MCDONALD’S FACING A NEW LAWSUIT OVER ITS AD SPENDING WITH BLACK-OWNED MEDIA

McDonald’s is facing a new lawsuit over how it spends its ad dollars.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court by companies owned by media executive Byron Allen, who has previously sued McDonald’s over alleged racial discrimination in its advertising practices. The companies that filed Thursday’s suit are Entertainment Studios Networks and Weather Group.

The lawsuit hinges on a commitment McDonald’s made in the spring of 2021 to increase the share of advertising dollars it was spending with Black-owned media from 2 percent to 5 percent between 2021 and 2024. The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s “did not come close” to spending 2 percent of its advertising budget with Blackowned media in 2021 and that it is not on track to spend 5 percent by next year.

McDonald’s pledged to increase its advertising spend with Black-owned media on the same day in 2021 that Allen’s companies filed a $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit against the company alleging it refused to advertise on their networks despite taking out ads on similar White-owned networks. The first lawsuit, which was reinstated after being dismissed by a federal judge in California, is now scheduled to go to trial in September,.

“McDonald’s lied about its spend with Black Owned Media and never had an intent to fulfill its commitment to reach 5 percent by 2024,” Thursday’s lawsuit alleges. Allen’s media properties are seeking over $100 million in damages.

McDonald’s said it would defend itself “vigorously” against the litigation, which it described as “baseless lawsuits as part of a public smear campaign against our company to try to line his pockets.”