Two U.S. media companies filed a lawsuit Thursday (20) in Los Angeles County Superior Court in California against U.S. fast-food chain McDonald’s, involving inadequate advertising of black-owned media, causing racial discrimination, demanding that McDonald’s pay at least $10 billion (about $78 billion) in damages. McDonald’s said it will review the allegations and respond accordingly.
The plaintiffs are Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks, two companies owned by black comedian and entrepreneur Byron Allen, and “Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks and Weather Group. The suit alleges that Chicago-based McDonald’s violated federal civil rights laws by refusing to produce advertising with the companies and by allocating advertising funds “in a racially hostile and racially stereotypical manner.
The suit states that McDonald’s customers are about 40 percent black, but the company spent less than $5 million ($39 million) of its $1.6 billion ($12.5 billion) advertising budget in the U.S. the year before on black media, a move that, like “many U.S. businesses today, McDonald’s publicly proclaims its commitment to diversity and inclusion, but this is nothing more than rhetoric. is nothing more than empty rhetoric”.
McDonald’s said Thursday it has stepped up its efforts with diversity partners to increase national ad spending on black media from 2 percent to 5 percent by 2024, while increasing ad spending on platforms such as Hispanics, Asians, women and sexual minorities (LGBTQ).
The plaintiff is a company owned by Allen (pictured).
Recent Comments