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McDonald's decision to pull a dual-burger maneuver in the face of rising cheese costs that have been eating into the profitability of its phenomenally successful 99-cent Double Cheeseburger is an inspired compromise, say restaurant industry analysts. The strategy, announced just before the Thanksgiving holiday, consists of raising the price of the famed Double Cheeseburger--which features two cheese slices--from 99 cents to $1.19 and simultaneously replacing it on the Dollar Menu with a new "McDouble" that's identical save for its single slice of cheese. The changes went into effect as of Monday in corporate-owned stores, and McDonald's will begin national advertising...

Today, the NYT has a big piece about how traditional cafes all over France are going by the wayside -- all, according to the NYT, because of "changing attitudes, habits and now a poor economic climate." France's poor economic climate is singled out by the NYT for the quickening demise of France's cafes, with the paper quoting one red-eyed cafe owner as saying: “People fear the future, and now with the banking crisis, they are even more afraid. They buy a bottle at the supermarket and they drink it at home.” Yet who do you suppose is doing well all...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Here's some food for thought: If you have nude photos of your wife on your cell phone, hang onto it. Phillip Sherman of Arkansas learned that lesson after he left his phone behind at a McDonald's restaurant and the photos ended up online. Now he and his wife, Tina, are suing the McDonald's Corp., the franchise owner and the store manager.

Chicago, IL (AHN) - To battle the growing public perception that McDonald's offerings are not healthy, the fast food chain is tapping more mothers as its frontline warriors under the firm's Quality Correspondents program. McDonald's launched the program in 2007 and recently tapped five mothers in the Washington region to be part of the program. The five are among the thousands who responded to a TV ad seeking volunteers to help explain the nutritional value of McDonald meals to the public. "What to Eat" author Marion Nestle, a nutritionist at the New York University, said because of McDonald's size as...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A judge has ordered McDonald's Corp. to pay $2.4 million in attorney fees to a former employee forced to strip after someone called a Mount Washington restaurant posing as a police officer. Louise Ogborn sued McDonald's and was awarded $5 million in punitive damages and about $1.1 million in compensatory damages in October 2007. McDonald's has appealed, and the case is pending at the Kentucky Court of Appeals. The lawsuit claimed the fast-food giant failed to warn her and other employees about other similar calls at other McDonald's stores and fast-food restaurants. Judge Tom McDonald approved...

Obama Holiday Rallies Turned Away by Topeka McDonald's @ 3:12 pm by Chris Good After Internet news circles buzzed Monday about an activist's plans for a national holiday in honor of President-elect Barack Obama, the Kansas McDonald's slated to host the holiday-promoting rallies has said "no." Activist Sonny Scroggins, leader of a group called Bias Busters of Kansas, had planned to hold rallies at a downtown Topeka McDonald's every Tuesday to plan a push for an Obama holiday. A Topeka Capital-Journal story about Scroggins' plans caught some national attention Monday after being featured prominently on the Drudge Report. The McDonald's...

ORLANDO, Fla. — One person is dead and at least three people were injured at a shooting in the parking lot of a McDonald's restaurant, Orlando police said.

McDonald's profit jumps 11% By William Spain, MarketWatch Last update: 10:03 a.m. EDT Oct. 22, 2008 NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- McDonald's Corp. said Wednesday it posted an 11% rise in third-quarter profit, helped by strong sales worldwide. Before the start of trading, McDonald's (MCD) said it earned $1.19 billion, or $1.05 a share, up from $1.07 billion, or 89 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue rose 6% to $6.27 billion, with global same-store sales -- those at outlets open at least a year -- up 7.1%. The average estimate of analysts polled by FactSet Research had been for...

OAK BROOK, Illinois, October 10, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The American Family Association (AFA) announced the end of a successful boycott yesterday against McDonald's Corporation. McDonald's has severed its ties to a homosexual business group and declared neutrality in the culture wars as per AFA's request.

