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McDonald's Ramps Up Publicity Effort Amid Increasing Criticism

Posted on: Monday, 17 April 2006, 21:00 CDT

CHICAGO _ Facing yet more criticism over the healthfulness of the food it offers, McDonald's Corp. has responded by intensifying its efforts to sway public opinion through the news media.

"I wouldn't call it a campaign," McDonald's chief executive, Jim Skinner, said Monday in announcing the global promotion. "We need to do a better job telling our story."

The publicity effort comes amid more slings and arrows pointed at the hamburger giant.

Next month, Eric Schlosser, the author of "Fast Food Nation," a harshly critical study of the industry, releases a new co-authored book targeted at teenagers called "Chew on This: Everything You Don't Want to Know About Fast Food." Later in the year, a movie based on "Fast Food Nation" is set to be released in movie theaters.

Last week, in another example of the heat McDonald's faces, a study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine claimed that McDonald's sells healthier french fries and chicken strips in Europe than in America.

McDonald's intensified publicity effort involves explaining itself to journalists and trying to influence their perception of what the company sells and how it thinks.

The company already has warned its U.S. franchisees of the upcoming film and book, which according to early reports hold fast food companies responsible for the rise in childhood obesity.

Earlier this year, McDonald's invited journalists from 40 overseas publications to its Oak Brook, Ill., headquarters for presentations about the company's efforts to provide the same quality foods that they find in grocery stores. The company says it plans to hold a follow-up session later this year for U.S. reporters.

Skinner said the company would be more "transparent" and available to the news media to tell its story that McDonald's does offer an array of healthy foods, but that at the end of the day it can't tell people what they should or shouldn't eat.

"We are supportive of communication to our customers so they can make the choice about what is best for them," he said. "What we eat on a daily basis is about personal responsibility."

On Monday, the company led journalists on a tour of its West Chicago factory where McDonald's makes hamburger patties. It is normally closed to outsiders.

In a round-table discussion with reporters, Skinner said the company has to balance efforts to produce healthier food with the fact that it is a for profit company.

"There is a distinction between what (customers) eat and what they say they want to eat," he said, explaining that the company provides choices, such as salads, for those who want to eat a healthier diet.

"If people asked us for egg whites, I can assure you we would provide egg whites," he said.

The company relies heavily on marketing panels and surveys to determine what consumers most want to eat.

McDonald's publicity approach represents a marked departure from two years ago when the company spent several million dollars to quickly create three commercials _ two for television and one for movie theaters _ after apparently being caught flat-footed by the documentary "Super Size Me." In that movie, director and star Morgan Spurlock gained 25 pounds over 30 days by eating nothing but Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets and other items from the Golden Arches.

Skinner insisted this year's coming criticism isn't so much about McDonald's as it is about the fast food industry.

"This is not about McDonald's," he said. "Even Mr. Schlosser has said this is not about McDonald's."

He rejected the notion that McDonald's is responsible for childhood obesity, insisting, "We are part of the solution."

As for the issue of selling chicken and fries in the United States cooked differently than in Europe, Skinner insisted that it is a function of regulatory distinctions. Many Europeans countries last year adopted regulations requiring fast food chains to use canola oil to rid food of trans fatty acid, an artery clogging substance that is used to extend the shelf-life of products.

Taking a different approach, the United States ordered food suppliers beginning this year to disclose the amount of trans fatty acids contained in their foods. That has prompted most suppliers to spend millions of dollars revising recipes in an effort to preserve the taste of a product while eliminating the TFA.

"We're working on it," Skinner insisted, saying the world's largest restaurant chain is trying to preserve the taste of its fries while eliminating the TFA. "We just don't know exactly know when" we will have the answer.

"But trust me, we are very much focused on this," he said.

___

(c) 2006, Chicago Tribune.

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Source: Chicago Tribune

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