I've forgiven McDonald's today

What is this all about? Some of you may know that I've refused to patronise McDonald's for quite a long awhile. I stopped buying anything from McDonald's since July 2004 because they refused to accept a discount coupon I used, saying it was a "printing error". In other words, McDonald's had fooled everyone who came that day with the coupons expecting to get a discount on their meals. The manager said they were recalling all the coupons and putting an ad in the papers to apologise for the "printing error". They would also issue new coupons. Well and good. I asked if McDonald's would give me a full refund for the breakfast I ordered and she said she had to leave the finance department to settle that with me. She took down my number and I got a call a few days later. They said they couldn't give me a refund but they would send me a set of new coupons with two extra complimentary coupons. I said ok and gave them my postal address. The coupons never came and after that I decided I'd boycott McDonald's because they probably didn't keep their word. Is it likely the coupons got lost in the mail? Highly unlikely. Or they could've gotten my address wrong or somebody could've forgotten to post my coupons. Anyhow I saw it as a case of neglect and I felt cheated because they never delivered what they said they would.

The reason for my McDonald's boycott largely stems from this incident, but also part of it comes from my watching Super Size Me. True, the movie is obviously biased and nobody would be so stupid as to eat McDonald's for every meal for a month. But there were things McDonald's did that I thought were quite irresponsible. McDonald's came up with "healthier" options that were in fact higher in fat and this was not made known to the public. They also refused to grant an interview to the man who made the movie, Morgan Spurlock, which denied them the chance to clear the air and basically gave him the licence to smear the name of McDonald's any way he liked. I find that very strange for an organisation so skilled in its marketing. McDonald's has also been sued for announcing that it would stop use fatty oils by a certain date but in fact did this later than the announced date. So much for all this bad publicity.

But things have since changed, at least in Singapore. I'm glad McDonald's is waking up and finally taking some responsibility. A week ago The Straits Times reported that McDonald's is going to make nutritional information of its items known in its restaurants. It's working with the Health Promotion Board to do this. This is in addition to trying to make its food healthier. It has added apples and yogurt to the menu some time ago and introduced rice burgers recently. Good on you, McDonald's! You should be taking the lead, given the fact that you're after all the king of the fast food empire. No one can fault you for serving unhealthy food, but at least you're telling your customers how healthy or unhealthy your food is. That way nobody can fault you for giving people heart attacks. And maybe you'll have the last laugh, instead of Morgan Spurlock. Hopefully the rest of the fast food chains follow suit. And hopefully there'll be less obese children in Singapore, in a few years time.

Thank you McDonald's, and for your move, I forgave you today by buying a cup of hot tea to take to see The Chronicles of Narnia. Feels good to know I'll be able to eat all the things I like on your menu again--chicken McNuggets, hot fudge sundae, fries, McChicken, filet-o-fish, lemon lime juice and of course, who could forget your very satisfying Big Breakfast? I miss all that and I can't wait to try the new things on your menu. Make sure your healthier options are tasty too, and oh, it would help if your burgers tasted less synthetic. Now, that would really establish you as true king of the fast food universe. I'm waiting to see what more magic you can do. Go on and shine!