What’s the beef? Burger King forces franchisee to remove global warming comment

A Burger King franchisee in Memphis, Tennessee put a small global warming commentary on the sign in front of his restaurant.

Apparently disagreeing with Gore’s doctrine in even this small way is now such a vile crime that it merited Keith Olbermann’s “Worst Person of the Day” award.

Reporter Leo Hickman of the London Guardian interviewed J.J. McNelis, marketing guru for the Burger King franchise. “What proceeded,” Hickman said, “was one of the more memorable calls I’ve made as a journalist.”

“What proceeded,” we would say, “were some of the most refreshingly colorful comments we’ve seen as journalists.”

Here are some of the highlights:

McNelis: I heard it even made that Keith Olbermann show which is, gosh, a real coup. A small franchisee over in Memphis, Tennessee, can be the “The Worst Person in the World”. If that’s the case then we’ve got a pretty good damn thing going.

McNelis: Well, the technology now allows that anyone with a microphone can make a complete idiot of themselves…the corollary to the comment I’ve just made is that obviously this is today’s news and tomorrow they’ll be talking about something else whether it’s what Barack Obama is apologising for over in Cairo, or any other number of things, and we’ll look at this in the rear-view mirror and be movin’ on.

McNelis: If someone wants to stand up and say “Global Warming is Baloney”, then I’m all for it. It doesn’t matter to me, whether I believe in it or not. They have first amendment rights to say whatever’s on their mind. And nobody dictates otherwise.

McNelis: “I would think [Burger King] would run from any form of controversy kinda like cockroaches when the lights get turned on. I’m not aware of any direction that they gave the franchisee and I don’t think they have the authority to do it.”

McNelis: “The [restaurant] management team can put the message up there if they want to. It is private property and here in the US we do have some rights. Notwithstanding a franchise agreement, I could load a Brinks vehicle with [rights] I’ve got so many of them. By the time the Burger King lawyers work out how to make that stick we’d be in the year 2020.”

Unfortunately, the story has a sad ending. The sign was removed. Obviously, the Goracle must not be doubted, especially in his home state.

Source: Guardian UK

Source: Countdown

Tagged as: Al Gore, burger king, climate change, global warming, Keith Olberman, memphis

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