"New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told NPR earlier this month that she feels that Biden has ultimately come around to the side of progressives on climate issues."
Hundreds Of Companies Call For U.S. To Slash Carbon Emissions
Are these CEOs playing politics for the good of their companies or do they just want to be thought of as national power brokers?
As we've discussed many times we try to avoid posting articles from the Wall Street Journal under the assumption that few visitors maintain their rather pricey subscription. One of the best political writers/commentators iin the country is Kimberley Strassel of the WSJ. She recently posted a column titled "Corporate America's Big Lie". If you're a WSJ subscriber, don't miss it. For non-subscribers I've stolen her ending paragraph below.
"Smart executives have long understood the value of political neutrality. Corporate America is now throwing its lot in with one of the most partisan, brass-knuckle, dishonest campaigns in recent political history. It will be a long time mending fences with Republicans—if that’s even possible."
From WSJ Opinion page
Beth Kowitt takes an in-depth look at McDonald's recent history
Note the references to analyst Mark Kalinowski's Owner/Operator surveys.
* Georgia Govneor signs voting regulation bill.
* Democrat political machine publishes numerous falsehoods about the bill.
*Joe Biden repeats these talking points, even after being called out.
* Coke CEO decides if it's good enough for POTUS it's good enough for Coke.
Coke is in political quicksand with both feet - Will McDonald's join them?
This article was publish before Biden was inaugurated but it certainly is prescient.
It is reported that the McDonald's system contributed $186,873 to the two presidential candidates.
44.9% went to Biden and 55.1% to Trump. What will the system get for giving all that money to Biden? Unionized, that's what you'll get.
I don't know if any McDonald's stores will be unionized in the next few years but the system will come closer to unionization than at anytime in its history.
From the McDonald's corporate Twitter account: :https://twitter.com/McDonalds
This is the kind of press coverage that will drive McDonald's management to irrational acts. So what if Burger King has been serving fake meat for several years ? In a recent Tweet Jonathan Maze reported the 4Q 2020 sales for the big guys:
MCD + 5.5 %
WEN + 5.5 %
BK < 2.9 > %
So what has the Impossible Whopper done for Burger King lately?
McDonald's VP Marion Gross says, "there are no plans to roll out the McPlant platform nationally in the U.S. at this time".
Sorry Marion, that's not your decision. That decision will be made on Wall Street, as will the return of All Day Breakfast.
It's obvious that Q1 and Q2 2021 same-store sales comps will be pretty easy Q3 will be a little tougher and Q4 2021 might be very challenging. But, after enjoying a few quarters of good increases the Wall Street analysts will be thoroughly spoiled and if USA sales go soft they will expect management to pull some arrows out of the McQuiver.
Two of these arrows will be ADB and McPlant. If these events were to happen today the analysts would push for ADB. But, depending on how much fanfare fake meat products get, they might conclude the answer to everything is fake meat.
The challenge for McDonald's Owner/Operators is that no one tells the truth about fake meat. The manufacturers inflate thier numbers. The restaurants selling fake meat products boast about their success, but thier same store sales are lousy or mediocre. Does anyone think that McDonald's Corp. will tell USA Owner/Operators the truth about test results in foreign markets?
So McDonald's Owner/Operator should be prepared for some arm wrestling later in the year. Ad don't believe anything you hear about the sales success of fake meat. Much of that news is also fake.
P.S. Wouldn't it be fun to have some transparency about the investments that McDonald's executives and directors have made in Beyond Meat?
He asks himself, "What would Fred Turner do?" - And then he does the opposite.
A friend suggested we post Fred's video presented at the first NOA meeting in 2018.
Enjoy.
McDonald's hit with combination: Franchisee unrest and strong sales
McDonald's will tie executive bonuses to diversity goals
Will these people be selected for their restaurant experience and operational expertise or will they be selected for their educational pedigree and where they went to school?
The bigger they are ... 70 unit JIB franchisee files for bankruptcy
It's impossible to make these people happy, don't invite them to your restaurants.
A franchise system should have a corporate-approved advisory group and a franchisee entity independent of the corporation.
