Allen Media Files New Lawsuit Against McDonald’s For Fraud/False Promise

Allen Media Group (AMG) divisions Entertainment Studios Networks and Weather Group filed a lawsuit on May 4 in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles Central District, against McDonald’s USA seeking damages in excess of $100 million for fraud/false promise. According to the lawsuit, McDonald’s made a commitment in 2021 to spend 2% of its billion-dollar advertising budget on Black-Owned Media in 2021, escalating to 5% by 2024.

According to the lawsuit, McDonald’s did not spend anywhere close to 2% on Black-owned media in 2021, and it is not remotely close to meeting its commitment today. “McDonald’s made this promise in an attempt to mislead the public about its commitment to spend with Black-Owned Media. In the wake of the George Floyd murder and the Black Lives Matter movement, the lawsuit alleges McDonald’s was an outlier among its peer corporations in that it failed to make a significant pledge to remedy racial and social justice issues. After AMG notified McDonald’s of racial discrimination, McDonald’s rushed out a ‘plan’ wherein it committed to more than double its advertising spend with Black-Owned Media,”AMG said.

According to the lawsuit, this “plan” was and is a lie, it contends. “AMG is over 90% of the Black-owned media market. AMG is by far the largest African American-owned media company in the country. Given the paltry amounts McDonald’s was spending with AMG in 2021 when it made its pledge, there is no way McDonald’s was spending 2% of its advertising budget on Black-owned media. Today, McDonald’s is still spending de minimis amounts with AMG. Thus, McDonald’s is not anywhere close to meeting its commitment to the public and its shareholders. AMG seeks damages in excess of $100 million, along with punitive damages and a permanent injunction requiring McDonald’s to honor its commitment and spend at least 5% of its ad budget on Black-Owned Media with full transparency going forward as promised,” it said.

“During the Black Lives Matter movement, hundreds of corporations made pledges to Black America, and unfortunately, they have not lived up to them,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “McDonald’s is one of those corporations that has lied and made false promises. We must hold each and every one these corporations, including McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski, who was caught sending racist text messages, and its Board of Directors, fully accountable. The greatest trade deficit in America is the trade deficit between White corporate America and Black America, and we must close this trade deficit immediately.”

Skip Miller, partner in Miller Barondess and counsel for Allen Media Group, said: “This is a groundbreaking lawsuit based on a California law—Civil Code 1711—that holds corporations to their public promises and thereby redresses corporate fraud. That’s exactly this case. Per the lawsuit, McDonald’s said one thing and did another. It promised to spend 5% percent of its billion dollar a year ad budget on African American owned media — of which Allen Media is over 90% — and has not come close. Per our lawsuit, this is a fraud on our client and on the public. The lawsuit seeks to hold one of the largest corporations in the world responsible for its lies.”