The Venezuelan government ordered nearly all McDonald's restaurants in the country closed for 48 hours over what it called irregularities in the fast-food chain's books.

A corporate executive for McDonald's restaurants who had been on board of directors of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has stepped down following a boycott of the chain organized by the pro-family American Family Association. McDonald's officials confirmed today to WND that Richard Ellis, who had been named to the "gay" chamber board after McDonald's contributed $20,000 to the organization, "made a personal decision to step down" after he accepted a new position with McDonald's Restaurants of Canada. McDonald's officials also told AFA the company has no plans to renew its membership in the special interest group...

RONALD MCDONALD TAKES A WRONG TURN by Judie Brown Some years ago a very holy priest explained that once the door was opened to contraception, all manner of sexual sins would flood the culture. His name was Father John Hardon, SJ, and I cannot tell you how much I miss his wise and courageous guidance. In one of the many articles he wrote on this subject, he said: The spectacle of broken families, broken homes, divorce and annulments, abortion and the mania of homosexuality—all of this has its roots in the acceptance of contraception on a wide scale in what...

LOS ANGELES -- Police are asking for the public's help to find the man who repeatedly punched a 16-year-old girl in the face at a McDonald's restaurant in South Los Angeles. (VIDEO AT LINK) The victim was attacked while in line at the McDonalds at 7123 Crenshaw Boulevard at about 10:15 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2008. Police say the suspect and the teen got into an argument about who was first in line, and he struck her repeatedly in the face. Anyone with information about the man's identity is urged to call detectives at the LAPD's 77th Street Division at...

LOS ANGELES -- Police are asking for the public's help to find the man who repeatedly punched a 16-year-old girl in the face at a McDonald's restaurant in South Los Angeles. Raw Video The victim was attacked while in line at the McDonalds at 7123 Crenshaw Boulevard at about 10:15 a.m. on Sept. 14, 2008. Police say the suspect and the teen got into an argument about who was first in line, and he struck her repeatedly in the face. Anyone with information about the man's identity is urged to call detectives at the LAPD's 77th Street Division at 213-473-4861.

BACKGROUND: Oprah Winfrey has publicly stated that she will not have GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin on her TV show until after the elections (in spite of having Democratic candidate Barrack Obama - the candidate Oprah is supporting - on her show several times). Consequently, several Republican Women's groups have recommended boycotting Oprah's show. However, a much greater impact is obtained by boycotting Oprah's advertisers. Suppliers of consumer goods and services tend to live on razor-thin margins - The loss of just a few percent of their customer base can be disastrous for them. Furthermore, if one of their advertising...

Was writing US magazine to let them know that I will never read their rag again (even in the beauty salon) when I saw a McDonalds ad on their site. I say for each media outlet that seems bent on destroying Sarah Palin and her family we get all the more bent to contact their advertisers to show our displeasure. Hit them in the pocket books, and if they don't straighten up may the dinosaur media death watch include every outlet that has dared to attack this precious family.

McDonald's makes more money in France than it does in Britain, and Paris has as many golden arches as London - but no self-respecting French diner will admit to eating there Magali, the photographer, is appalled. We are in McDonald's, just around the corner from the Louvre in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, and we are tucking into some breakfast. With a beer. Because we can. “But what ees thees?” she demands. Croque monsieur. Well, technically a Croque McDo. Jambon and a spot of fromage. It's rather good. “No,” says Magali. “It is not. A croque is something ... beautiful....

McDonald's, home of kids' Happy Meals and the Big Mac, has been cited by a boycott campaign for sponsoring conferences at which homosexuals are trained to be activists in advancing their own sexual preferences, according to the American Family Association. The AFA has launched a boycott campaign of the company for an anti-family agenda and public condemnation of traditional family supporters as being motivated by "hate." The AFA's petition and other outreaches have been assembled at the website BoycottMcDonalds.com. Now there's more reason for members and supporters of traditional families to be upset with the fast-food chain. "McDonald's does it...

