“New Zealand’s first McDonald’s restaurant opened in Porirua in 1976. Today there are over 170 McDonald’s restaurants across New Zealand, 85 per cent of which are owned and operated by locals. The organisation employs over 10,000 people in restaurants nationwide, and is one of New Zealand’s largest employers of youth. In 2021, McDonald’s spent more than $175 million with local suppliers, while New Zealand producers exported $323 million of food to other McDonald’s markets around the world. McDonald’s is the primary supporter of Ronald McDonald House Charities New Zealand, who keep families close while their children are in hospital.”
Source: mcdonalds.co.nz/about-maccas/
“McDonald’s Corporation is the world’s largest fast food restaurant chain, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries in more than 40,000 outlets as of 2021. The McDonald’s Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. McDonald’s is the world’s second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees (behind Walmart with 2.3 million employees), the majority of whom work in the restaurant’s franchises. As of 2022, McDonald’s has the sixth-highest global brand valuation.”
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald’s
Woke Rating
We rate McDonald’s as woke, due to the policies of its parent company McDonald’s Corporation supporting gender transition and incorporating Critical Race Theory. As this is our rating of McDonald’s Corporation, it may not reflect the activities of local McDonald’s restaurants.
Woke Summary
- Virtue Signalling is present.
- Gender Ideology & LGBTQ – promotes Gender Ideology and supports gender transition.
- Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) – has DEI policies and targets.
- Critical Race Theory – CRT is inherently part of McDonald’s corporate DEI agenda.
- Climate Change – supports the Paris Agreement, and has net zero targets.
Woke Policies
Wokeness and virtue signalling distracts a company from its core business, which is to make a profit for shareholders while delivering excellent, affordable products and services to its customers. Businesses should not be distracted from this core purpose, otherwise there will be unnecessary costs which are ultimately passed onto consumers. Woke ideologies are typically unfriendly towards the traditional family unit.
Below are some woke policies and initiatives from McDonald’s…
Gender Ideology & LGBTQ+
McDonald’s Corporation promotes Gender Ideology and supports gender transition:
“We offer employees of the LGBTQ+ community and their families specialized physical, social and emotional support including holistic health management, gender transition, and affirming care; family forming benefits, flexible family planning assistance, adoption assistance and more.”
Source: www.mcdonalds.com/us/en-us/community/lgbtq-plus.html
McDonald’s PRIDE Network
Mission: To foster an inclusive environment for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) employees, along with allies, by building awareness and driving positive change.
“Our commitment to supporting employees who identify as LGBTQ+ is clear, as we’ve earned a perfect score of 100% on the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index—a national benchmarking tool measuring policies, practices and benefits pertinent to LGBTQ+ employees—for seven consecutive years.”
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
McDonald’s Corporation has equity targets and DEI policies. Critical Race Theory is present.
Unconscious Bias Training Now Mandatory … “I am thrilled that McDonald’s has committed to institute unconscious bias training, specialized for our recruitment teams and our agency partners,” said Melanie Steinbach, Vice President and Chief Talent Officer, McDonald’s Corporate. “We know that to create a diverse organization, we need to develop a bias-free hiring environment. By acknowledging and mitigating against our unconscious biases within the recruitment process, we will create a dynamic and resilient organization. This education portfolio, created by the McDonald’s Global Diversity, Inclusion & Community Engagement team, is firmly centered in our core belief that, “Our Unconscious Bias can slow us down; moving ‘Beyond Bias’ speeds us up”. Unconscious Bias can negatively impact the potential feel-good moments between McDonald’s employees and their teams, as well as with our customers. They are the stereotypes – both negative and positive – that exist in our subconscious and affect our behavior: how we work better together, the level at which we are committed to lead, and our ability to move fast and be customer obsessed.”
corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/unconscious_bias.html
“We are a part of Catalyst’s Gender and Diversity KPI Alliance (GDKA) and pledge to adopt key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure and improve diversity in our organization.”
“Over 420 suppliers signed the Mutual Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) as of the end of 2022, while our U.S. systemwide spend with diverse-owned suppliers was 25.0%, resulting in McDonald’s reaching its 25% diverse-owned supplier spend goal for the second year in a row.”
“By the end of 2025, McDonald’s expects to increase representation of women in leadership roles globally (Senior Director and above) to 45%, with an overall goal to reach gender parity globally in leadership roles (Senior Director and above) by the end of 2030.”
“McDonald’s commits to close pay gaps identified in annual equal pay analyses for women globally in Company-owned and operated markets and for underrepresented groups in the U.S. at staff and Company-owned restaurant levels.”
Source: our-purpose-and-impact/jobs-inclusion-and-empowerment/diversity-and-inclusion.html
Climate Change
McDonald’s Corporation supports the Paris Agreement, and has net zero targets. McDonald’s has joined the United Nations Race to Zero campaign:
“McDonald’s Corporation is announcing its commitment to achieve net zero emissions across its global operations by 2050. As part of this initiative, the Company is joining the United Nations Race to Zero campaign and signing on to the Science Based Targets initiative’s (SBTi) Business Ambition for 1.5°C campaign. In pursuit of a 1.5°C future, McDonald’s will increase the emissions reduction levels in its existing 2030 science-based target across all scopes of emissions in line with developing SBTi best practices and will set a long-term reduction target to reach net zero emissions.”
“To meet our climate action ambitions, we are focused on reducing emissions in our restaurant operations, engaging suppliers to reduce emissions in supply chains, strengthening the resilience of our business and using our voice to advocate for collective transformation.
As a global brand, we are embracing our unique opportunity to mobilize the entire McDonald’s System to act now. We are collaborating with Franchisees, suppliers and producers to catalyze change and help create a brighter, better world for the future.”
Source: corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-stories/article/net-zero-by-2050.html
Learn more: https://corporate.mcdonalds.com/corpmcd/our-purpose-and-impact/our-planet/climate-action.html
Positive Policies & Activities
Ronald McDonald House
Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®) New Zealand supports families when their child is in a New Zealand hospital away from home.
McDonald’s franchisees, crew and customers collectively raise over $2 million for RMHC® New Zealand each year.
Source: mcdonalds.co.nz/ronald-mcdonald-house-charities
Note – This page was updated as of 20th May 2024. Please contact us if you’ve discovered other relevant information about McDonald’s or other businesses pushing woke agendas. You should also contact us if you discover some positively woke-free businesses.