Tell McDonald’s new CEO: Retire Ronald

Dear Friend,

It’s no secret: McDonald’s is a corporation in crisis. For decades, it’s used Ronald McDonald to hook kids on a junk food brand and make them customers for life, driving a global epidemic of diet-related diseases like obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Now, McDonald’s strategy is backfiring — big time.

A recent major shakeup in McDonald’s leadership has created an opportunity for the burger giant to change course. Tell McDonald’s incoming CEO Steve Easterbrook to end the corporation’s predatory marketing and retire Ronald McDonald.

The recent “retirement” of McDonald’s former CEO Don Thompson comes on the heels of one of McDonald’s worst annual performances in its 67-year history. But McDonald’s failures are largely of its own making. Time and again, instead of ending its abusive practices, Thompson’s McDonald’s doubled down on the very tactics that tens of thousands of parents, health professionals and members like you were demanding an end to.

It’s gotten so bad for the corporation that the Gates Foundation divested from McDonald’s, selling more than 10 million shares valued at $1 billion.

Together, we have made McDonald’s abusive practices inescapable for the corporation and its top executives. And our pressure is working: McDonald’s is paying the price.

Take action: Welcome McDonald’s CEO Steve Easterbrook to his new role by reminding him that McDonald’s abusive practices are harming millions of children, and hurting the corporation’s bottom line. And demand that McDonald’s change course.

Thank you for protecting our children’s health,

Sriram Madhusoodanan
Value [the] Meal Campaign Director
Corporate Accountability International

Corporate Accountability International is a member-powered organization that protects human rights, public health, and the environment from corporate abuse around the world. Learn more about Corporate Accountability International’s campaigns here.