Mainstream media outlets declined to cover a press conference held yesterday by conservative groups protesting a McDonald’s spokesman who accused them of “hatred.” A coalition of pro-family groups, spearheaded by the American Family Association (AFA), sponsored the press conference at the McDonald’s world headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. The coalition was accused of “hatred” by a company spokesman because they are boycotting McDonald’s for sponsoring the homosexual agenda. At the press conference, Matt Barber, Director of Cultural Affairs for Liberty Counsel, explained what the McDonald’s spokesman said that infuriated the boycotters. “While referring to Christians and other people with traditional...

Two women claim in a lawsuit that a Michigan McDonald's refused to hire them because they wear the hijab, or Muslim headscarf. Toi Whitfield of Detroit and Quiana Pugh of Dearborn say they were both told by managers at a McDonald's in Dearborn they would have to take off their hijabs to work, the Detroit Free Press reports. They filed a discrimination lawsuit Thursday in Detroit. The Detroit area has one of the biggest Muslim communities in the United States, and the Dearborn McDonald's is one of only two restaurants in the chain that serves halal Chicken McNuggets that meet...

Fast food restaurants have employee dress codes not only for appearances, but for hygiene and safety. With that in mind, this case is sounding a lot like the case of the women wanting to wear Islamic attire in a Midwestern tortilla factory. The local health inspector isn't going to take kindly to long sleeves potentially brushing perishable food, and/or the grill and fryer oil, to say nothing of guidelines for hand-washing (see also: the debate over short sleeves in British hospitals). Then there is the matter of long attire and the potential need to make a quick exit in the...

link only per rules: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080725/METRO/807250385/1409/METRO

Illinois Family Institute Media Watch It's difficult to understand what selling hamburgers and chicken McNuggets has to do with the way people have sex, but McDonald's obviously believes the two issues are inexorably linked. Recently, the McDonald's Corporation joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber (NGLCC) of Commerce, a radical homosexual activist organization working toward homosexual "marriage," contributing $20,000 to their group. "We have a well-established and proud heritage of associating with individuals and organizations that share in the belief that every person has the right to live and work in their community free of discrimination," said Pat Harris, McDonald's...

Despite its health-crazy reputation, parts of Los Angeles are plagued by obesity rates that rival any city in America. Now, the city may join a growing roster of local governments aiming to put their residents on diets by cracking down on the fast-food industry, says the Wall Street Journal. The Los Angeles city council is considering legislation that would ban new fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC from opening in a 32-square-mile chunk of the city. The targeted area is already home to some 400 fast-food restaurants, possibly contributing to high obesity rates there -- 30 percent of adults, compared...

A proposal that would place at least a one-year moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a broad swath of neighborhoods, mostly in South Los Angeles, won unanimous support from a Los Angeles City Council committee Tuesday. If approved by the full council and signed by the mayor, the law would prevent fast-food chains from opening new restaurants in a 32-square-mile area, including West Adams, Baldwin Village and Leimert Park. The moratorium would be in effect for one year, with the possibility of two six-month extensions. The measure, proposed by Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose 9th District includes much of South Los...

The corporate headquarters for McDonald's is hearing from store managers in California that customers are upset over the company's pro-homosexual advocacy and they aren't going to take it any longer. Yuriy Popko, one of several Christians who staged a sign-waving protest at the Golden Arches in Citrus Heights today, said the protest at that location was suspended when store officials agreed to convey protesters' objections to the corporate office. Protesters object to McDonald's homosexual advocacy at a local McDonald's franchise July 22, 2008, in Citrus Heights, Calif. "They came out and talked with us. Basically we had two requests: a...

