January 27, 2025 • 38 mins
Contrary to the headlines, McDonald's isn’t abandoning its DEI principles—it’s been blending them into its secret sauce all along.
In this episode, we dig beneath the headlines to explore McDonald's purpose and impact report, highlighting what the global giant is getting right, where we disagree and see a higher opportunity for its actions, and why its evolution could light the way for other organizations. From raising the bar on food quality to empowering employees and fostering community connections, McDonald’s has the chance to lead by example and prove that inclusion is a key ingredient for success. Karen and Brittany talk about HOW!
CONTINUED EDUCATION
- McDonald's Purpose & Impact Report
- McDonald's Didn't Roll Back Their DEI Efforts, They Evolved Them
- McDonald’s cools on DEI, shifts to ‘global inclusion’
Stay With Us
- Watch and Subscribe to The E Word on YouTube.
- Follow Karen on LinkedIn and learn more at Colossal Work.
- Follow Brittany on LinkedIn and learn more at BND Consulting Group.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Karen McFarlane (00:06):
Hey, Brittany, we're back at the.
Brittany S. Hale (00:08):
E-Word.
We are Happy New Year.
How are?
Karen McFarlane (00:12):
you.
Brittany S. Hale (00:13):
I'm good.
Karen McFarlane (00:14):
I'm good.
I got over the flu last week soI didn't think I was going to
get it, but I got it.
But I'm feeling much better.
Brittany S. Hale (00:24):
I love that.
That is the gift that keeps ongiving.
I think I had it the weekbefore, so I just I like to say
that's how we started off theyear.
It's all uphill from here.
I mean, it's all good thingsfor me.
Karen McFarlane (00:37):
All good things .
I decided that my year wasn'tgoing to start until February
1st because of the trauma thathappened so far in January.
So thank you for more.
But just because my year didn'tstart right, it's not starting,
doesn't mean that otherpeople's years aren't starting
and that the drama continues.
Brittany S. Hale (00:58):
Yes, it does, yes, it does.
And you know, I wish we allcould be as relaxed as Mina is.
But it's okay, I know.
But, Mina, we were talkingright.
You know, I wish we all couldbe as relaxed as.
Karen McFarlane (01:05):
Mina is, but it's okay, I know.
But Mina, we were talking rightbefore the show everyone that
Mina wasn't around and then shecame over to say hey, get
started.
Exactly, she's producing theshow now.
Brittany S. Hale (01:14):
Yes, she is a producer.
Karen McFarlane (01:18):
Mina Hale is in the building.
Brittany S. Hale (01:20):
Exactly Hold on.
Mina Hale she should be anactress.
Karen McFarlane (01:29):
I love it, love it, I love it, but okay when
was it last week or the weekbefore, when all this uh news
came out around mcdonald's?
We weren't loving it, right,right, right, because all the
news came out that McDonald'shas eradicated their DEI
(01:50):
practices.
It's like, oh my goodness,right.
But then sometimes you have tolook a little bit further, right
, and we discovered that thoseare the headlines.
But it's not that theyeradicated their DEI principles,
they're actually evolving them.
Brittany S. Hale (02:13):
All right.
So I mean, this company feeds68 million people a day.
So what does a DEI evolutionlook like?
Karen McFarlane (02:27):
Well, they have a purpose and impact report,
and, of course, you can go totheir page, right, and you know,
on the very first page of theirpurpose and impact report, it
says our purpose is to feed andfoster communities.
Right, as a leading global foodservice retailer, we believe
it's our responsibility to makea positive impact on the world,
and this makes sense, right?
So, even when the news came out, my immediate thought was, oh
(02:50):
my God, that's horrible, but how?
Because it is a brand that isintegrated globally integrated
globally, right, that is verydeeply entrenched in certain
(03:10):
communities and touches so manydifferent aspects of life,
because it is a food supplier.
So how do you pull back?
What does that look like interms of pulling back your DEI
practices, right?
And this is, I think, one of the.
You know we've talked aboutthis a lot that, in the
political agenda, dei is onething.
(03:31):
It is about race, right?
Yes, and it is.
That's so far from the truth.
It is a multifaceted disciplineacross your organization that
is focused on the community, oreven the greater society,
depending on how.
You know how your brandinteracts with it, right?
