Forwarded Message:
My Personal Ordeal with the Arrogant Managers of
McDonald's
5 seconds
My name is Gary Granada, I am a Kaalagad
volunteer, and I need 5 seconds of your time to help
reduce the use of styrofoam in fast food chains.
What was meant to be a nice and simple Saint
Francis Day motorcade-march to McDonald's turned out
to be a nightmare. We were rudely treated by
McDonald's, to put it mildly. Weeks before, we
already sought a dialogue with them to reiterate our
concern for their reluctance to reduce their use of
styrofoam, despite their pledge to seriously attend to
it during our dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the
same thing, and while we are not satisfied with their
response, at least they made some effort to shift to
other packaging and serving materials.) We wrote to
them, went to their office, made follow ups, waited
for a response. The most we got from them was 'you
wait for our call'. They never called, never wrote
back, but verbally said they will assign
representatives to receive our motorcade's
representatives.
When we got there, their representatives turned
out to be the Citibank Building's security detail.
Ill-mannered and impolite, they told us that they were
told by McDonald's that they were not expecting us.
One of our staff went up to their 17th floor office to
find out whether they were willing to sit down and
talk matters. Told to tell us to wait, we waited.
The giant that it is, the bosses of McDonald's
apparently regard little children, nuns, mothers,
priests and concerned consumers as their employees. We
asked how long we were supposed to wait and got no
straight answer. Finally they sent word for me to
come up, just me, no one else. I thought these people
must have seen too many spaghetti movies, perhaps they
thought they had a hostage crisis. I was led to a
conference room that could easily sit six or seven
people and was greeted by two bright boys.
Think about it. Naglakad kami papuntang
McDonald's, at pagdating namin doon, wala man lang
bumaba para kausapin kami ng maayos. At pinatawag ako
nitong dalawang batang managers!
It occurred to me that there were far more basic
issues that plague McDonald's than styrofoam. Like
common courtesy. So I explained to these rich young
rulers that the courteous thing to do was to go down,
greet the delegation and ask how they may be of help.
I even asked them where they were schooled, because in
the public school in an obscure town where I came
from, they manage to teach such things in Grade One.
Their bloated bright brains must have taken up the
space that was meant for their ears. It felt like
talking to an electric fan.
Meanwhile I insisted that somebody from
Greenpeace, the Ecowaste Coalition, Franciscan
Movement for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation,
and the JPICC of the
Association of Major Religious Superiors of the
Philippines (our partners in the activity) be present
as well. They said they can only accommodate three
people at most. Fine. So I said I and our staff will
go down and we will send three people up. But at the
lobby, the three representatives we sent were barred
by security people from proceeding, again upon
McDonald's instructions we were told. It looked
hopeless.
We decided to wrap up the program when out of
nowhere a condescending woman materialized and
introduced herself as the media relations officer of
McDonalds. She said 'Why don't you go to Jollibee
instead, they're number One.' To which Father Ben
Moraleda replied, 'We did, and at least they are doing
something.'
On the side, irked by her audacity, Fr. Ben
quipped, 'And please take that hand of yours off my
shoulders, I don't like you.'
And all that commotion for a very simple and very
reasonable plan: that McDonald's reduce the use of
styrofoam by 50% within one year. McDonald's has once
again demonstrated its arrogance and incapacity to
appreciate the sincere and constructive efforts of
common folks to protect our environment. Unlike them,
we do not make money doing what little we can to help
make things a little better for everybody.
5 seconds, that's all I ask of you to help reduce
the use of styrofoam. Sa mundo ng mga mayayabang,
papansinin lang nila tayo kung tayo ay maninindigan.
Take 5 seconds to think twice before choosing where to
dine or order food.
WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DON'T CHOOSE MCDONALD'S
I feel sad for that woman and those two young
managers. So young, so successful, so ahead of their
game, so privileged; so rude, so arrogant, so lacking
in character, so bland. And I have since stopped
wondering why their burgers taste the way they do.
--------~~~---------
It will take a bit longer than 5 seconds, but it
will go a long way if you can email this page to
friends. Thank you~
GARY GRANADAMcDonald's
5 seconds
My name is Gary Granada, I am a Kaalagad
volunteer, and I need 5 seconds of your time to help
reduce the use of styrofoam in fast food chains.