Exiling the Happy Meal Los Angeles Lawmakers Want to Escalate The War on Obesity (And Fast Food) By SARAH MCBRIDE July 22, 2008 Despite its health-crazy reputation, parts of Los Angeles are plagued by obesity rates that rival any city in America. Now, the city may join a growing roster of local governments aiming to put their residents on diets by cracking down on the fast-food industry. Jan Perry, a Los Angeles city-council member, is spearheading legislation that would ban new fast-food restaurants like McDonald's and KFC from opening in a 32-square-mile chunk of the city, including her district. The...

Your dollars for Happy Meals and Big Macs could end up paying for sex-change operations of McDonald's employees if the home of the Golden Arches continues its promotion of homosexuality, according to a pro-family group that has joined an expanding boycott of the fast-food restaurants and its Ronald McDonald's mascot. "If McDonald's restaurants and franchises … follow the small business advice of the company's new homosexual partner – the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), which received a $20,000 grant from McDonald's – there would be chaos," said Peter LaBarbera, chief of Americans for Truth. His was one...

A McDonald's franchisee in Nevada pled guilty and agreed to may a $1 million fine for its knowing employment of illegal aliens (the two executives involved will be sentenced later). This is indeed "a coup for the government's crackdown on employers of illegal immigrants," as the Wall Street Journal put it, but the fact that it's McDonald's is especially important. McDonald's is believed to be the company with the largest number of no-matches — that is, W-2s filed by the employer that have fake or mismatched Social Security numbers. That's from a 2004 report by the Social Security Administration...

A company that owns 11 McDonald's restaurants in Nevada was fined one million dollars Wednesday after pleading guilty to employing 58 illegal immigrants. The company, Mack Associates Inc., knew the employees were illegal immigrants and had offered them names and social security numbers belonging to other people, the US Justice Department said. The company pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Vegas to conspiracy to encourage and induce an alien's unlawful residence in the United States and aiding and abetting an alien to remain in the country, the department said. The company's director of operations also pleaded guilty to aiding...

Omaha, NE (KFAB-AM) - McDonald's is all ears after a lawsuit from a customer hard of hearing. Karen Tumeh recently visited a McDonald's in Omaha and tried to place an order at the pick up window at the drive thru. Tumeh is hearing impaired and she states that she could not understand the speaker at the order menu board. The restaurant told her that she had to go back to the menu board to place her order or come inside. The lawsuit would force McDonald's to make special accommodations for those hearing impaired so they too could use the drive-thru....

US Christian group boycotts McDonald's for association with gay organisation Elana Schor in Washington guardian.co.uk, Tuesday July 15, 2008 The US Christian group that pressured Heinz to pull an UK commercial featuring two men kissing is now targeting McDonald's, accusing the fast-food chain of refusing "to remain neutral in the culture war". The American Family Association began a boycott campaign against McDonald's in response to the company's membership in the Washington-based National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC).

First, from the top of the Democrat Party, we had Howard Dean banning fried food at the Democrat Convention and authorizing only approved food colors. Of course, the caterers correctly thought Dean was a moron, and told him so. Now the Left Coast chapter of the Fraternal Order of Oral Limitations (FOOL), which enforces food consumption regulations as well as speech control laws, has decided that people in South-Central are too fat and unhealthy so they want a moratorium on any new fast food joints.

Throwing out any pretense of being neutral in the culture war, McDonald's has taken up the rhetoric of gay activists, suggesting those who oppose same-sex marriage (SSM) are motivated by hate. AFA has asked for a boycott of McDonald's restaurants because of the company’s promotion of the gay agenda. AFA asked McDonald’s to remain neutral in the culture war. McDonald’s refused. In response to the boycott, McDonald's spokesman Bill Whitman suggested to the Washington Post that those who oppose SSM are motivated by hate, saying "...hatred has no place in our culture." McDonald's has decided to adopt the "hate" theme...