(03:53):
And so that's why I think it'sreally important to, like dig
into what they were doing, whatthey were doing and what they
are planning to do now, right.
And when you have anorganization that not only
focuses on jobs but also planetand food quality and community,
(04:16):
right.
You have so many differentaspects of where not just DEI
because DEI is part, I think ispart of like a bigger discipline
, right, but where their purposeand their impact and their
purpose and impact really fallsinto in the greater scheme of
things.
Brittany S. Hale (04:37):
Okay, I like it, I like it, yeah.
Karen McFarlane (04:42):
So if I just just to level, set everybody
right, they have four areas.
Okay, they focus on the planet,so that's climate action,
packaging and toy waste Sorry,packaging toys and waste nature,
forests and water, so that'sunder the planet, under food
(05:02):
quality and sourcing.
Their categories are foodsafety, nutrition and marketing
practices, which I think isactually pretty interesting.
Responsible sourcing, animalhealth and welfare and
responsible antibiotic use.
Under jobs, inclusion andempowerment, fall, human rights,
dei and talent and benefits,and we're going to see DEI
(05:26):
evolve more towards inclusiveefforts.
And then community connection,which is community impact, and
philanthropy and, of course, thefamed Ronald McDonald House
charities.
Okay, a lot of different areasthat they touch.
Brittany S. Hale (05:42):
All right.
So this inclusion andempowerment being morphed,
melded into inclusion.
Karen McFarlane (05:52):
Yes, yes.
So I think there's a lot tounpack in it, but I think the
way that we could kind of sum itup is that they actually have
been doing well on all of thesefronts, right?
And so if you are moving from,say, aspiration to, or if you
(06:20):
have moved from aspiration andyou've gotten the work done
right to a certain degree thatyour company is proud of, you've
met your goals.
Maybe you're even doing betterthan other.
You know benchmarkorganizations around you.
What is your next step?
Do you stop Right or are youlooking for a way to be more
(06:46):
impactful in what you're alreadydoing?
And if you dive deeper intotheir report and their data, you
see they're doing actually verywell in these areas and they're
focused on.
Brittany S. Hale (07:04):
Of course, this is self-reported, right but
I but I also want to note atleast what I saw in you know
kind of the coverage over theyears.
They're recognized as one ofthe best places to work for
LGBTQ plus equality.
For seven years, so for almosta decade, this has been a space
(07:31):
that's been recognized for whatwe would now call inclusive
practices, so that's veryinteresting.
Karen McFarlane (07:42):
Well, the Human rights quality index.
They got a hundred for manyyears in a row, a perfect score.
So where do you go from there?
So you know, just to underlinethat point you're making.
Sorry to interrupt.
Brittany S. Hale (07:56):
No, no, I think I think that's a perfect
kind of segue into what thatevolution is, because it seems
like the human Rights CampaignFoundation's Corporate Equality
Index is also a target right forconservative groups who want to
(08:18):
advance a political agenda toeither adjust or eradicate DEI
programming Right.
And so now, given that I mean,it seems like McDonald's is
saying they are going to take astep back and that they're going
(08:39):
to they're no longer going toself-report to external groups
and really just kind of focus onwhat they're doing internally
One, I'm curious to know whatyou think about that.
And then, two, I'm also curiousto know what happens to these
(09:02):
indexes.
What do we do with that?
If other companies follow suitand stop self-reporting, is
there value in even having thesestill?
Karen McFarlane (09:14):
I believe in the reporting because people
need to aspire to something.
So I understand to some degreewhy McDonald's is like oh, we
keep getting 100.
What's the value?
I'm sure it's not easy to pullthese reports together, the
resources, all of that stuff,right.
(09:35):
And so every organization haslimited resources in one area or
the other, right, no matter howbig they are.
And so they may be redirectingthose resources into something
that they feel is going to bemore impactful for their
business.
So I understand the thinking,if that's the thinking.
At the same time, you know, whenyou don't have organizations
(09:59):
that are capable, like you can'tsee that organizations are
capable of reaching the higherthresholds, then the companies
that are aspiring to that, youknow, will have this issue.
You have to see it to believeit, right, essentially.
So I still believe in thereporting.
I think the Human Rights Indexhas some work to do around,
(10:23):
unfortunately, right, because ofthe attacks on them, on how
they can evolve their process.
