Written by PETA
To combat the epidemic of kids who are shaped like McNuggets, more than 550 health organizations and professionals are demanding that McDonald's stop marketing its fat-and-calorie bombs to children. The campaign was organized by Corporate Accountability International, which ran an open letter to McDonald's in newspapers nationwide, stating, "[W]e know that reducing junk food marketing can significantly improve the health of kids."
Although a recent survey shows that adults think that Ronald McDonald is just plain creepy, children are still susceptible to the red-haired reject and the toys that he touts. And while several states have tried to ban toys from Happy Meals, industry lobbyists squelch the bans before they get off the ground.
It looks like McDonald's McCruelty isn't limited to scalding chickens alive. You can help by urging the kids you know to make every meal a "Happy Meal" by adopting a healthy vegan diet.
Written by Michelle Sherrow
Here's a riddle for you: What has red hair, no heart, and says, "Ba da da da daaa, I'm killin' it"? McDonald's creepy spokesclown, in PETA's Evil Ronald twitter contest. Sadistic Ronalds have popped up all over the Twitterverse to tell people what's really going on behind that white face paint.
You can check out some of Evil Ronald's other tweets, and help stop him by speaking up for chickens.
Unless McDonald's wants to be considered as a possible CGI backdrop for the new Mortal Kombat game, the chain might have a PR problem. Fights are breaking out at McDonalds locations across the country, including an attack on a woman in Baltimore that initiated a protest outside the restaurant when the video hit YouTube.
Then there were folks duking it out at a McDonald's job fair in Cleveland, and a shooting took place at a San Jose location.
Is it possible that McDonald's bad karma for letting its suppliers slash conscious chickens' throats and scald many of them to death is catching up with it? E-mail the fast-food behemoth to let it know that you support ending all forms of violence, and ask McDonald's to switch to the less cruel slaughter method that PETA has recommended.
Does your home need more "om"?
OmStone's "Bitch and Germ Repellant" aromatherapy room spray promises to rid your abode of negative energy and icky germs all in one misting—and we've got some to give away to 10 lucky PETA Files readers. To enter, just comment and tell us whose negative energy toward animals you would most like to make disappear with a single squirt. Maybe it's a frightful fur-flinging Vogue editor or a clown who makes you frown. Just let us know, and the ten people whose answers are the most inspiring and most make us want to whip out our spray bottles will win.
The contest ends May 4, 2011, and the winners will be chosen on May 6, 2011. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
Good luck!
With all the recent buzz about taking toys out of unhealthy kid’s meals, PETA has come up with a way for kids to still have some fun at McDonald’s expense. The new "Where's Evil Ronald?" video game challenges people to find the creepy clown played by Andy Dick in a crowd. The rounds get harder as the game goes on, and along the way, the game displays facts about McCruelty, like how chickens killed for McNuggets often have their throats cut and are plunged into tanks of scalding-hot water while they are still conscious.
We'd be happy to let McDonald's put DVDs of our game in their meals. But of course, if the company's hatin' it, it could always just do the right thing and switch to a less cruel slaughter method. Let McDonald's know that you won't be caught dead under the golden arches until it stops allowing its suppliers to torture chickens.
Have you ever wondered what an uncooked McNugget looks like? Or who were the first vegans? How about who an NFL blogger would rather not have on the "skins" team? It's all here in our Friday afternoon helping of Internet Soup.
Threadless' hilarious "Not So Happy" T-shirt might not thrill Ronald McDonald, but you and your friends will get some chuckles out of it.
Maybe Ronald is getting sick because he ate too much junk food or because he finally looked at PETA's McCruelty photo gallery, or maybe he just found out what a creeptastic clown everyone thinks he is. Whatever the reason, Ronald's not lovin' it—but you sure will.
To enter, see what kind of creative and animal-friendly phrases you can make using only the letters in this phrase: "McDonald's McCruelty to Chickens: I'm Hatin' It." You don't have to use all the letters in the phrase, but you can't use any extras. The person with the most creative animal-friendly phrase(s) will win Threadless' shirt in their own men's or women's size.
The contest ends on March 23, 2011, and the winner will be chosen on March 25, 2011. Be sure to read our privacy policy and terms and conditions, as you're agreeing to both by commenting. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law.
You can't keep a good bird down. PETA's crippled-chicken statue was shut out of Louisville and Denver, but it has finally come home to roost in Raleigh.
PETA unveiled the new anti-McDonald's statue, which was designed by New Yorker cover artist Harry Bliss, to a receptive parade of passersby, who took home more than 400 leaflets explaining how chickens killed for McDonald's continue to suffer broken bones and wings and be scalded to death in defeathering tanks, even though a less cruel slaughter method is available. Many people wanted to talk to the PETA staff about the statue and the McCruelty campaign, and everyone flipped over the McCruelty stickers.
If you haven't already, please join our fine feathered fowl and tell McDonald's that you're hatin' it.
PETA's newest campaign strategy against McCruelty appears to be working. We have been making unscheduled appearances at the speaking engagements of McDonald's executives in order to hold them accountable for their archaic and cruel chicken slaughter methods. When we recently interrupted McDonald's director of U.S. communications at the Online Marketing Summit in San Diego, she said on camera that she'd be willing to discuss our concerns in a sit-down meeting.
We are asking McDonald's to institute a less-cruel slaughter method for chickens raised for the restaurant called "controlled-atmosphere killing" (CAK), which is already in use by their European suppliers. Currently, chickens raised for McDonald's in the U.S. and Canada are dumped out of their transport crates and hung upside down in metal shackles. They watch other chickens have their throats cut while they wait for their turn before being scalded to death in defeathering tanks.
We hope that McDonald's will follow through and agree to talk with PETA about instituting CAK. In the meantime, please take a moment to tell McDonald's that you support less cruel methods of chicken slaughter, and sport your McCruelty gear with pride.
There's no room for McCruelty in the happiest place on Earth. Disney World told McDonald's to go take a hike in the Hundred Acre Wood and not come back, replacing the Golden Arches with …wait for it … BabyCakes vegan cupcakes!
Disney World is apparently seeking more wholesome food options for families, and BabyCakes' ridiculously good vegan treats fit the bill so well that they might even make Winnie the Pooh put down his honey pot. BabyCakes cupcakes not only leave out the dairy products and eggs, they're also organic and free of gluten and refined white sugar.
Who knows—maybe McDonald's wouldn't have been forced to walk the plank if its suppliers' slaughter methods weren't meaner than Captain Hook.
If you have a general question for PETA and would like a response, please e-mail Info@peta.org. If you need to report cruelty to an animal, please click here. If you are reporting an animal in imminent danger and know where to find the animal and if the abuse is taking place right now, please call your local police department. If the police are unresponsive, please call PETA immediately at 757-622-7382 and press 2.
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