The No McDonald's in the Dandenong Ranges group used crowdfunding site Indiegogo to raise $36,000 to send a delegation to McDonald's Chicago headquarters. The money also funded an advertisement in the Chicago Tribune - an open letter to McDonald's chief executive Don Thompson signed by ''the community of Tecoma''.That's the shot! And, better yet, the academic tradition of ignoring inconvenient facts -- not to mention making stuff up -- continues apace:
Mr Muratore told the Tribune plans for a restaurant near the ''pristine forest'' of the Dandenong Ranges was ''a little bit like putting a McDonald's right near Mount Rushmore''.The Dandenongs are "pristine"! Who knew that Puffing Billy and those TV towers are natural wonders, or that feral pussycats and foxes are actually native species? The Tecoma junketeers do need to appreciate one important point, however: when spinning a line, make sure assertions cannot be easily checked.
A Macca's near Mount Rushmore? That's right, there isn't one -- not yet, anyway. But there is a Dairy Queen, a Subway, a full platter of pizza joints and numerous other fast-food outlets, starting at a distance of no more than 1.8 miles from the monument (which should be boycotted until Ronald Reagan's face is added).
In between room-service breakfasts and tasty crowd-funded dinners after donation-supported trips to see the White Sox and Sears Tower, the Tecoma crusaders will need to revise their publicity material.
They had just better not cite Yosemite orYellowstone national parks
