poisoning at the Walla Walla, Washington store (Located just down the street from the Wishy Washy Washing Machine Company), its in there; Someone stubbed their toe in the Sheboygan, Wisconsin store; someone accidentally took a left turn in Albuquerque, they're all in there; etc., etc. ad nauseum... --- Jeremy (talk) 17:52, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

PS, that rant was partially inspired by Baseball Bugs. --- Jeremy (talk) 18:00, 22 March 2008 (UTC)

Maybe it would be better to integrate the criticism rather than make it a separate section? ProfDEH (talk) 08:12, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

gastronomy

Edoardo Raspelli is a leading food critic in Italy. He writes a national weekly column about restaurants for La Stampa. As such, he expresses a legitimate, informed view about food and food trends and is qualified to comment on gastronomy and McDonalds. Since, as you point out, this is POV, it should be clearly stated as such and can be contradicted by other professional restaurant reviewers who disagree and find McDonalds to be the height of gastronomy.Bob98133 (talk) 17:52, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

I agree with him, but it is still POV and should not be included; the way it was presented was definitive POV editing at its "best". --- Jeremy (talk) 18:13, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Suriname should be added to the worldwide locations as well. It is currently constructing its second location. I know ot doesnt seem much in the grand scheme of things....but its a fact. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.220.222.140 (talk) 13:33, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Image showing stores

Could someone explain what this image is meant to show? The article says "Countries with McDonalds stores", okay, but what are the years for? What do they represent? JTBX (talk) 09:46, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

They are in brackets of years, indicating the increments in which McD's stores were first opened in those regions. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 09:57, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

Lack of images

I find it remarkable that there are so many images of the largely identical restaurants but no images of the iconic food or packaging! I'm sure it wouldn't be hard for someone to remedy this. calr (talk) 01:46, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

So go to your nearest McD and take some photos! Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 02:08, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Thats what I did for Burger King, still need to post them though... --Jeremy ( Blah blah...) 05:19, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

Its a shame, but if you´ll notice below there´s a lovely photo of a potted plant! --Cadentsoul (talk) 06:02, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

And if you look closely, you can see some remnants of the iconic food and packaging stealthily dumped there. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 08:17, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Pot Plant?

Why is there a photo of a pot plant in the "Controversies" section? I thought I'd ask before I did anything. Joelster (talk) 22:51, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

It's not a pot plant, ya silly; it's a potted plant. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 22:58, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes I knew that; here in Australia we call potted plants pot plants, seeing as they are, after all, in a pot. So anyway the question remains: why is a photo of a pot/ted plant in the "Controversies" section? Has the plant in question caused a controversy? :p Joelster (talk) 00:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Not that it knows of. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 00:43, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Shall I just remove it then? It's pointless. Joelster (talk) 01:04, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

It's a free photo, and I think its placement there was just to balance the photos in the article. So please leave it be. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:08, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Okay then. All I'm saying is that it just looks out of place. But nevermind - it's fine the way it is. Joelster (talk) 01:32, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Looking at it a little closer, there's no other illustration in that area of the article, so it helps balance it; and it could also serve as a gentle balance to the various criticisms leveled in that section. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 01:38, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Yeah I guess so. It adds a sort of feng shui quality, no? Have a good one :) Joelster (talk) 04:14, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Feng McShui. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 04:21, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Okay now I'm getting McHungry. Actually I read somewhere that McDonalds restaurants in Australia are being redesigned on feng shui principles (softer lighting etc). It was in the Herald Sun a while ago. Meh, I can't be wikibothered to track it down. Joelster (talk)

Feng McShui for real? Crikey! It could be like when Wendy's used to have a salad bar. Greenery balanced against greasy hamburgers. The American way! Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 05:01, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

Wow. Now THAT'S a paradox! Joelster (talk) 05:03, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

America is nothing if not paradoxical. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 05:22, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

I erased the photo since its pointless just like what Joelster said. **Annoyomous24** (talk) 18:21, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

"Feng McShui for real?" - Is there such a thing as real Feng Shui?