Much like we have two houses of Congress. The Senate is supposed to be the upper house where ideas created by the House of Representatives are reviewed or stopped cold. Members of the Senate serve six years or more so they learn how government works. House members serve two-year terms so they are constantly running for reelection and are more in touch with their constituents.Let's pretended for a moment I know nothing about McDonald's but I know a lot about the franchise business. McDonald's Corp. hires me as a consultant to work on a solution to the "NOA problem". I do some research and interviews and come back with my recommendation to the corporation: That is to:
Starbucks' model has always been focused on urban customers. Let's see if this works.
(MCD) Franchisees are excited for the new chicken sandwich launch. “Chick-fil-A is big here, so we really welcome the chicken sandwich,” said one franchisee respondent to the latest Kalinowski Equity Research survey of McDonald’s franchisees.
A number of franchisees are also optimistic about the early 2021 numbers in comparison to a year ago. “Up against the beginning of the pandemic, we should rock and roll,” said another franchisee.
However, franchisees expressed frustration about their relationship with McDonald’s corporate. “Ignore the directions of inexperienced and incompetent corporate employees and upper management,” said one franchisee. “Support operator bodies who are trying to represent the owners against a greedy corporation that does not value the owners or our legacy.” “Going to resist all of management’s initiatives,” said another.
Kalinowki rates McDonald’s stock buy with a $273 price target
McDonald's improvements in 2020 will bolster 2021
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Political PACs like the McDonald's PAC operate as though the past thirty years have not happened. Their goal is to keep everybody happy. In today's political environment that's just not possible.
Five years ago American politics began changing at lightning speed, and it's still accelerating. Any political "expert" from the turn of the century is long past their expiration date.
I don't know who runs political affairs for McDonald's Corp. or what consultants the corporation and the PAC hire but whoever they are, they're dinosaurs.
Add to that, the reality that McDonald's corporate culture has turned hard left. While this has been a few decades in the making it's now complete.
Why would a group of conservative, small business owners contribute to a PAC that is controlled by a political movement that is increasingly anti-business?
Should McDonald's Owner/Operators make political contributions? Of course they should, but make it an LSM activity. Do it in a way that you and your local business will be recognized by political leaders. And, in such a way that your name isn't all over the public records of a national business PAC.
And there's another concern. The left-wing is demonizing anyone who supports conservative values. This will continue over the next four years and beyond.
Why participate in a national PAC that is ripe for such examination and harassment?
If allowed to exist the McDonald's PAC will do grievous harm to the brand.
Far more harm than good.
The McDonald's PAC needs to be put down - now.
The Obama administration gets full credit for bringing us the pajamas boy during the sales pitch for ObamaCare. This image was widely used in their social media campaign.
The morning of this past Wednesday (Jan 6) I happened across a Twitter thread about a small pizza chain that was conducting a social media campaign in support of conservative positions in the Presidential election. I added this comment:
"Any brand that goes public with political positions is run by idiots."
A few hours later I dropped everything to watch the invasion of the U.S. Capital building.
Forty-eight hours later I'm looking at a memo from the CEO of McDonald's attacking the President of the United States.
Taking a position against criminal activity in Federal buildings? That's commendable.
Attacking the President in the name of one of the world's most famous brands? Incredibility stupid.
Here's what he said, "Shortly after these attacks, I endorsed a statement from a group of fellow business leaders from top U.S. companies, the Business Roundtable, condemning President Trump and the other elected officials who incited this insurrection."
This just isn't true. The Business Round Table didn't pay the President any compliments but they merely called for an end to the chaos.
"Condemnation" is his word and was not used by the Business Roundtable.
Washington - Business Roundtable today issued the following statement:
“The chaos unfolding in the nation’s capital is the result of unlawful efforts to overturn the legitimate results of a democratic election. The country deserves better. Business Roundtable calls on the President and all relevant officials to put an end to the chaos and to facilitate the peaceful transition of power."
Business Roundtable website
Two of the mistakes that liberals make: 1)They react emotionally and make knee jerk decisions, 2)They believe that everyone else in the world agrees with their liberal positions.
How's it feel to have the CEO looking down his nose at a huge chunk of your customer base?
@McNuday