I don't know if it needs to beeasier, I don't know, I don't
know the details about that, butto encourage companies to not
give up on, you know, reportingand benchmarking.
Those benchmarks are incrediblyimportant, like when we, when
(10:45):
we consult for clients, right?
People want to know how they'redoing against other
organizations, likeorganizations.
So I really do think it's theresponsibility of the
organizations to continuereporting it to them.
That's my, that's my personalopinion.
Brittany S. Hale (10:57):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I I agree with that.
You know, I always think thatthere needs to be some sort of
accountability.
I'm also very aware of theconversations that tend to lead
a lot of these organizations,which are one.
(11:17):
We don't want to attract anysort of undue attention from,
these groups that are litigious,that seem to have support at
the executive level.
And how do we continue to onemaintain our business success
(11:41):
without attracting any sort ofundue attention?
So it seems like a lot ofcompanies are going to want to
fly under the radar.
Karen McFarlane (11:47):
Yeah.
Brittany S. Hale (11:49):
And I see a space where, in so doing, they
may not report externally.
But I guess I'm trying tofigure out what that external
reporting looks like.
Is it you just continue toreport to the HRC until someone
(12:10):
tells you to stop right, Untilyou receive some sort of
injunction or whatever, or do weevolve the way that people
report?
Karen McFarlane (12:21):
I think it's an evolution.
It might also be that theseorganizations join with.
You know, organizations likethe Human Rights Index, right,
like to, especially the onesthat are doing well to be like
all right, well, where do we gofrom here?
So how do we evolve thosepractices they know best because
they're doing the hard work,instead of just saying no, we
(12:42):
don't need to do this anymore.
Maybe they don't need to dothis anymore.
They might not need to do thisversion of it anymore.
So what is version 2.0, 3.0look like?
So I would invite them to thinkabout that and participate in
the larger discussion.
One of the things that I thinkshould be aspirational for all
(13:06):
brands, but particularly thoselike McDonald's, is to become a
regenerative brand which isactually giving more than what
it's taking out.
And what does that look like?
Maybe that's where McDonald'sand other companies like them
should be tracking towards.
It might be a very elite,exclusive group, but that's okay
(13:27):
.
You know um be those forwardthinking organizations that are
here for society.
Their, their purpose what did Isay their purpose was?
It was like to foster is tofeed and foster families, and
you know, feed is a can be avery specific term, but it could
(13:50):
also mean something a lotbroader, and so you know what is
.
What does that mean in a moreenlightened society?
It is one of the mostrecognized global brands, right
Everywhere worldwide.
Everybody knows McDonald's Someform of fashion, we know how it
(14:17):
.
Everybody, every single person,almost probably knows how it
tastes, or how it's supposed totaste, depends on what you're at
.
Brittany S. Hale (14:20):
I had a very delicious living mac in paris
did it taste the same.
It tasted a little bit better inmy opinion, but the, the flavor
combinations were the same andI think that's what you go to
them for, right?
Is that consistency?
And to the point of them reallykind of renaming their DEI team
(14:47):
to their global inclusion team,they're inclusive of the
flavors that are bestrepresented in those markets.
Yeah Right, yeah, all right.
(15:09):
So when you go to a Big Mac ora Big Mac, when you go to
McDonald's, you know, inSoutheast Asia you're going to
have different flavorsrepresented.
Right, you may have Ubi and youknow other, you know just a
purple sweet potato for peoplewho are unfamiliar, for people
who are unfamiliar, and that'snot something that's present in
Paris, but we're also going tohave other types of flavors that
a Parisian market or a Frenchmarket is going to respond to.
(15:30):
And I think that in and ofitself is the articulated value
of inclusion, and I canunderstand why they're moving
toward inclusion, given thatdiversity maybe unfairly has
become politicized and maligned.
Karen McFarlane (15:51):
And maybe maybe they have achieved the
diversity, right, they don'tneed to call that part out
anymore, right?
They are maybe embedding thehave already embedded many of
the equity components, right, soit no longer needs to be
(16:13):
highlighted as a focus.
I mean, one of the main thingsis that a lot of this was
aspirational and they have doneit right.
And, um, now it's just aroundjust all the time, being
inclusive all the time, becausethey've they, they have
diversity, they've shortened uptheir practices, and now it's
(16:35):
just about iterating thatinclusion.
Do I think that inclusion isabsent of diversity and equity?