There must be, given the books about it. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for McSushi. Raw chicken on rice. Should be yummy. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 02:37, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Environmental Record

This new section sounds like fluff for McD's. The first reference cited begins with "Fast-food multinational McDonald's may not have the best reputation amongst environmentalists..."[1], so clearly there have been some problems and complaints. Not mentioning these, or not including a bit of history about problems enviros have with McD's, makes this new info take on undue weight in the article. Jordan Herrington invented the Egg Mcmuffin after 19 long years of intense research.I know McD's has a reputation of being a leader among fast food places on enviro and animal treatment issues, but including their recycling/energy production plans without mentioning the tons of trash they produce in the first place, is a bit one sided.Bob98133 (talk) 19:44, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Logo and brand usage guidelines

I've stumbled across this PDF file which states a lot of interesting, possibly noteworthy information about McDonald's strict identity guidelines. www.scribd.com/doc/214228/McDonalds-Logo-Usage-Guide I think a lot of this should be noted somewhere in this article, such as the "lightning script" logo. If not in this article, perhaps in the advertising article. Agree? Disagree?—Tkgd2007 (talk) 06:44, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Can't edit

I can't edit this article as it's locked, but could someone please remove "The Sign of the Burger: McDonald's and the Culture of Power, by Joe L. Kincheloe (2002) Philadelphia: Temple University Press." from the "See also" section, as it doesn't relate to another article, it's just the name of a book —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.167.80.180 (talk) 12:05, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Done! Pince Nez (talk) 12:23, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

French fries

I added this in defense section, since this is good for health, and the company follows others. Oak Brook, Ill-based McDonald's Corp. announced on May 22, 2008 that it's making the menu healthier and will uphold its Dollar Menu, as it swithed to transfat-free cooking oil for french fries in the U.S. and Canada. The company will use transfat-free oil, which is canola-based with corn and soy oils, by year's end for its baked items, pies and cookies. It has nearly 14,000 restaurants in the United States.ibtimes.com, McDonald's Holds down Dollar Meal, Making Menu Healthierwww.gmanews, McDonald's says all US french fries cooked in zero-trans-fat oil

Iran?

According to the image in the Global operations section, at one time there were McDonalds restaurants in Iran. Is this true? It isn't mentioned in the List of countries with McDonalds franchises article. 217.155.20.163 (talk) 13:12, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

It's possible they had to be closed after the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Iran. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 13:42, 24 May 2008 (UTC)

MENU

I can confidently state that everyone will agree that this as well as other food/resturant pages need a menu for the pacific food items it sellsGrimmjow E6 (talk) 04:31, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

What does the ocean have to do with anything? Or are you referring to the McDonald's products and McDonald's products (international) articles. --Jeremy ( Blah blah...) 04:35, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Oh sorry! I did not know the resturant wiki pages has a menu page and the pacific was just an error of spelling it was originally supposed to be specific. Sorry for the confusion!!Grimmjow E6 (talk) 19:42, 29 June 2008 (UTC)

Pumping Coke Directly from Delivery Trucks?

I have worked for McDonald's for over three years (in Canada) and this absolutely does not happen... McDonald's has crates of syrup delivered to the stores, each crate is made of thick cardboard and inside is 20L of heavy syrup in a thick plastic bag. I don't know how easy it would be to find a source for this, but I do know for a fact that they do NOT pump soft drink syrup from delivery trucks into storage containers... at least not in Canada. 24.141.76.19 (talk) 00:58, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Nor do they in Australia. 61.68.181.24 (talk) 05:08, 18 July 2008 (UTC)

the references 30 and 31 to this subject are also McDonald's own documents and could be considered OR. the page seems to be mix of anti mcd activists and mcd PR-departments labour. --80.221.48.45 (talk) 23:11, 23 July 2008 (UTC)

Page 4 of this University of Michigan (USA) document references a "new Coke delivery system" Pollution Prevention in Corporate Strategy - McDonald's Environmental Strategy Truthmonkey (talk) 13:56, 15 August 2008 (UTC)

It depends entirely on the volume of Coke your store sells. For example, the Kalispell, MT store has TWO giant Coke tanks that are pumped directly from the truck, not just one. The lesser products have the box mixture (which is called Bag In Box), yes, but the Coke comes into tanks. The Evergreen store, in the exact same city, uses the Bag-in-Box method. SoheiFox (talk) 00:22, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Mine does. NThomas76207 (talk) 23:20, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Boycott

Should anything be added about the AFA boycott of McDonalds? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ldstryfe (talk • contribs) 04:43, 12 July 2008 (UTC)

Sure.....I mean it was such a huge fucking event, why wouldn't we? And we ALL know, and thoroughly give a shit about, the AFA.

