10.13.08
McDonald’s Caves In To Anti-Gay Group Demands
The American Family Association is calling off a boycott of McDonald’s after the fast-food giant agreed to end its support for the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
In addition, a company employee appointed to the chamber’s board of directors has resigned.
McDonald’s incurred the wrath of the AFA after it made a $20,000 donation to the chamber, and Richard Ellis, who until last month was vice president of communications for the chain, was named to the chamber’s
board of directors.
The company at first resisted AFA’s demands that it sever ties with the chamber. In a July response to the conservative group that fights LGBT issues nationwide, McDonald’s Global Chief Diversity Officer Pat Harris said: “We have a well-established and proud heritage of associating with individuals and organizations that share our belief that every person has the right to live and work in their community free of discrimination.”
But now in an e-mailed memo to franchise holders, the company said it has dropped ties with the chamber.
“It is our policy to not be involved in political and social issues. McDonald’s remains neutral on same-sex marriage or any ‘homosexual agenda’ as defined by the American Family Association.”
Richard Ellis is no longer with corporate headquarters. He is now with the company’s Canadian operation.
The e-mail said that Ellis stepped down from the chamber’s board “voluntarily.”
“We appreciate the decision by McDonald’s to no longer support political activity by homosexual activist organizations,” the AFA said in a statement to its members calling off the boycott.
The AFA previously boycotted Disney for several year’s over its support for Gay Days at Disney World, although the company was not an official sponsor of the event.
It boycotted Cincinnati-based Proctor and Gamble over the company’s support for the repeal of a city charter amendment that prevented Cincinnati city council from enacting any laws that would recognize gays and lesbians.
The group boycotted Kraft for its support of the Chicago Gay Games and threatened to boycott Wal-Mart over its involvement with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.
The boycotts resulted in little impact on the companies.
The AFA boycott of Ford was heralded as a success by the organization which noted that it had resulted in a drop in sales and share value. But most financial analysts said that Ford’s problems were really the result of vehicle designs that failed to impress the public.
The conservative Christian group launched a nationwide boycott of Ford in 2005 over the automaker’s support for LGBT issues, briefly put it on hold, and then reinstated it.
The AFA claimed victory when Ford began pulling its ads from LGBT publications, but industry observers and the company said the ad pullout was part of a downsizing of expenses.