RONALD McDONALD EXPOSED


No doubt you will have heard about Ronald McDonald. He's that big friendly clown that you sometimes meet when you go to McDonald's. He's on the television, on a lot of their promotional products such as toys and he's even on some of McDonald's packaging. Sometimes he comes to your playgroup - he seems to get everywhere doesn't he?

So what does the man that dresses up like a clown and works for McDonalds actually do? Sometimes he comes to children's parties and gives out lots of presents, he makes parties more fun and lets the grown ups relax. He also donates money to children who need - he seems a very nice, very friendly and very positive.

"Hi, my name's Ronald. What's yours?"

But this isn't the whole truth. McDonald's use Ronald as a gimmick to promote their products. Ronald is only there to try and sell you McDonald's food, and McDonald's use Ronald in a manipulative way.

"Wouldn't it be great to have some fun!?"

Everyone likes a clown but Ronald is a different type of clown. When he gives money to your school it is always for the purposes of gaining McDonald's more coverage and promoting McDonald's to kids and their family. Advertising can be very expensive but by donating a relatively small amount of money to a playgroup for example, McDonald's gains priceless promotion.

"Why don't you come with me and have some fun eating my meaty burgers."

The ENVIRONMENT

The destruction of the worlds resources - trees, minerals (eg oil, copper, coal etc), means that we are slowly destroying our own environment. What is going to happen once these resources run out? McDonald's plays a part in this destruction.

Natural forests are cut down for space to raise cows to 'make' meat, or to make paper for packaging. Fast food packaging, whether paper or plastic, is chucked away as rubbish. It is not even recycled - this surely is a waste.

McDonalds and other burger chains are happy to make this happen. Do you want to know more?

WHAT ABOUT THE ANIMALS?

Millions of chickens, cows and pigs are cruelly imprisoned and then killed to make meat for burgers and McNuggets - but we don't have to eat meat at all.

Do you know what happens to the animals that are used to make burgers, mcnuggets and bacon rashers that you eat in hamburgers?

LETS TAKE THE COW

This mother and calf are lucky, most are not.

  • They are kept in very small pens inside most of their lives.
  • Their calves are taken away within four days of being born.
  • They end up as beef inside a McDonald's HAMBURGER.
  • Do you wonder what happens to the calves?

LET'S TAKE THE PIG

Happy Pigs Outdoors. Most pigs don't even have a life.

  • Pigs raised in factories live in small, confined, dark places called sow crates. They cannot move in these 'cages'.
  • Pigs are slaughtered and made into bacon.
  • McDonald's and other chains use the bacon in their food.
  • Baby pigs, pigglets, have their tails cut off.

LET'S TAKE CHICKENS

Trapped chickens inside. Most chickens don't get to even feel sunlight most of the time.

  • Chickens are mostly raised in 'batteries' - large sheds with thousands and thousands of chickens crammed into tiny spaces, slightly smaller than an A4 piece of paper.
  • They have their beaks cut off to stop them from pecking each other.
  • Chickens are slaughtered to make Chicken McNuggets.
  • McDoanld's and other fast food chains use chicken in their food.

What about your health?

"Junk food" (like hamburgers, shakes and fries) is not good for you. It has lots of fat, sugar, salt and additives in it, but little fresh fruit, vegetables or salad. Too much meat in your diet can be fatal and we are all advised to eat much less meat.

Ronald even robs the poor!

Lots of land on poor or underdeveloped countries is used for cows, or to grow grain for feed cows, so hungry people can't grow food for themselves.

DON'T BE TRICKED BY THE 'CLOWN'

or by adverts and 'free' toys