From corporate takeovers to insensitive marketing, McDonald's has a history of controversial actions. We're diving deep into the most scandalous and unethical moments that have plagued this global fast-food giant, revealing the dark side behind those golden arches. Our countdown explores shocking incidents like the McLibel case, racial discrimination against franchise owners, animal cruelty, wage theft, and marketing blunders that have seriously damaged the company's reputation. What do you think is the worst thing McDonald's has done? Share in the comments.
Category
đź—ž
NewsTranscript
00:00This is just the latest in a string of lawsuits against the fast food chain regarding pay and
00:04working conditions, among other things. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our
00:08picks for the evilest, most terrible, and most despicable scandalous acts committed by the
00:13McDonald's corporation throughout its long history. So while the fries aren't technically
00:17vegan, it is a mystery if they actually contain beef. Oh my goodness.
00:22Number 10. The McDonald's Takeover. Thor up to Ray Kroc, his last name would be the only one tied
00:27to the founding of McDonald's. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't. The first restaurant was
00:31opened in 1940 by brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald. Kroc, curious why the siblings bought
00:36so many milkshake machines from him, visited the restaurant in 1954. From there, he became
00:40a franchise agent. However, Kroc wanted it all. Our client agrees fully with your conditions of
00:45sale, with one exception. Your one percent cut of future corporate earnings will have to be
00:50carried out on a handshake basis. In 1961, he paid $2.7 million for the business. However,
00:56there was a catch. The original California site wasn't included, and Kroc wanted it.
01:00It's not just the system, Dick. It's the name. That glorious name, McDonald's. It could be
01:10anything you want it to be. It's limitless. It's wide open. It sounds, uh, it sounds like,
01:18sounds like America. The brothers, who lost the rights to the brand,
01:22renamed the restaurant The Big M. Livid, Kroc opened up a McDonald's nearby,
01:26eventually driving The Big M out of business.
01:289. Sunday Bloody Sunday
01:30The phrase Bloody Sunday has been used for several catastrophes in history. However,
01:34it's primarily tied to the 1972 massacre in Derry, Northern Ireland, when British troops
01:39opened fire on unarmed citizens during a march, taking the lives of 14. The Irish band U2
01:45released the song Sunday Bloody Sunday, mostly about this infamous incident. Fast forwarding
01:49to 2019, McDonald's in Portugal decided it was appropriate to release Halloween ice cream with
01:54the slogan Sunday Bloody Sunday. Yikes. The Irish were understandably livid with this tasteless
02:00marketing pun.
02:00Bricks and bottles were soon answered with rubber bullets and CS gas.
02:05The outrage forced the Portuguese arm of McDonald's to cancel the campaign and issue
02:09a public apology.
02:10Indeed, on behalf of our country, I am deeply sorry.
02:138. Condiment First Aid
02:15Condiments are usually a tasty addition to a meal that can bring out its flavor. Yet,
02:23according to some McDonald's branches, they can also be a tool for first aid. In 2015,
02:28the labor campaign Fight for $15 announced that McDonald's workers in 19 cities filed
02:3328 complaints to officials about poor health and safety standards at the restaurants.
02:37With many employees lacking first aid training or franchises having missing or empty first
02:41aid kits, workers have stated that managers had told them to put condiments on their burns.
02:49According to a heart research survey taken that same year, four out of five fast food
02:53restaurant staff members have been burned in the past 12 months, which is a lot of mustard
02:57to get through.
02:58Why are you the way that you are?
02:597. Stealing from employees
03:01We only make minimum wage, and when they take money out of our pocket,
03:04that's putting us below the poverty level, and we're struggling to make it as it is.
03:08Without workers at its over 13,000 U.S. restaurants, McDonald's couldn't hand out
03:13Happy Meals and Big Macs to rake in a fortune. Yet even with that knowledge, that hasn't stopped
03:17the franchise from stealing from them. In 2013, McDonald's workers issued a lawsuit against the
03:22chain for wage theft. In 2019, the corporation settled the lawsuit with California workers for
03:27$26 million, alongside promises of basic rights like breaks. It's not only a U.S. issue, as
03:33employees in Australia sued McDonald's in 2022.
