Fast food charity a ‘deal with devil’
McDonald’s and its namesake charity Ronald McDonald House have been compared with the late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar.
Canterbury Medical Officer of Health Alistair Humphrey made the comment as he joined a chorus of medical professionals speaking out against the charity, which supports sick children and their families.
The Public Health Association’s Otago-Southland branch has called for the charity house not to be included in the future rebuild of Dunedin Hospital.
Humphrey told The Press that McDonald’s made a lot of money ‘‘out of selling a product that is killing a lot of New Zealanders’’.
He likened the fast food giant and its charity to Escobar, who was revered for building homes for the poor in Colombia, despite killing 4000 people.
About 4 million people die from obesity each year, including 3000 in New Zealand.
Humphrey said the fast food giant spent millions marketing its products, often by using the Ronald McDonald clown, and there was a clear link between marketing and obesity.
He questioned McDonald’s ‘‘philanthropy’’, saying most of Ronald McDonald House’s money came from donation boxes at outlets.
Ronald McDonald House’s website calls McDonald’s its ‘‘mission partner’’ and says it provides ‘‘significant cash investments’’.
Its 2016 Annual Return to Charities Services said it received about $4.6m from fundraising and grants.
The ‘‘mission partner’’ is listed as providing about $1.6m in fundraising income, so it is unclear if this is the amount comes solely from McDonald’s customer donations or includes profits.
Humphrey said: ‘‘The public needs to understand they are not getting it from McDonald’s, they are getting it mainly from themselves.’’
Humphrey, who did not support the facility in Christchurch, congratulated Public Health South and hoped the Southern DHB endorsed their stance.
Those who opposed had a ‘‘similar misguided gratitude’’ to the 25,000 people who attended Escobar’s funeral.
‘‘They are drawing themselves into the deal with the devil, in my view.’’
A McDonald’s spokesman said Humphrey and the Public Health Association were ‘‘more interested in gaining media coverage than talking with Ronald McDonald House Charities or McDonald’s’’.
Rather than comparing McDonald’s to Pablo Escobar, Humphrey could have joined several hundred people with ‘‘a genuine motivation to help families dealing with their children’s medical journeys’’ at the charity’s Red Shoe Ball fundraising event on Wednesday, the spokesman said.
The company invited Humphrey and his Public Health colleagues to visit a Ronald McDonald House, and ‘‘to meet with us to discuss their point of view’’.
The decision for the provision of family facilities as part of the rebuild was yet to be fully considered by the Southern DHB.
An online petition urging the board to reconsider its stance against a Ronald McDonald House as part of the rebuild has received more than 12,000 signatures.