What was meant to be a nice and simple Saint
Francis Day motorcade-march to McDonald's turned out
to be a nightmare. We were rudely treated by
McDonald's, to put it mildly. Weeks before, we
already sought a dialogue with them to reiterate our
concern for their reluctance to reduce their use of
styrofoam, despite their pledge to seriously attend to
it during our dialogue in 2002! (Jollibee said the
same thing, and while we are not satisfied with their
response, at least they made some effort to shift to
other packaging and serving materials.) We wrote to
them, went to their office, made follow ups, waited
for a response. The most we got from them was 'you
wait for our call'. They never called, never wrote
back, but verbally said they will assign
representatives to receive our motorcade's
representatives.
When we got there, their representatives turned
out to be the Citibank Building's security detail.
Ill-mannered and impolite, they told us that they were
told by McDonald's that they were not expecting us.
One of our staff went up to their 17th floor office to
find out whether they were willing to sit down and
talk matters. Told to tell us to wait, we waited.
The giant that it is, the bosses of McDonald's
apparently regard little children, nuns, mothers,
priests and concerned consumers as their employees. We
asked how long we were supposed to wait and got no
straight answer. Finally they sent word for me to
come up, just me, no one else. I thought these people
must have seen too many spaghetti movies, perhaps they
thought they had a hostage crisis. I was led to a
conference room that could easily sit six or seven
people and was greeted by two bright boys.
Think about it. Naglakad kami papuntang
McDonald's, at pagdating namin doon, wala man lang
bumaba para kausapin kami ng maayos. At pinatawag ako
nitong dalawang batang managers!
It occurred to me that there were far more basic
issues that plague McDonald's than styrofoam. Like
common courtesy. So I explained to these rich young
rulers that the courteous thing to do was to go down,
greet the delegation and ask how they may be of help.
I even asked them where they were schooled, because in
the public school in an obscure town where I came
from, they manage to teach such things in Grade One.
Their bloated bright brains must have taken up the
space that was meant for their ears. It felt like
talking to an electric fan.
Meanwhile I insisted that somebody from
Greenpeace, the Ecowaste Coalition, Franciscan
Movement for Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation,
and the JPICC of the
Association of Major Religious Superiors of the
Philippines (our partners in the activity) be present
as well. They said they can only accommodate three
people at most. Fine. So I said I and our staff will
go down and we will send three people up. But at the
lobby, the three representatives we sent were barred
by security people from proceeding, again upon
McDonald's instructions we were told. It looked
hopeless.
We decided to wrap up the program when out of
nowhere a condescending woman materialized and
introduced herself as the media relations officer of
McDonalds. She said 'Why don't you go to Jollibee
instead, they're number One.' To which Father Ben
Moraleda replied, 'We did, and at least they are doing
something.'
On the side, irked by her audacity, Fr. Ben
quipped, 'And please take that hand of yours off my
shoulders, I don't like you.'
And all that commotion for a very simple and very
reasonable plan: that McDonald's reduce the use of
styrofoam by 50% within one year. McDonald's has once
again demonstrated its arrogance and incapacity to
appreciate the sincere and constructive efforts of
common folks to protect our environment. Unlike them,
we do not make money doing what little we can to help
make things a little better for everybody.
5 seconds, that's all I ask of you to help reduce
the use of styrofoam. Sa mundo ng mga mayayabang,
papansinin lang nila tayo kung tayo ay maninindigan.
Take 5 seconds to think twice before choosing where to
dine or order food.
WHEN YOU HAVE A CHOICE, DON'T CHOOSE MCDONALD'S
I feel sad for that woman and those two young
managers. So young, so successful, so ahead of their
game, so privileged; so rude, so arrogant, so lacking
in character, so bland. And I have since stopped
wondering why their burgers taste the way they do.
--------~~~---------
It will take a bit longer than 5 seconds, but it
will go a long way if you can email this page to
friends. Thank you~
Sent: Friday, October 20, 2006 4:14:43 PM
Subject: McDonald's hires PR agency to invite Fr. Ben Moraleda and Gary Granada
Bonjin Bolinao. She said McDonald's was sending a
letter to Kaalagad, inviting us to a dialogue. She
also asked me if it were possible to indicate in my
website that McDonald's already sent a letter to
Kaalagad (we received the letter the following day).
I promised her that I will publish her letter in my
website (http://garygranada.
way we may have an honest to goodness dialogue where
public concern is concerned is for the public to know
the facts. So I'm publishing and circulating this
letter, as well as my reply to Bonjin, in fairness to
everybody.
