McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial

by John Vidal

McLibel is the unlikely but true story of how a pamphlet called "What's Wrong with McDonald's?" led to the longest trial in British history. In what has become front-page news around the globe, the trial pitted the multibillion dollar corporation against five members of London Greenpeace accused by McDonald's of libel. Three activists capitulated and apologized; two persevered. McLibel tells the story of the "McLibel Two" and the two-and-a-half-year trial in which the jeans–clad and impoverished defendants represented themselves against the best powdered-wig lawyers McDonald's could buy. Does the fast-food chain exploit children? Depress wages? Level South and Central American rain forests? Subject its cattle and chicken to mass slaughters? A final chapter explores these allegations and details the $98,000 verdict against the activists Morris and Steel, which is widely viewed as a moral victory for the defendants and a public relations fiasco for McDonald's. Environmental reporter John Vidal covered all two and a half years of the trial. In the tradition of Michael Moore's Roger and Me , he brings this David and Goliath story to life, shedding light on the corporate machinations of a secretive multinational company, the British legal system, and the implications for any individuals inclined to critique a $30-billion-a-year powerhouse.

Genres: Nonfiction, Law, Food, Politics, Activism, Current Affairs

354 pages, Hardcover

First published April 18, 1997

About the author

John Vidal is the Guardian's environment editor. He joined the paper in 1995 after working for Agence France Presse, North Wales Newspapers and the Cumberland News. He is the author of McLibel: Burger Culture on Trial (1998) and has contributed chapters to books on topics such as the Gulf war, new Europe and development

Reviews

[Simon Wood · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE TRIAL

This is the story of David Morris and Karen Steel, defendants in the longest libel trial in British History. Guardian journalist John Vidal is obviously and rightly sympathetic to the McLibel 2 as he documents their Trial. His wry sense of humour, sharp observations and ability to cut through the legal b-ll sh-t to the issues make it a readable and important book.

McDonalds dont come across well - they smear, snoop and spy on Morris and Steel. Their libel action nothing more than an attempt to make an example of the pair to discourage any others. Their tenacious acceptance of the gauntlet thrown down by McDonalds ought to be an example to us all.

Vidal also includes a prescient chapter (written in 1997) looking at the forces of globalism and the resistance to it. He is a writer on top of his subject. Steel and Morris write a few pages on their experience. McDonalds, despite an invite to contribute, keep schtum. I suppose this is considered an old story now , but one that is definetely still relevant and Vidals book is well worth getting hold of.

One point - make sure you get the edition with the final judgement in it as some editions don't get that far.

[Anye · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still in the middle of this one but it is quite fascinating. It's about McDonalds suing two Brits for libel for distributing a "fact sheet" talking about McDonalds' food and business practice. Libel in Britain is apparently very different than here, the trial went on for years with the defendants representing themselves (since there is no free legal aid for libel cases in Britain) and really was about the freedom of speech as much as libel.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

McLibel documents the civil trial of two activists in England who were sued by McDonalds for giving out flyers (that they were not even the authors of) outside a McDonalds in London. Instead of cowering down and shutting up they decided to fight a multimillion dollar corporate legal machine. Besides covering the trial proceedings it goes over much of the dirty tactics that were used against the two activists, including sending undercover operatives into their group and following them everywhere they went. So McDonalds is not just a typical unethical corporation, they actually go so far as to be an Orwellian enemy of free speech. McLibel also goes over the truth that was included in the flyer in question. Health destroying food, worker exploitation, environment destruction and pollution, helping to destroy and homogenize cultures, etc.

[Bob Belcher · Rating 3 out of 5]

pretty good

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

For anyone who is interested in activism of any nature and British law, then the McLibel trial of the 90s will no doubt be something that you're already familiar with. For those who haven't heard of it before, the McLibel trial was (and still is IRRC) the longest running legal case in British history and went on for an extraordinary ten years. Two London Greenpeace activists, Helen Steel and David Morris, were sued by McDonalds for the distribution of the now infamous 'What's wrong with McDonalds' pamphlet, where they set out to inform the public about how McDonalds food is bad for you, its destruction of the environment and its atrocious human rights record to name but a few.

Obviously reading this book in 2012, the material comes across as outdated and old news because we're more than aware of the evils of McDonalds, but back then, many people had yet to publicly criticize the corporation and there wasn't the awareness of obesity problems that we're faced with today.

The McLibel trial was one of the first to show the world how bad at PR a major corporation could be, and also how determined just two activists were to challenge the libel case against them. Although the book isn't written as well as I hoped it would be, (I'd personally recommend watching the McLibel documentary instead), it's still a heartwarming tale of two ordinary people so passionate about their beliefs that they willingly took on a big evil corporation and never backed down.

[Sean Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating case about free speech and the ethics of large multinational corporations - unfortunately it is very dryly written so that there are some stretches where you have to force yourself to get through it.

[Harry Whitewolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

David Morris and Karen Steel are heroes. Fuck McDonald's.