Ronald McDonald recently appeared as an interviewee on a cable-news show, which tells you more about TV news than it does about McDonald’s. But hey, why not? Most guests on those shows stick to the company line and have painted-on smiles, too.
| David vs. Goliath: A recap of a marathon libel case in England, where McDonald’s sued the writers of a pamphlet criticizing the practices and advertising of the corporation. Plenty of David vs. Goliath material in this documentary.
Rated: Not rated; probably PG-13 for subject matter. Now showing: Varsity. |
It’s a good thing Ronald was covered in clown make-up, because he and McDonald’s are black and blue from the beating they’ve been taking lately. Last year’s high-profile “Super Size Me” was a wacky but troubling film that made a Big Mac resemble crack cocaine.
Now comes “McLibel,” a documentary that recaps a notorious McDonald’s lawsuit that some have described as the biggest PR disaster in corporate history.
The story begins in 1986, when a fairly ragtag nonprofit group in London distributed a leaflet accusing McDonald’s of using misleading advertising to sell junk food, using practices that were cruel to animals, and propagating poor working conditions, among other things. In Britain, nonprofit groups can’t be sued for libel but individuals can, so private investigators were hired to infiltrate the group and gather enough info on members so that McDonald’s could sue them.
Two of the accused, a pair of granola-munching types named Helen Steel and David Morris, refused to apologize to McDonald’s, thus setting off a marathon legal case that was only settled in 1997. Too bad Charles Dickens wasn’t around to turn it into a novel.
McDonald’s spent around 10 million pounds to argue the case, while Steel and Morris, who had no money, were forced to represent themselves in court. (English libel cases don’t allow for public-assisted lawyers.)
A shorter version of this film was released in the late 1990s, but Steel and Morris had another case to argue in 2004, on the larger subject of the unfairness of British libel laws. Director Franny Armstrong shot new footage around this and re-cut the entire thing into a feature.
The movie has its share of skullduggery, including a secret tape recording made when some nervous-sounding McDonald’s lawyers met with Steel and Morris to see if they could settle out of court. It’s got odd characters, too, including an actor who used to play Ronald McDonald until he felt he was lying to children. (Comparing himself to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels may be pushing the point.)
“McLibel” has much to do with British libel laws, which will lessen its impact on American audiences. But there’s still a good bit of David vs. Goliath here, and that is as near to a sure-fire formula – documentary or fiction – the movies can find.
Associated Press
A police officer speaks to anti-McDonald’s activists David Morris (center) and Helen Steel (right) as they distribute leaflets to passers-by outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Wood Green, north London.
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