03:36The legal claim totals upwards of $250 million in unpaid wages,
03:41and the union is also seeking maximum penalties against McDonald's.
03:45The chain has a history of misleading its workers. In 2013, it released budgeting advice
03:50to its staff, including lowering stress by not complaining. The budget also implied its
03:54workers would need a second job to get by.
03:56The settlement resolves claims by about 38,000 workers that the company's timekeeping system
04:01cheated them out of overtime, didn't allow them breaks, and workers were forced to pay
04:05out of pocket to clean or iron their uniforms.
04:076. The McAfrika Timing
04:09In 2002, droughts and floods led to a famine in southern Africa, affecting countries such as
04:14Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Angola, forcing millions of people to struggle for food and hundreds to
04:19lose their lives. That same year, once again not reading the room, McDonald's decided it
04:23was appropriate to release a limited-edition product for the Summer Olympics called the McAfrika.
04:28After billboards in Oslo announced the arrival of a limited-time burger called
04:33the McAfrika, the McAfrika was made up of beef, cheese, tomatoes, and salad in a pita,
04:39and was said to be based on an authentic African recipe.
04:42Sold in Norway and Denmark, the product was immediately criticized for its insensitivity
04:46to the continent's struggles, especially when the countries selling the sandwich were incredibly
04:50wealthy.
04:51Idiot!
04:52While the company apologized for the timing instead of removing the product, it continued
04:56being sold through the campaign. The McAfrika even returned for the 2008 Olympics before
05:00vanishing once more.
05:01Your coach had you pegged as Olympic team material.
05:04Number 5. McSuing Everyone
05:06Over ten years ago, McDonald's objected to Irish fast food restaurant Supermac's efforts
05:10to trademark its name in the EU. On the grounds it would cause confusion around McDonald's
05:15Big Mac brand, which that company had already registered.
05:19There's perhaps no company in existence that has gone to court as many times as McDonald's
05:23when it comes to other companies using Mc, or vaguely similar names to their trademarks.
05:27In 1996, Ronald McDonald, a real person, not the clown, won against the franchise when
05:32they closed their nearby site after harassing him for decades for operating the McDonald's
05:36family restaurant since 1956. In 2019, the Irish chain Supermac successfully contested
05:42McDonald's trademarks of Mc and Big Mac in the European Union. The chain has also fought
05:47and lost to Malaysia's McCurry, the UK's McChina Walkaway, and many more.
05:51Fast food giant McDonald's has lost an eight-year legal battle to prevent a Malaysian restaurant
05:57calling itself McCurry. Hopefully the fast food juggernauts don't go after folks with
06:01Mc in their family name.
06:02This is extortion, blackmail. I'll sue you, tire of every asset you own for the next 20 years.
06:084. Veggie Lies
06:10Like your soon-to-be ex coming back from Coachella,
06:12McDonald's fries may be hiding something.
06:15If you're a vegetarian or a vegan, McDonald's might not seem like the best place to go.
06:19But if there's no option, at least it has French fries available that you can have, right?
06:22Nope. For years, the company has faced lawsuits for advertising its fries and hash browns as
06:26vegetarian, despite them being made with beef, which is very much not a plant.
06:30In 2002, McDonald's settled various lawsuits by donating $10 million to
06:35vegetarian and religious groups who typically don't consume cattle, such as Hindus.
06:39These look like potatoes, but are they really potatoes?
06:42Even today, the fries still contain beef in the U.S.,
06:45while the UK and some other countries sell only the vegan version.
06:48I'm seeing this and I think it's gross, but I'm still going to eat McDonald's fries.
06:513. Chicken Clubbing
06:53They're wild, they're cool, and right now they're on sale!