No, because, right, what's thestatement?
You can have diversity withoutinclusion, but you can't have
inclusion without diversity,right?
For example, right, so it'salready, it's embedded in that
systemic process that they'vealready put into place and
(16:57):
they'll have to keep.
I just, and they'll have tokeep.
I think I just felt to keepmonitoring, right, like cause,
the pendulum can switch forwhatever reason at any time,
right, but you know, it seems asif this is just about language
rather than action.
(17:17):
Correct, here, right, here,right, without working there,
obviously so, and it seems as if, because they changed their
language and the rhetoric that'sgoing around, you know, it's
just created an inflammatoryenvironment around it.
(17:40):
If we we think critically aboutit, there is no way that a
company like mcdonald's coulderadicate it.
It is their soul, essentially.
You know what I mean.
Brittany S. Hale (17:58):
And they want to maintain their presence in
really every market.
Right, and if they wanted so,being myopic or, you know, say
hey, this doesn't matter, onlycreates an opportunity for a
competitor to fill that gap.
(18:18):
So for a small business,there's a space where you could
get up and look around thebuilding and say, huh, we don't
have a lot of women in IT or,you know, whatever the case is,
we don't have a lot of women inmarketing, and maybe you make
certain inferences that lead tobusiness decisions that way.
(18:40):
That is impossible for anorganization like McDonald's.
However, it is important thatthey understand who's buying
these franchises.
But what do the demographicslook like for particular areas,
not only of the country, notonly of the United States, but
(19:02):
of the world?
And how do we amplify our ownbusiness success based on what
we know?
Karen McFarlane (19:13):
We have to know that, yeah, One thing that's
there's so much in this report,right, but they have five core
values.
Okay, One serve we put ourcustomers and people first.
Number two inclusion we openour doors to everyone.
(19:37):
Three is integrity we do theright thing.
Four community we do the rightthing for community.
We are good neighbors.
And five is family we getbetter together.
I'm not mad at those.
Brittany S. Hale (19:52):
No, I can't say that I am.
Karen McFarlane (19:54):
I'm not mad at those and their growth pillars.
I'm not mad at those.
Brittany S. Hale (20:05):
And their growth pillars.
One of their first growthpillars is marketing oh, tell me
more.
Karen McFarlane (20:13):
Staying connected to what our customers
love about us and bringing thatemotion into our creative.
The second pillar is core.
Our core menu remains ourcompetitive advantage and a
strength that we arecapitalizing on to grow share.
And their third and finalpillar is digital delivery,
drive-through and development.
They're four Ds.
We will continue to expand ourloyalty program to power
(20:35):
personalized experiences whilegetting closer to our customers
by accelerating the developmentof new locations.
So just what I like about thegrowth is it's really very
focused on the customer set.
Right, it's just said they'regoing to listen and represent,
because I guess their primaryvehicle is through that creative
(20:55):
.
Creative is huge, right, butthat's how we get to know
McDonald's in many differentways, and they're going to keep
that consistency, what we loveabout it and they're going to
find new ways to share you knowmore about what we love and then
you have, like, all these othercomponents.
(21:16):
Like, one of the things thatwas highlighted in some of the
more negative articles was thatthey were pulling back on their
supplier diversity, outreach andgoals.
Right, but it's been a verycore component of how they
operate and so it seems to bemore not like we're going to
(21:39):
pull back on goals.
We've met our goals.
How do we?
Brittany S. Hale (21:42):
deepen that.
I believe three years ahead oftime, right?
Karen McFarlane (21:45):
Exactly.
How do we deepen and evolvethat engagement, right?
What does that look like?
You and I don't know, right,yeah, but if this is all true,
right, it's where we wantcompanies to be, because they
could have very easily saidcheck, check, we're done.
Brittany S. Hale (22:09):
Exactly, exactly.
Karen McFarlane (22:10):
They're like yeah, we're good, but we could
be better.
Brittany S. Hale (22:14):
Correct, correct, we could be better.
Question for you.
Yeah, now again the news cycleis going to be full of
reactionary headlines.
And, to your point, we delvedeeper, because that's what we
(22:35):
do and if you were listening orwatching you, that's what you
come to us for, right for, forthe deep dive.
But everyone is not going to dothat.
Additionally, as we continue toevaluate these steps, we're
(22:56):
entering a new space no one's in.