Also, I hear some dude in Goergia won't eat there either. Better put that in too.

What about me? I'm totally boycotting McDonalds between meals

I'm boycotting Red Lobster between meals, rather than McD's, so I'm saving a lot more money. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 02:34, 2 December 2008 (UTC)

Reference work

just popped by to say that i have at least five books on McDonalds happy meal toys i do know for sure that one has quite a bit about the history of McDonalds, if you interested. this book in question is of course - McDonalds Happy Meal Toys from around the world. Kilnburn (talk) 21:22, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Repetition in introduction

There's a useless repetition in the introduction concerning menu expansion. I don't think the subject is important enough to be in the introduction at all, but it should at least be condensed. The passages are:

-More recently, it has begun to offer salads, wraps and fruit.

-The company has also expanded the McDonald's menu in recent decades to include alternative meal options like salads and snack wraps in order to capitalize on growing consumer interest in health and wellness, and to avoid the "veto vote" where one member of a group might refuse to go because there are not enough healthy options on the menu.

I suggest that the simplest correction would be to just put:

-McDonald's primarily sells hamburgers, cheeseburgers, chicken products, French fries, breakfast items, soft drinks, milkshakes, desserts, salads, wraps and fruit.

In the first part, whilst maintaining the second part as it is. Paulginz (talk) 14:42, 30 July 2008 (UTC)

Country listing

Please remove Taiwan as a part of China. To date, Taiwan is not part of China, and the fate has yet to be decided. Please list Taiwan independently, thank you. Pearl729 (talk) 06:01, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

It would be much appreciated. For example, I am sure that Canada would not want to be listed as part of U.S. Also, I apologize for the double-post, as I am new here. Pearl729 (talk) 06:03, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

China is not part of Taiwan, either, yet they continue to claim it is, or at least that's what the wikipedia article says. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 06:11, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

I separated it, not to appease anyone, but because at present Taiwan is not subject to mainland China. That could change tomorrow, but today Taiwan does not answer to China, nor does China answer to Taiwan. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 14:46, 2 August 2008 (UTC)

There is no McDonalds in Trinidad and Tobago, it should be removed from world locations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.58.55.78 (talk) 00:38, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

What's your source for that? Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 22:54, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Can someone please take out the "Republic of China" from Taiwan, and just leave it as "Taiwan" as it was earlier Monday morning? Thank you! Pearl729 (talk) 15:55, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Technically, Taiwan is the physical island and ROC is the name of the country. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 22:54, 5 August 2008 (UTC)

Micky D's.

Micky D's Is a nickname for McDonald's. Commonly used in the book Heat by Mike Lupica. Small Text —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.11.236.56 (talk) 00:37, 4 November 2008 (UTC)

Questionable statament

"Kroc was also noted for predatory and unscrupulous business practices, forcing the McDonald's brothers to leave the fast food business and leave California to return to their state of origin, New Hampshire. The McDonald's brothers were forced by Ray Kroc to take their own name off of their restaurants, after being sued by Kroc." This conflicts with what I read in McDonald's: Behind the Arches. Can we get a source on this? The page is currently protected. 75.88.47.185 (talk) 01:39, 21 November 2008 (UTC)

The statement above seems to link to another wikipedia article which doesn't not describe "predatory and unscrupulous business practices". It describes how a verbal agreement had not contained a discussion as to a certain group of assets which Kroc had assumed were included. This kind of disagreement happens all the time and is not predatory. As for him opening a restaurant near the original he was exapnding his business in full accrodance with what he had planned from the outset. As for the use of the name, that's exactly what he bought in the previous transaction. He bought the name from them, of course they had to stop using it. The statment "Kroc was also noted for predatory and unscrupulous business practices" makes no sense in reference to this normal occurance in competitive business environments. This entire statement needs to be rewritten from NPOV

It's an editorial added on July 18th. [2] The plain fact is that Kroc wanted to expand the business and the McDonald brothers didn't, and the rest is history. Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} 05:50, 1 December 2008 (UTC)

Someone please edit the 2nd sentence

someone please delete that Zain G b.s. it's not verified by the claimed citation. thank you —Preceding unsigned comment added by Garethvaid (talk • contribs) 00:42, 28 November 2008 (UTC)

The McDonald's Logo

Near the Christmas park, the McDonald's restaurant has a painting of the McDonald's logo inside. --NewWalmartLogoFanatic (talk) 16:46, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

Please delete McDoof!

