Values Blog
What secret has Ronald McDonald been hiding?
McDonald’s, known for its distinctive golden arches and, here in the South, its dollar sweet tea, is now being recognized for the dubious distinction of having a member of its executive team on the board of directors of the national Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
McDonald’s has been a “corporate partner” with the chamber for some time; now its national vice-president for communications is on the board of directors.
“I’m thrilled to join the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce team and ready to get to work,” crowed Jim Ellis, the chief spokesperson for the fast-food restaurants, in a chamber press release last month. He went on to say that he shares the chamber’s “passion for business growth and development within the LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered] community and I look forward to playing a role in moving these important initiatives forward.”
In addition to McDonald’s, corporations represented on the chamber’s board of directors include IBM, Motorola and Wells Fargo. Just last month, United Parcel Service (UPS) announced a partnership with the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce to offer discounts to “LGBT-owned” businesses. The chamber reportedly exists to promote the economic health of such businesses.
It’s one thing for a corporation to be a “member” of the chamber. Most major corporations are It’s another thing entirely to take such a prominent role in promoting the “LGBT” cause, especially for a company like McDonalds that has built its business on the backs of America’s families—most of them solidly heterosexual and with children.
What will this do for Ronald McDonald’s image? What secret has Ronald been keeping? What does McDonald’s hope to gain by this action? No corporation does something like this without looking to benefit their bottom line.
I didn’t realize McDonald’s felt its market share among the “LGBT” segment of the population was suffering.
My family has decided to help the burger chain in beefing up its percentage of non-heterosexual customers. If we feel the need to eat a cheeseburger and fries, we’ll be eating elsewhere. That’ll leave room at their counters and their indoor playgrounds for these other folks McDonald’s desperately wants to court.
That’ll be tough for me. I really do like their French fries.
[Authored by Dwayne Hastings]
Comments
1
Like you, I can’t imagine what a family-oriented company like McDonald’s would hope to gain by aligning itself with the NGLCC. But then, I feel the same way about Disney, so obviously I and others like me must just be out of touch!
Some other conservative groups are encouraging us to take one of these articles to our local McDonalds and speak to the manager, telling him/her our feelings about the corporate move and why we’ll no longer be giving them our business. If we simply no longer show up, how will they know the reason why? But if we let them know, they’ll know their leaders have hurt them where the pain is worst…in their wallets! Then maybe the local managers will make the noise it will take to make a change.
The key to any change is to start making the noise! Unfortunately we Christians have sat silent in our pews for so long that now our backs are against the wall and we are waking up, trying to figure out what happened! God forgive our apathy, and please help us!!
posted at 10:47am on April 04, 2008 by Lee Bailey
2
I am a pastor in Victoria, Texas. One of my many cousins works for McDonalds so I asked him to, “give me any info regarding the veracity of this article? If it’s true, it’s extremely disturbing.”
He sent me McDonald’s in-house response. It’s longer than this form will permit, so if you’re interested in it, then please contact me.
CARL SCHNEIDER Parkway Church (361) 572-8340 Fax 572-8365 carl@parkwayvictoria.org
“We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well” 1 Thessalonians 2.8
posted at 2:21pm on April 08, 2008 by Carl Schneider
3
For a long time I have been asking why such a small minority (some say no more than 3%) of the population has so much influence that corporations practically fall to their knees before them. It makes no sense that normally business savvy corporate heads would get involved in something highly controversial, as private as discussions of sexual activity are (or is there any privacy there anymore?) taking a stand that will be disliked by the majority of their customers in order to favor such a small minority. Why??? I don’t know and would like someone who does to explain it.
My own view is that TV and other media have created a sort of “Homosexual Mystique” by a saturation campaign over a period of years, that anything hinting that homosexuality is anything but good is prejudice, persecution, “hate talk” and so on. It is either succumb or face character assassination. What do others think? Have any social scientists seriously considered studying this phenomenon?
posted at 7:16pm on April 08, 2008 by Mary Baker
4
Thanks for the comments in your article. We have already joined in American Family Association’s Official Boycott of McDonald’s Corporation. It is not nearly as difficult to drive past one of its properties as one might think. (We also really liked the French Fries.) When you see the golden arches, just think about how the money they donate to the “Homosexual Agenda” is an “unfamily” as you can get…then it’s easy to go right on. It’s also good to offer a prayer that its “corporate hearts” would be changed to bring about a company that is God-Honoring.
posted at 1:28pm on July 09, 2008 by Gary and Kathy Miller