Wall Street Loses Taste For McDonald's
[McDonald's poor results bring down its share price]
McDonald's/Gateway2000 Ad Campaign
[Details of McDonald's and Gateway pact ensuring the portrayal and use of dead animals continues in mainstream media]
BURGER AND FRIES TO GO - SLOPING OFFOnly days after unveiling the Maharaja Mac in New Delhi, McDonald's will next month take to the Swedish ski slopes in what the company claims is the world's first fast-food ski-through. The McSki branch is in the family resort of Lindvallen in Sweden. "There is no need to take off your skis," a spokesman tells me. "You just ski up to the counter, order your food and ski off." Customers who prefer not to munch on piste will be catered for in a 140-seat restaurant.
FUME DANGER
A McDonald's restaurant in Sunderland was closed yesterday adn 13 staff taken to hospital after being overcome by fumes believed to have been released when two chemicals were accidentally mixed.
BURGER TRIM
Grand Metropolitan said it was conducting a low-key overhaul of its Burger King chain, closing 20 outlets with the loss of around 360 jobs. There will be 400 outlets left after the closures.
GERMAN EXPANSION PLANFast-food king McDonald's Corp plans a major expansion of its presence in Germany, opening 400 new restaurants and creating 20,000 new jobs by the year 2000, the head of its German subsidiary said on Friday.
Gerd Raupeter told a gathering to celebrate the 25th anniversery of its presence in Germany the company aimed to boost the number of customers to two million a day from 1.5 million.
McDonald's operates 713 restaurants in Germany and has a workforce of 40,000 employees. Its 1995 turnover in Germany totalled just under three billion marks, he said.
Bio-Tech Boycott of McDonald'sIt was mentioned in Reuter's and thus the Chicago News desk (wire service) about the Bio-Tech boycott on McDonalds fries. Extract as folows:
"Biotechnology foes last month announced a worldwide boycott of genetically-altered corn and soybeans, asking consumers to stay away from such products as McDonald's Corp french fries and Coca-Cola Co products."
NOTES & QUERIESQuestion: Which countries do not have any McDonald's restaurants?
Answers so far include:
- India & Nepal do not have McDonald's because the Hindu faith prohibits the eating of cow produce. I doubt Libya has any. Iraq, Iran, North Korea and other anti-American states are probably McDonaldless.
- Afghanistan has yet to succumb to McDonaldism.
- McDonald's head office in London says they operate in 91 countries. There are 121 other countries in the world.
The following is a reply from the McLibel Support Campaign - expected publication of this column is Wednesday next week.McDonald's don't have 'restaurants' in any countries. Because of the synthetic, unhealthy character of their products - which are high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and vitamins - and the emetically garish interior, I don't think any McDonald's outlet can be called a 'restaurant'. Incidentally, there are approximately 25 countries in which people are actively campaigning and protesting against McDonald's.
McLibel Support Campaign
5 Caledonian Road
London N1 9DX
Tel/Fax 0171 713 1269
E-mail: mclibel@globalnet.co.uk
