Anti-McDonald’s McDavids beat Goliath
Wednesday February 16, 2005
(Upper) Intermediate +
BNE: In a true case of David and Goliath, two British conservationists have won a court case in the European Court of Human Rights against the British government’s libel laws. Helen Steel, 39 & Dave Morris, 50, also known as the McLibel 2, campaigned in the early 1990s against what they saw as McDonald’s’ immoral operating practices. They distributed leaflets in the streets of London entitled “What’s wrong with McDonald’s – Everything they don’t want you to know”. They were also awarded 35,000 euros ($45,000) between them.
The hamburger chain sued the pair for libel, spending $10 million on lawyers. The McLibel 2 had no money for legal representation, and the British legal system did not at that time allow legal aid in libel cases. McDonald’s won the case and were awarded $70,000 in damages. The pair never paid a penny of it. It was a huge public relations disaster for McDonald’s. The presiding judge damningly stated, “McDonald's marketing has “pretended to a positive nutritional benefit which their food (high in fat & salt etc) did not match”; that McDonald's “exploit children” with their advertising strategy; are “culpably responsible for animal cruelty”; and “pay low wages, helping to depress wages in the catering trade.”
A McLibel 2 media release declared that “the notorious and long running McLibel case was in breach of the right to a fair trial and right to freedom of expression. The two conservationists had launched legal proceedings against the UK government arguing that the marathon 'McLibel trial' which lasted 313 days - the longest trial of any kind in English legal history - and UK libel laws, breached the European Convention on Human Rights Article 6 (right to a fair trial) and Article 10 (right to freedom of expression).” The McLibel 2 stated, “We hope that this will result in greater public scrutiny and criticism of powerful organizations whose practices have a detrimental effect on society and the environment.
