Byron Allen’s company claims McDonald’s has failed to honor its promise to spend 5% of its advertising budget on Black-owned media.
A Federal Court judge in Los Angeles denied a motion to dismiss the $10 billion racial discrimination suit brought against McDonald’s by Byron Allen’s companies including Entertainment Studios. The suit, originally filed last May, alleges that McDonald’s discriminates against media companies that are owned by and serve minorities. It contends that McDonald’s spends less than $5 million a year on African-American-owned media and has shown a pattern of stereotyping and refusing to do business.
A federal court judge in California has reversed a ruling dismissing media mogul Byron Allen’s $10 billion lawsuit charging that McDonald’s discriminated against Black-owned media when it buys advertising. In a new order entered Friday, Judge Fernando Olguin denied McDonald’s motion to dismiss without prejudice and said McDonald’s has to answer Allen’s complaint by Jan. 27.
A judge has dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit against McDonald’s Corp. by the media entrepreneur Byron Allen, who accused the fast-food chain of racial discrimination for not advertising with Black-owned media. U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin in Los Angeles wrote on Tuesday that two companies owned by Allen did not offer enough factual evidence to show that McDonald’s “intentionally and purposefully discriminated against them.”
The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s refusal to contract with Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks and Weather Group “is the result of racial stereotyping through McDonald’s tiered advertising structure that differentiates on the basis of race.” McDonald’s announces plans to accelerate “the allocation of advertising dollars to diverse-owned media companies, production houses and content creators.”
Exclusives
In his years on NBC’s The Apprentice, Donald Trump repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, according to more than 20 people — former crew members, editors and contestants. They recounted crass behavior by Trump behind the scenes of the long-running hit show, in which aspiring capitalists were given tasks to perform as they competed for jobs working for him.
Parents Television Council President Tim Winter wants Scream Queens off the air — or at least stripped of ad dollars from big-time sponsor McDonald’s. Winter said the Ryan Murphy program’s “very concerning content” is not appropriate for even its TV-14 rating — and he is disgusted by the fact that Fox debuted the series at 8 p.m. ET, which made for a 7 o’clock Central Time premiere.
The ad by the world’s biggest hamburger chain that aired during the NFL playoffs and Golden Globes on Sunday featured a montage of signs outside McDonald’s restaurants, including messages of support after devastating events. The commercial provoked strong reactions, with some saying they were moved by it and others saying it’s tacky for a company to use tragic events to burnish its image.
Mark Burnett, BBC America and KABC Los Angeles will provide content for the chain’s dine-in customers. The McDonald’s Channel is being rolled out slowly during the next few months and will soon be up in 800 McDonald’s restaurants in Southern and Central California.
McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s still reign supreme, but small chains such as Five Guys are gaining in popularity. Fast-casual burger joints are a driver of growth in the mature burger category, growing sales by 16.4% in 2010, while the hamburger segment overall grew 1.6%.
