madcomments

There’s no doubt that the public environment of the UK would be in much better nick if McDonald’s had never existed. How many hundreds of thousands, or indeed millions, of packs embazoned with the ‘golden arches’ are at this very minute scattered all along the pavements, verges and open spaces of Britain, contributing to making it possibly the filthiest country in Europe?

There was clearly a problem with those supposedly chosen to represent youth at mad.co.uk’s conference, as beyond Soho the rest of the UK is full of loud, badly-dressed young people parked up in the disabled parking spaces outside branches of McDonald’s, throwing their packaging onto the ground as soon as they finish with it. Sadly McDonald’s is happy to take these people’s money but does nothing to educate or admonish them for their anti-social behaviour on its premises.

Since when is it the job of McDonalds to “admonish” young people? That’s what parents are for surely!?

We should all have the freedom to choose to eat a greasy burger once in a while if we so wish and hope that the majority of folks have the sense to know that a McDonalds does not constitute a healthy daily meal.

You would have to have been living under a rock for the last year (not to mention lacking in common sense) to not know about ‘five a day’ and the importance of a balanced diet….

Er… any property owner can and should enforce an acceptable standard of behaviour on their property! One of the reasons the UK is sliding towards third-world standards of cleanliness and behaviour is that no-one in the public realm takes a stand - it’s always “someone else’s job”….

Very true. We should be united in our wish to ‘Keep Britain tidy’.

But while McDs can put bins in prominent places and hire extra cleaners, what else can they do? They can’t follow every single customer to check up on them. Incidentally - just as many older people as ‘yoof’ drop litter.

Why are we just berrating McDonald’s? There are other companies, especially other fast food giants and power brands who are just as bad - if not worse. Take a look at the amount of litter an average office generates - and they don’t tend to recycle. If we are going to lambaste ‘big companies’ let’s include them all in the mix. McDonald’s is only the tip of the iceberg, and a brand we just happen to love to hate.

Elspeth, you’ll have guessed by now that like many people, my shameful secret is that I do visit McD’s for a crafty Big Mac from time to time. On my last visit I watched the branch manger walk right past 3 car-fulls of ‘yoof’ parked in disabled bays (while the rest of the car park was empty) while they chucked their packaging out of the window. He said and did nothing.

Melinda, fully agree. Lucozade bottles disfigure just as much of the UK as McD’s packaging. But instead of squabbling over exactly which companies are most responsible, let’s concentrate on the indisputable fact that the UK is a litter-strewn dump compared wth most of the rest of Europe - and it’s getting worse. We’ve got the continent’s best creative brains in the UK, so maybe we need to channel our creativity into addressing this issue!

I see your point. But again, what could he do?

Not suprised he walked past really. I wouldn’t fancy stepping up to a car load of rowdy teens and asking them to “please park elsewhere”. Especially with the current media coverage of teen gangs/shootings etc.

I have to admit that I’m starting to feel a bit sorry for McDonald’s….they may not be perfect but for god’s sake everyone knows that they aren’t a healthy food option…when you go for a big mac, you know what you’re eating. I wish people would stop blaming other people for their poor health, bad habits and obesity. It’s not Macdonald’s fault you’re obese - stop being greedy! Just because you’re given a big mac doesn’t mean you have to eat it. we all have a choice. It seems what our society is lacking is a bit of self control.

On that point alone Namrita, do you think McDonald’s will still be around in 40 years?

Yes i do think that McDonald’s will still be around. People do things regardless of whether it’s bad for you or not. So, some people smoke, some people drink, some people eat junk food. the ‘bad’ thing you indulge in varies from person to person. so, if junk food is your ’sin’ then you’ll indulge it with the full knowledge that it’s bad bad bad.

I have to confess taht i like the odd McD now and then.
Sadly McD will continue to sell burgers to the less well informed.
In an age of ethics, more people are likely to avoid them. But most people entering the golden arches aren’t thinking about ethics.
Maybe one day the tipping point wil go against them. However, I will give McD praise for trying to be more ethical which is more than KFC are doing.