Originally posted by Varghi varg,
I'm sorry, but much as I dislike McDonald's, this website is garbage set up by friends of the defendants
i'm surprised you dismiss this web site as "garbage". we shall have to agree to differ 🙂 the web site was set up by 'jessy" an oxfordshire computer fanatic. with the independent mcinformation network - sixty volunteers from over a dozen countries - she has assembled in 1995 a massive, growing, internet website with over 2,500 files on mcdonalds. information includes videos, interviews, discussion groups, transcripts from the trial, films etc including the infamous leaflet "whats wrong with mcdonalds" in a dozen languages. when steel and morris came to do their closing speech the transcripts from the trial ran to 18,000 pages with a further 40,000 pages of documentary evidence. remember, morris and steel did not have legal representation. the money they needed was raised by the mcdonalds support campaign. over the 6 years they raised £30,000 which helped pay for witness's to get to court, for photocopying and phonecalls, and especially for the court transcripts. the whole operation was run from a small north london flat. incidentally, mcdonalds spent about £30,000 A WEEK on this trial. they were represented by richard rampton QC, one of britains top libel lawyers.
when mcdonalds decide not to pursue the case for damages any further it had already spent £10,000,000 on the case. staggering.
whether you agree with the information on this website or not, one cannot fail to recognise that it now has its place in the history of the internet showing how the internet can be used to take on giant corporations. the final judgement upheld the criticisms of "exploiting children", "cruelty to animals", deceiving customers about the nutritional qualities of mcdonalds food, and 'paying low wages. this, plus the many many toe curling admissions that mcdonalds representatives had to make, under oath, was deeply embarrassing for mcdonalds. read some of the transcripts for yourself on this site, or check out "mclibel - burger culture on trial" by an aclaimed environmental journalist john vidal for examples. there you will find examples of how corporations have tried to use the threat of legal action (backed by their deep pockets) to silence their critics in the past. mcdonalds spends a mere £2 billion a year on its marketing.
... but may be i'm wrong and it is just "garbage".....