The redirect from McDoof to McDonald's shall be deleted. The reason: McDoof is a very insulting term for McDonald's. --88.78.10.17 (talk) 10:51, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

Removed redirect. Sweet Pea 1981 (talk) 16:26, 4 January 2009 (UTC)

I've just happened upon this discourse - WTF? I've never heard the word "McDoof" before - it's certainly not common parlance here in the UK. But

1. How is "McDoof" a very insulting term? Does Ronald McDonald cry every time it's shouted across the street at him? Is that what the Smokey Robinson song was really about?
2. Since when is (purported) "hurt feelings" a valid reason for removing a page? On that basis, we should delete the pages for retard, spazz, and probably hundreds of other similar pages. I thought the rationale for removing a page was that it was either felt to be inaccurate or deemed not to be noteworthy.

am I missing something? Dom Kaos (talk) 21:39, 13 January 2009 (UTC)

Now i can undrstand a redirect for a slang name like here in calfrina we somtimes call jack in the box, "Jack In The Crack", but i've never heard someone call McDonalds "McDoof" --Koman90 (talk) 22:06, 17 January 2009 (UTC)

Okay, that sounds fair enough. I was assuming that the term was in common use in the States, but if nobody uses it anyway, you're right that there's no need for it to have a page. Having said that, I might just start using it now, see if I can get it back in :) Dom Kaos (talk) 12:00, 18 January 2009 (UTC)

“Doof” is a German term for “stupid”. --88.78.230.185 (talk) 15:22, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Criticism of MaDonalds

Here is the text of the redirected former article Criticism of McDonalds. Perfectly valid move, but this article can use some critical balance and some of this may be useful to develop the article.

McDonald's faces varying problems, some of which are unique to franchising. As one of the world's largest and best recognized franchise systems, it must endeavor to successfully deal with matters of internal cohesion between the interests of its franchisees and that of the franchiser. At the same time, its global reach and broadly standard product line and level of service have led to McDonald's becoming the target of anti-globalization protests, and as the highest-profile fast food company, it is often blamed for obesity and excessive packaging waste. Its moves to protect its reputation and trademarks have at times been seen as heavy-handed.

As the world's largest restaurant chain, McDonald's also finds itself a target for external criticism. Even though its foreign franchise locations are usually locally owned and use locally-produced foods, the company is seen as a symbol of American domination of economic resources. Urban legends about the company and its food are plentiful and it is often the target of unusual lawsuits.

McDonald's has been the target of criticism for allegations of exploitation of entry-level workers, closing down stores once the workers unionize, use of sweatshop labor to produce "happy meal" toys, ecological damage caused by agricultural production and industrial processing of its products, selling unhealthy food, production of packaging waste, exploitative advertising (especially targeted at children, minorities, and low-income people), and contributing to suffering and exploitation of livestock. McDonald's' historic tendency towards promoting high-calorie foods such as French fries has earned it the nickname "the starchy arches".

Labor Happy Meals Toys are made in low paying countries such as China. Conditions at the workplaces are very poor. Workers are forced to sleep in small rooms on bunk-beds without mattresses. A recent interviewer of workers found out that some workers work for 17 hours straight and earn less than ten cents an hour.

Environmental The soya that is fed to McDonald’s chickens is supplied by agricultural giant Cargill and comes directly from Brazil. Greenpeace alleges that not only is soya destroying the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, but soya farmers are guilty of further crimes including slavery and the invasion of indigenous peoples’ lands. The allegation is that McDonald's, as a client of Cargill's, is complicit in these activities. ProfDEH (talk) 20:06, 1 January 2009 (UTC)