I have just started reading this very interesting document and after reading only "The FullStory" (which is apparently far from the full story), I would like to be respondant with what will probably sound despondant.I support all your issues from wage and hiring practices to the rain forest, but with very little concern for any union issues as unions are made up of nothing but muggers and thieves and should be abolished. As radical as this sounds, I do agree that there should be agency that stands for the working man, but the union system as it stands is pretty pathetic.
I digress. As stated earlier, I support the main issues and concerns, but I have to state what I believe to be true from my short life experience (46 years). And that is, you don't have a prayer fighting McD's in a court of law. Not a single hope for victory over McD's. Over here in the US, it is pretty much understood that money rules. It is indeed a sorry state of affairs when large companies put profits in front of human concerns, but hey, what else is new. It is a world of financial power we live in and the time when something could be done about it is long past. We tried it in the sixties, but found that even the opinion of millions of people could not sway the power of the big guys in office, when we and the rest of the world new that they were sick, cold hearted, murdering bastards. There was just too much money in it...and they had the money. It is a fact, there were no hippy millionaires and nobody with alot of money who stands to lose it is going to support your issues to stomp on a hamburger chain.
McD's keeps on growing and nothing you or anybody else does is going to change that, given the current train of thinking. The rain forests will continue to be decimated, animals will continue to be "tortured" and "murdered" and the status quo will remain, with or without any input from Greenpeace. If this sounds like a letter from a man who has given up on society, I assure you I have not.
Like so many people in this country, I have come to accept all these things, not from complacency or apathy, but from pragmatism. I JUST CAN'T WIN!! But do I quit? No. I fight like so many other people who understand that the only thing they can do, the only way for their message to be heard, the last and final word is to just not buy from them. That, on an individual basis, is pretty harmless to a company, but on a large scale is devastating and tantamount to destruction. The court is not your answer. The people are. People all over are pretty much the same.
With obvious exceptions, we want to do what is right. We don't want poverty for anybody, we don't kick dogs, we don't drown kittens, we don't burn down rain forests, we want our veterans to be cared for, and we want to live in peace without the intervention of government. We are the solution to your problems, not some court in London or anywhere else. Play by their rules. Use your right to freedom of speech to appeal to the people, not the court. Hell, the courts only care about the law, not the rights of people.
Slamming McD's is easy, without any libel. Put your money into educating the children, just like they do. Create positive ad campaigns to promote health to children and lead them away from fast food with inferences to McD's and BK. Go to schools and tell your story. Eliminate any pictures of Ronald puking and you eliminate lawsuits. Negative advertising will get you in trouble (obviously). Spread the word in a positive environment and pretty soon the people will catch on that your efforts to slam McD's is not just some political ploy but one of concern for the future. Don't tell the people not to eat at McD's, tell them to eat at Joes.
Use the intelligent offerings of one of the most succesful people in business who said that there are only three ways to succeed in business...advertise, advertise, advertise. It is incredible to think what can be accomplished using these three principles. I am sure that
when Ray Crock (hey, we know him), started his advertising campaign to promote McD's way back when, he new this was an absolute. Let's face it, if you throw enough shit up against the wall, sooner or later some of it is going to stick.I have no personal grudges against McD's. I accept them like so many people, because they are there. I do not eat at McD's. Not for any political reasons, but for the simple reason that their food sucks. My dollar stays in my pocket and out of theirs and whether you believe it or not, that dollar does make a difference.
"Look beyond what can be seen and you will find an open door".
I will finish reading your pages and hope that this letter was not premature and I didn't make a fool of myself.
Good Luck in your quest and remember, that which does not destroy us will make us stronger. Peace!