No one can say for certain.
I mean, I don't have my crystalball with me, got lost in the
mail.
I don't know if you happen tohave yours, no, mine broke.
But given that we're, you knowwe're we're flying a little bit
blind.
How much grace do we owe thesecompanies to iterate to figure
(23:20):
it out, knowing that all oftheir moves are going to be
assessed and or in the headline?
Karen McFarlane (23:33):
Part of me feels like we have no choice.
You and I know how the speed ofbusiness goes.
We you and I know how hard thisstuff is in terms of not even
(23:54):
doing it, but more so incommunicating what you're doing
and measuring what you're doing.
There's no I think there's noargument that the metrics are
still a little amorphous to manyorganizations or they're just
limited to you know, mostlythings around the talent
pipeline, when there's so manyother aspects to dive into, and
(24:16):
then people are paralyzed byfear because of you know the
rhetoric around DEI.
So I think we have to give somegrace in that respect, but we
can't allow people to take theirfoot off the gas around this.
And what does that look like interms of allowing, like as a
(24:39):
general consumer?
We have these platforms, oursocial media platforms, like, so
we say things out loud, wehopefully do our research, we
become more informed andeducated consumers and then,
ultimately, we just put ourdollars where our mouth is.
(25:01):
Now what I find a little trickyabout that, to be honest, is
that this is all aboutcollective power and I can
decide I'm not going to shopsomewhere anymore and spend my
dollars there.
But how does that translateinto a collective action or even
(25:26):
a collective report that,because of this thing that
Company X did, their shares havegone down, their revenues have
gone down, because Karen and 20million of her closest friends
decided that they were no longergoing to spend their dollars
(25:48):
there.
There is a disconnect in makingthat connection and so it kind
of sometimes feels, if I'm beinghonest, like you know, it falls
on deaf ears, right, because wedon't know how to galvanize
effectively around this stuff.
(26:08):
And a friend of mine weretalking about this this morning
was like, like you know, for theblack community in particular,
right, like, okay, some of ourlike, we don't, the heroes or
the voices are gone or they'renot as loud as they were, say,
in the 1960s.
Because, right, we can just goon social media and say
(26:31):
something, but there's, there'sno organizing.
But the problem is there's noorganizing around it, whereas
back then there was organizingaround all of this.
We've lost this humanconnection to the organization
of power and influence and wehave to figure out a way to get
that back.
Otherwise, we're just readingheadlines and reacting to them,
(26:54):
but not doing anything aboutthem.
Correct, correct.
Brittany S. Hale (27:00):
I think that's kind of the down part of the
advancement of technology.
Right, we scroll, we have thereaction, and then we scroll
once more and we're placatedbecause we can see something
that's more pleasing.
So then we forget to ask thequestion what do we do or what
(27:22):
can be done?
If I don't like this, what canI do about it?
Karen McFarlane (27:36):
Yeah, it's like when, for example, when George
Floyd was murdered and I waspresident of the New York
chapter of American MarketingAssociation.
At the time, you know AMA, youknow CEO and leadership were not
really interested inparticipating in the
conversation, were not reallyinterested in participating in
the conversation and a fewchapters, my you know few
(28:01):
presidents sorry me, and likesix others, were very intent on
doing something and we didn'tknow what that was at first.
Now we're all over the country.
So you know Zoom and stuff wasyou know Right.
Brittany S. Hale (28:15):
It's still gaining its legs.
Karen McFarlane (28:17):
Right, exactly, but we organized around that,
using technology, right, tobring us together, and we
organized around it on a regularbasis, so there was some
consistency around it.
We met almost every week, right, and then we figured out what
we were going to do.
We got it done and we met likeevery day like not every day,
(28:38):
like quite often for a year,right and to execute our plan
and there was an attachment tonot only the issue but to the
people that we were workingtogether right, and we became
friends and that was very uniquebecause of the situation.
But if you also think about, ifyou are organizing and you have
(29:02):
to go to a meeting right, youhave to physically put yourself
in these spaces and the energythat comes off of that fuels
your action, fuels your emotion,then you actually get more done
through that.
But, like you said, with socialmedia, if you're not connected,
(29:24):
truly connected personally, notonly to the issue but the
people that are fighting withyou like you need that group
mentality sometimes to keep yougoing then it's so easy to just
scroll and go see oh, you know,puppies, I love the puppies.