The American Family Association, whose earlier boycott of Ford Motor Co. over its promotion of homosexuality was dropped after company sales fell 8 percent per month for two years, now is asking consumers to stop buying Big Macs and Happy Meals at McDonald's. In a brief announcement today, AFA, whose constituents number in the millions, said it is "asking its supporters to boycott the restaurant chain." "This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals, or homosexuals eating at McDonald's or how homosexual employees are treated. It is about McDonald's, as a corporation, choosing to put the full weight of their organization...

The founder of the American Family Association (AFA) says the McDonald's Corporation's refusal to be neutral in the cultural war over homosexuality has resulted in their declaration of a boycott against the popular fast-food chain. AFA founder Don Wildmon says they went to McDonald's after learning several months ago that the company had joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. And following a $20,000 donation to that group, one of McDonald's executives was placed on the Chamber's board of directors. "We contacted McDonald's and showed them what they were doing -- that is, helping to support the homosexual...

It’s not likely dieticians will be endorsing his regimen, but a Virginia man demonstrated it is possible to regularly dine at a fast-food restaurant without being criticized for signing your own death certificate. Despite media attacks on fast-food for being unhealthy, ABC’s “Good Morning America” showed that healthier options are available without heavy-handed involvement from government in its June 19 broadcast. “Meet Chris Coleson – for years the Virginia man said he was eating too much and, of course, no diet seemed to work,” co-host Diane Sawyer said. “Then last December, he tipped the scales at 278 pounds and made...

<p>McDonald's french fries are now trans-fat-free in all its restaurants in the United States and Canada, the fast-food restaurant chain said Thursday.</p> <p>McDonald's has lagged other restaurant operators in switching over to a zero-trans-fat cooking oil out of worries it would compromise the taste of its trademark fries. It has been under increasing pressure from consumer advocates and some public officials to make the change.</p>

OAK BROOK, Ill. - Fast food chain McDonald's Inc. says it's giving out millions of free samples of its two new chicken menu items. On May 15th, the Oak Brook-based restaurant chain will give customers samples of its "Southern style" chicken biscuits and sandwiches. Customers can get the free lunch and breakfast items when they buy any medium or large drink at the company's 14,000 U.S. restaurants. The promotion's part of McDonald's efforts to convince customers to try their expanded chicken menu. McDonald's says it expects to give away 8 million breakfast and lunch sandwiches during the daylong event.

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - With a possible U.S. recession looming, Colonel Sanders is turning to China to fill the breach, offering a menu of fried dough and preserved egg porridge alongside the chicken that turned KFC into an American icon. Beset by falling sales at home, Yum! Brands Inc, owner of the Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut brands, is mounting an expansion drive in China that could make the country its biggest source of profit within a decade. But like many foreign firms in China, from mobile phone makers to clothing designers, the U.S. fast food giant has discovered it...

Don't eat at McDonald's on South West Marine Drive in Vancouver. Listen. I love McDonald's, both for their food and for what they stand for philosophically. I thought that Super Size Me was a piece of anti-capitalist, anti-beef propaganda. But when you're in Vancouver, skip the McDonald's on Marine Drive. That's because the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that one of the employees there has a human right not to wash her hands when working in their kitchen. Beena Datt claimed that she developed a "skin condition" that meant she couldn't wash her hands in compliance with McDonald's...

McDonald's will up the ante in the coffee wars Friday by offering free small lattes during breakfast hours in the Seattle market. The 112 restaurants in the Seattle region are the latest to offer McCafe espresso drinks. Prices range from $1.59 for an Americano to $3.29 for a large mocha. A small 12-ounce latte costs $1.99. To correspond with the Western Washington launch, McDonald's has created a Web site: unsnobbycoffee.com. "No crazy names or sizes. No second language required," the site advertises. "Hang out. Have fun. And don't leave without your free espresso coupon." Consumers can play an ad-lib game,...

