News
Gay organization severs ties with McDonald's over ad in France
June 20, 2010
The National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has cut off any future relationship with McDonald's and its subsidiaries after an ad featuring a gay teenager ran only in the French market. The organization wrote a letter to the company, expressing its "utter dismay at the blatant geographic pandering to the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community in the recently released TV ad in France, while McDonald's has continued to distance itself from the LGBT segment in the United States."
The NGLCC, which represents the interests of the estimated 1.4 million lesbian LGBT-owned businesses in the United States, had been working with McDonald's for several years to develop business sponsorship with limited success. In a letter dated June 3, the NGLCC said the state of relations has now soured:
We strongly believe that McDonald's plan to distance itself from LGBT and other diverse business segments, coupled with the release of the French TV ad, is ill advised and counter to the spirit of good business and sound ethics. We sincerely hope that McDonald's will reconsider its position and that the company will again show its support for LGBT people, our families and our businesses — not just where it is politically expedient, but around the globe.Barring a significant change in policy on the part of McDonald's, please consider this letter as official notice that the NGLCC will not accept future support or membership by McDonald's or any of its subsidiaries. Additionally, please note that we will answer any questions about this communication, the past relationship between our organizations or any other questions by members of the NGLCC, the media or other interested parties.
McDonald's Corp. did not return a request for comment about the letter butsaid in a earlier statement that the ad is merely one in a series of commercials in the "Come as you are" campaign by McDonald's France, one that "recognizes the diversity of McDonald's customers in France." McDonald's also said each of its 117 markets around the world determines its own marketing and advertising focus, just as it always has.
McDonald's COO Don Thompson told the Chicago Tribune in a June 13 article thatthe U.S. market would not replay the ad. Regarding the controversy the ad has created in the U.S. market, Thompson said the company does discuss how marketing that reflects cultural norms in one market can have cultural implications in markets elsewhere in the world.
From the story:
"And those are things that, yes, we're going to learn from. But, you're right, that commercial won't show in the United States."
Correction: This article originally incorrectly linked Thompson's comments to the NGLCC letter. Thompson's comments came after the letter was sent to McDonald's.
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