(29:48):
There's so many times I'm like,oh, I don't want to see that
scroll puppies Exactly.
There's so many times I'm like,oh, I don't want to see that
scroll puppies exactly.
So we have to takeresponsibility.
I mean, we are about to shiftinto a new era right now, the
changing of the administration,who has some pretty broad,
sweeping policies that arepretty, you know, antithetical
(30:14):
to my own personal beliefs and,I think, many others.
And, um, there there can be afeeling of hopelessness around
it.
I have to admit I don't knowexactly what to do, or what you
know all the time, but I thinkthe biggest things that we can
do, that we have no choice to do, is use our power of voice At
(30:36):
the very least.
Brittany S. Hale (30:37):
Yeah, yeah, you know, and I think I think
it's always a valuable question.
Before we ask where are wegoing and what do we do is how
do we get here.
Before we ask where are wegoing and what do we do is how
do we get here.
What is very clear is there's asignificant group of people who
(31:02):
felt unheard, and thisadministration is a result of
that.
Whether or not it was trulytrue that they were unheard, the
point is to your point, theyuse their voice right to
(31:23):
exercise their power, and now weare facing the unknown, and I
understand that there's a lot ofemotional reactivity to it.
Karen McFarlane (31:47):
But as you said , the point is to continue to
use our voice, continue to becurious and ask questions and
continue to have theseconversations.
If you were um advising acompany right now, that is not
mcdonald's right.
Um has been doing some, somegood work, okay, but is fearful
of the admin that's coming in orbeing laser pointed at for some
(32:13):
reason, what would be if you'retalking to management, ceo or
C-suite team?
What would be your one piece ofadvice for them?
Brittany S. Hale (32:32):
My piece of advice would be to continue to
ask the question of how thisfurthers our business success.
(32:53):
Do any of these initiativesfurther our business success?
If so, how, and how do we know?
That's always a question I wantto know.
How do we know If this issomething that was performative,
(33:13):
perhaps PR, if it was somethingwhere, again, you're trying to
keep up with your competitorswithin your particular industry
oh, they're doing this, so nowwe need to do this.
My question is well, why, howdoes this further?
What is the legitimate businesspurpose of this, and how do we
(33:33):
know it's successful?
Karen McFarlane (33:37):
I think that's fair.
Brittany S. Hale (33:40):
Yeah, I think authenticity is going to be
critical as we move forward,because people, however people
feel about the administration,at the end of the day, people
are going to want to be able totrust that what they're being
(34:01):
presented with is the truth insome way, shape or form.
We all develop relationshipswith brands.
We all have these relationshipsthat we pour into, and so, if
this is I'm assuming that theorganization I'm working with is
somehow customer facing or hassome sort of customer facing arm
(34:24):
ultimately they are going tohave to present a perspective to
the public that they're goingto have.
You have to update your aboutus page Like it's.
It's going to have to happen,but you need the clarity and you
need to be able to mount a verystrong defense before you even
(34:49):
get.
I'm not even talking about thecourtroom defense before you
even get.
I'm not even talking about thecourtroom, I am talking about
for for the casual person comingthrough to say, well, what is
this about this inclusion stuffyou all have going on?
Yeah, you need to be able toanswer very clearly how this
(35:11):
furthers your mission, yourbusiness goal.
Ostensibly, you're in businessbecause you want to solve a
problem and be very successfulat doing so, and you want to
continue, year after year, tocontinue to be more and more and
more profitable.
This has to feed directly intoit, and so I uh we spoke about
(35:35):
accountability a little bitearlier.
Um, you know me, I'm apolitical optimist.
I'm going to seek theopportunity in all of the
adversity and I'm going to seehow does this deepen the trust
between this particular companyand their target audience?
Karen McFarlane (35:56):
I mean that's absolutely right.
I have my militant look ontoday, so I would also add to
that is do all those things andthen go control your freaking
company.
Right, correct?
You run things.
Okay.
Don't let any outside forcetell you how to run your
(36:16):
business.
Okay, if it works for you, ifyou, if you think that these
principles, however they show upin your organization, just like
you said, are important andthey're meaningful, go do the
damn thing and run your business.
Don't let nobody else push youaround.
That's how.
That's my little tough love,that's it, and that's all folks.
(36:39):
Take care of your damn business.
