Exclusive: McDonald's Says It Has Dumped ALEC

[hue]

Source: MotherJones

This story has been updated.

Add another name to the list of corporations who've ditched the American Legislative Exchange Council: McDonald's.

The fast food giant tells Mother Jones that it recently decided to cut ties with ALEC, the corporate-backed group that drafts pro-free-market legislation for state lawmakers around the country. "While [we] were a member of ALEC in 2011, we evaluate all professional memberships annually and made the business decision not to renew in 2012," Ashlee Yingling, a McDonald's spokeswoman, wrote in an email. Yingling didn't mention any specific campaign or outside pressure as playing a role in the company's decision to leave ALEC.

An ALEC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

UPDATE: The Huffington Post reports that, in a Feburary 29 letter to Color of Change, a McDonald's official said the company remained a member of ALEC. The letter, which raises questions about McDonald's claim to have left ALEC, appears to be written by Pat Harris, whose title is global chief diversity officer. We've updated the headline of our story to make it clear that it was a McDonald's spokeswoman who says the company has left ALEC.

Read more: http://motherjones.com/mojo/2012/04/mcdonalds-alec-pepsi-kraft-voter-id

[Iliyah]

1. Good

McDonald's is very prevalent in the black and latin communities. Since Alec is hehind the voter suppression laws, that would be the honorable thing to do.

[HereSince1628]

2. And instead they'll give to McIver, or CATO?

I wish that the burst of exposure to daylight is doing more than sending the cockroaches into different hidey-holes, but I seriously doubt it.

Citizen's United has created a labyrinth in which to hide the big bucks flowing to the neofeudalists it'll be very hard to track them as they move around behind the walls.

[hue]

3. So True ^^^^ n/t

[RufusTFirefly]

4. Indeed. I try to resist feeling cynical, but we are dealing with corporations, after all

It's all about PR and profit and has little to do with defending democracy or taking the moral high ground.

[cstanleytech]

5. Exactly, this means nothing like other companies dumping ALEC means nothing

because they will just funnel the money to other organizations that in essence do the same job as ALEC did.

[0rganism]

11. in 2 months they'll just start giving to ALEC again, if they ever really stopped

just like all those Limbaugh sponsors who hopped right back on board as soon as the pressure dropped off.

And who can blame them? if our outrage is so flimsy and weak-spirited that we assume we can relent after an initial breakthrough, why should they take any permanent action at all?

[HereSince1628]

13. True, once things 'settle down' it's likely they will go back to their old habits.

And for many of those corporations being a client of ALEC was profitable. So the chance to do it again is probably attractive.

[Sedona]

6. Next Stop Amazon.com

They're a member too. I sent an e mail to them over the weekend. No response yet.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Amazon

[KansDem]

7. Man! When McPinkSlime dumps you...

...you know you're really in the shitter!!

[SunSeeker]

8. Sunshine. The best disinfectant.

Way to go, Micky D.

And thank you to all who helped bring ALEC to light.

[drm604]

9. So basically,

we have no idea if they've left or not.

[patrice]

10. Good.

[shagnasty]

12. Your Dollars Speak Loud - Speak Up and Tell Walmart You Don't Want Their Cheap Chinese Crap

They are among the largest contributers to ALEC and they pay with your money.

[RedCloud]

14. Thanks for the unhealthy food Mickey D!