If you haven't yet, please read for a backgrounder
http://garygranada.
------------
16 October 2006
KAALAGAD
Attention:
Fr. Ben Moraleda, Spokesperson
Mr. Gary Granada, Volunteer
Dear Fr. Moraleda and Mr. Granada:
On behalf McDonald¢s Philippines, we would like to
invite you to a dialogue with senior McDonald¢s
representatives on Thursday, October 26, at 9:30 AM at
Top of the Citi restaurant, 34th floor, Citibank
Center, Paseo de Roxas, Makati City.
McDonald¢s would like to discuss with your group their
efforts in addressing the various issues that you have
raised. They would also like to formalize their
commitment to your cause of reducing the use of
harmful substances in the quick-service industry.
Thank you for your attention. Please confirm if you
are available on the said date and time. Should you
have further queries, please contact Mr. Stevie
Martinez at 889-8332 loc. 131 or 0918-9258163.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
HCN Bonjin Bolinao
Managing Director
DDB Phils.
Ad Verbum PR
------------
And here is my reply to her letter (thru e-mail):
19 October 2006
Dear Bonjin,
I just read your letter dated 16 October, 2006. Thank
you for the invitation. Because we are a consultative
community, Kaalagad is currently consulting its
members and staff as well as our partners in order to
come up with an appropriate collective response.
Offhand, I would like to share with you my personal
view. (Kaalagad is drafting its official position.)
I am of the opinion that your letter is insincere,
insensitive and mercenary. It is insincere because
you write as though October 6 never happened. No
mention of the incident, no need for apology, no need
to explain why McDonald's acted the way it did.
It is insensitive because you picked a venue which is
one elevator ride from McDonald's's bosses' office,
while we have to commute all the way to Makati from
Quezon City. To add insult to injury, you picked the
very same building where we were harassed by your
security people and shabbily treated by your managers.
It is mercenary because I see PR written all over the
page. It is not even signed by McDonald's but by an
ad agency. We are not a 'market' that your college
advertising textbooks may have taught you to regard.
We are not a 'segment' of the market that you can
simply 'sample', 'profile' and 'contain' if need be.
Don't treat us like we are a PR problem. I cannot
take this veiled insult sitting down. So, to cut the
crap, I will excuse myself from any possible dialogue
with you or your client.
I have a very simple, doable and straightforward
suggestion to you though. Why don't you and
McDonald's use everything within your enormous
financial and media clout to discredit what I am
saying:
DON'T BUY MCDONALD'S BECAUSE:
1. McDonald's is arrogant - don't make them more
arrogant.
2. McDonald's uses styrofoam - don't encourage them
further.
I urge you to publicly discredit those two statements.
And I shall be very happy, even eager, to be
discredited and proven wrong if you really mean what
you say. Show proof in all your stores and offices
that contrary to what I am saying, McDonald's is a
humble giant that puts public welfare above profit.
That way, we all win!
I will publicly broadcast those statements. I know it
sounds laughable for I can't even afford to pay for
one column-centimeter of news item. A little-known
folksinger versus a transnational ad agency of a
transnational megacorporation is a like playing chess
blindfolded with one rook less. On the other hand, I
believe there are lots and lots of people who simply
seek goodwill and solidarity. And I suspect many of
them are fond of spaghetti and brewed coffee.
This will be the last time I'll write to you regarding
McDonald's, hell I don't get paid for writing letters
like you do.
Lastly, please do not take this letter as a personal
affront. Like you said over the phone, we have common
friends. I hope we are on the same page then, for
instance, in taking the illegitimate Arroyo government
to task over the specter of state-sponsored summary
executions and brazen political opportunism that has
become the norm in this country.
Tell you what, I hang out at Conspiracy (Visayas Ave,
Quezon City, across Shell, beside Equitable Bank,
landline 4532170). My favorite singers Cooky Chua and
Noel Cabangon (who by the way once did a commercial
for McDonald's) perform there. Our mutual friend
Conrado DeQuiros is a regular. You might want to
check the place out. Please let me buy you a beer, no
scripts, no agenda, but as real persons in a real way.
Sincerely,
Gary Granada
------------
To help collate comments on the McDonald's issue,
please log on to the
PHILIPPINE CIVIL SOCIETY FORUM
http://garygranada.
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Or go straight to the topic:
http://garygranada.
Thanks~
And please forward this information if you find it
relevant and appropriate, salamat po~~
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