06:58In 2015, shocking footage emerged from TNS Farm in Tennessee. An undercover activist from the
07:03group Mercy for Animals recorded videos of staff fatally clubbing chickens. The spy,
07:08who was there for four weeks, claimed they saw over 100 incidents of abuse there.
07:12The farm was contracted by Tyson Foods, who supplied McDonald's with its chicken.
07:16You've got to get out of here.
07:18Along with being dropped by Tyson Foods, TNS Farm's owners were also criminally charged,
07:22receiving fines of $50 altogether plus court costs and a year of probation.
07:27Speaking of animal abuse, in 2012 McDonald's announced its plan to cease using
07:32gestation cages for its pigs, which stop pregnant and nursing sows from moving.
07:36However, according to investor Carl Eichen in 2022, the group hasn't fulfilled this promise.
07:41We've been working too hard. Time to kick back a bit, shake those tail feathers.
07:462. Racism Against Franchise Owners
07:48McDonald's is facing new legal trouble. More than 50 Black former franchise owners are
07:54accusing the company of racial discrimination. The lawsuit claims the fast food giant denied
08:0052 Black owners the same opportunities as white owners.
08:04In 2020, over 50 Black McDonald's franchise owners issued a $1 billion
08:08lawsuit against the firm for racial bias. They claim the company used their race to
08:13make them open sites in majority-Black areas of inner cities, which are often
08:16less financially profitable.
08:18The Black owner of 14 McDonald's franchises is accusing the fast food company of racial
08:23discrimination. Former Oakland A's baseball player Herbert Washington filed a civil rights
08:28lawsuit against the fast food chain earlier this week. He claimed he was forced to sell
08:32several of his stores to white owners.
08:34They also stated they were given shorter deadlines for renovations than white owners
08:38and had no financial aid. One of the Black owners was Herb Washington, a former sprinter
08:43and baseball player for the Oakland Athletics.
08:45McDonald's settled a lawsuit by local businessman Herb Washington. According to
08:49published reports, he had accused the company of racial discrimination. Washington said
08:54McDonald's put him in charge of low-volume restaurants in Black neighborhoods and forced
08:59him to downsize.
09:00He alleged he was forced to sell some of his sites to white owners by McDonald's. In
09:042021, McDonald's settled the case with Washington, paying $33.5 million for his remaining
09:10franchise restaurants. However, in 2022, the $1 billion lawsuit was dismissed.
09:15Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
09:19about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all
09:24of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
09:311. The McLibel Case
09:33In 1986, as part of London Greenpeace, Helen Steele and David Morris began handing out
09:37leaflets that criticized McDonald's for various reasons. In 1990, the corporation issued a
09:42defamation lawsuit in England against them, which became infamously known as McLibel.
09:47"...court number 35, the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand in London. For almost
09:52three years, the scene of a David and Goliath battle between one of the world's biggest
09:57corporations and two London anarchists."
09:59With sky-high legal costs, three members apologized to McDonald's as the chain requested.
10:04But not Steele and Morris. The franchise plowed millions into their side,
10:08compared to the defendants spending ÂŁ30,000.
10:11In 1997, the court ruled in McDonald's favor despite agreeing with some of the leaflet's
10:16content. However, Steele and Morris weren't done and took the U.K. government to the
10:19European Court of Human Rights.
10:21"...McDonald's is a multinational of phenomenal size and has resources outstripping most political
10:26parties around the world, and they can certainly defend themselves without going to the court."
10:31In 2005, the court ruled in the duo's favor over claims of an unfair trial with McDonald's.
10:36Justice McServed.
10:37"...so there it was. 313 days. An extraordinary and unenviable marathon record for a libel
10:45trial. Did McDonald's come to regret they'd ever brought the case to court in the first
10:49place? Will the judgment be as weighty as the hearing was long? These questions must
10:54wait for answers until next month at the earliest."
10:57Is there a dirty McDonald's deed that we forgot? Well, unlike every one of their ice
11:01cream machines, our comment section isn't broken.
11:03"...nobody parties like McNuggets."
11:06Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo,
11:10and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.