<p>McDonald's has signed on to a nationwide effort to promote "gay" and "lesbian" business ventures.</p> <p>According to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner, McDonald’s will aggressively promote the homosexual agenda. In remarks on McDonald's Web site concerning the company becoming a member of the National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), Skinner wrote: "Being a socially responsible organization is a fundamental part of who we are. We have an obligation to use our size and resources to make a difference in the world … and we do."</p>

McDonald's restaurant's, famed for the Golden Arches, Ronald McDonald and kids meals, has signed onto a nationwide effort to promote "gay" and "lesbian" business ventures. The company, which is listed on the website of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce as a "corporate partner and organization ally" for an undisclosed financial contribution, also recently placed one of its executives on the NGLCC board of directors. Earlier this month, the chamber confirmed that Richard Ellis, vice president of communications of McDonald's USA, was elected to the special interest chamber board. "We could not be more delighted with the addition...

LOS ANGELES - Herb Peterson, who invented the ubiquitous Egg McMuffin as a way to introduce breakfast to McDonald's restaurants, has died, a Southern California McDonald's official said Wednesday. He was 89. Peterson died peacefully Tuesday at his Santa Barbara home, said Monte Fraker, vice president of operations for McDonald's restaurants in that city. He began his career with McDonald's Corp. as vice president of the company's advertising firm, D'Arcy Advertising, in Chicago. He wrote McDonald's first national advertising slogan, "Where Quality Starts Fresh Every Day."

Millionaire lottery winner goes back to job at McDonald's... because he misses his workmates Lucky Luke Pittard scooped a £1.3m fortune, but applied to get his old job back because he missed his workmates. Luke, 25, and his girlfriend Emma Cox, 29, worked together at the branch of McDonald's when they hit the jackpot. The couple hung up their uniforms and settled down to domestic bliss with three-year-old daughter Chloe in a £230,000 home, splashing out on an expensive wedding and a holiday to the Canaries. But 18 months after his bonanza win the novelty of life without work has...

HACIENDA HEIGHTS, Calif. (AP) -- The only familiar signs at the McDonald's in this large Asian community are the golden arches, the drive-through and the menu. Gone are the plastic furniture, Ronald McDonald and the red and yellow palette that has defined the world's largest hamburger chain. Leather seats, earth tones, bamboo plants and water trickling down glass panels have taken their place. The makeover elements are meant to help diners achieve happiness and fortune -- whether they realize it or not. That's because the restaurant was redesigned using the principles of feng shui, the ancient Chinese practice of arranging...

Fast food is a subject that's near and dear to Clark's heart. The fast food chains are discounting their menus because they're hurting for customers right now. Wendy's has come out with the Stack Attack double cheeseburger for 99 cents, while McDonald's and Burger King have their own $1 double cheeseburgers. The fast food index is a leading indicator of difficulty in the economy. So you'll see value menus start to grow as disposable income continues to shrink. Fast food restaurants need their so-called "heavy eaters" -- people who are super-loyal to a particular brand and dine out about 5...

WASHINGTON - A Montgomery County Councilman railed against a popular school fundraiser Thursday, comparing a McDonald’s McTeacher Night to inviting children to a tobacco shop....McTeacher Nights, held at local McDonald’s franchises, involve school staff working the registers while students and families stop in to eat. In exchange, the franchise donates a percentage of the night’s profit to the school. This year, PTAs at Baker Middle School in Damascus and Cedar Grove Elementary in Germantown sponsored such fundraisers. The flap over McTeacher nights arose during committee meetings in Rockville, where representatives from the Center for Science in the Public Interest presented...

New on the McDonald's menu: a takeout diploma. The British government is giving the U.S. burger chain — along with a rail company and an airline — the right to award credits toward a high-school diploma to employees who complete on-the-job training programs. The plan, announced Monday, is part of a push to improve skills among young people and offer even workers who dropped out of school years ago a chance to gain official qualifications. . . . McDonald's employees will initially be offered a "basic shift manager" course to train staff in everything they need to know to run...