Yes, well, I'm glad we got totalk about this today that had
some positive news about acompany leaning into its values
and not pulling back and notrunning scared.
And so kudos to McDonald's fortheir hard work all these years
(37:03):
and continue to make us proudand show us how it's done.
You know and report on.
So we know and report on it.
Exactly.
All right, brittany Mina, arewe done?
Are we good?
Was that a good episode?
Brittany S. Hale (37:20):
We got the call, so it's time to wrap it up
.
Karen McFarlane (37:25):
All right, then , until the next time on the
e-word, Bye Brittany.
Hey, Brittany, we're back at the.
Brittany S. Hale (00:08):
E-Word.
We are Happy New Year.
How are?
Karen McFarlane (00:12):
you.
Brittany S. Hale (00:13):
I'm good.
Karen McFarlane (00:14):
I'm good.
I got over the flu last week soI didn't think I was going to
get it, but I got it.
But I'm feeling much better.
Brittany S. Hale (00:24):
I love that.
That is the gift that keeps ongiving.
I think I had it the weekbefore, so I just I like to say
that's how we started off theyear.
It's all uphill from here.
I mean, it's all good thingsfor me.
Karen McFarlane (00:37):
All good things .
I decided that my year wasn'tgoing to start until February
1st because of the trauma thathappened so far in January.
So thank you for more.
But just because my year didn'tstart right, it's not starting,
doesn't mean that otherpeople's years aren't starting
and that the drama continues.
Brittany S. Hale (00:58):
Yes, it does, yes, it does.
And you know, I wish we allcould be as relaxed as Mina is.
But it's okay, I know.
But, Mina, we were talkingright.
You know, I wish we all couldbe as relaxed as.
Karen McFarlane (01:05):
Mina is, but it's okay, I know.
But Mina, we were talking rightbefore the show everyone that
Mina wasn't around and then shecame over to say hey, get
started.
Exactly, she's producing theshow now.
Brittany S. Hale (01:14):
Yes, she is a producer.
Karen McFarlane (01:18):
Mina Hale is in the building.
Brittany S. Hale (01:20):
Exactly Hold on.
Mina Hale she should be anactress.
Karen McFarlane (01:29):
I love it, love it, I love it, but okay when
was it last week or the weekbefore, when all this uh news
came out around mcdonald's?
We weren't loving it, right,right, right, because all the
news came out that McDonald'shas eradicated their DEI
(01:50):
practices.
It's like, oh my goodness,right.
But then sometimes you have tolook a little bit further, right
, and we discovered that thoseare the headlines.
But it's not that theyeradicated their DEI principles,
they're actually evolving them.
Brittany S. Hale (02:13):
All right.
So I mean, this company feeds68 million people a day.
So what does a DEI evolutionlook like?
Karen McFarlane (02:27):
Well, they have a purpose and impact report,
and, of course, you can go totheir page, right, and you know,
on the very first page of theirpurpose and impact report, it
says our purpose is to feed andfoster communities.
Right, as a leading global foodservice retailer, we believe
it's our responsibility to makea positive impact on the world,
and this makes sense, right?
So, even when the news came out, my immediate thought was, oh
(02:50):
my God, that's horrible, but how?
Because it is a brand that isintegrated globally integrated
globally, right, that is verydeeply entrenched in certain
(03:10):
communities and touches so manydifferent aspects of life,
because it is a food supplier.
So how do you pull back?
What does that look like interms of pulling back your DEI
practices, right?
And this is, I think, one of the.
You know we've talked aboutthis a lot that, in the
political agenda, dei is onething.
(03:31):
It is about race, right?
Yes, and it is.
That's so far from the truth.
It is a multifaceted disciplineacross your organization that
is focused on the community, oreven the greater society,
depending on how.
You know how your brandinteracts with it, right?
(03:53):
And so that's why I think it'sreally important to, like dig
into what they were doing, whatthey were doing and what they
are planning to do now, right.
And when you have anorganization that not only
focuses on jobs but also planetand food quality and community,
(04:16):
right.
You have so many differentaspects of where not just DEI
because DEI is part, I think ispart of like a bigger discipline
, right, but where their purposeand their impact and their
purpose and impact really fallsinto in the greater scheme of
things.
Brittany S. Hale (04:37):
Okay, I like it, I like it, yeah.
Karen McFarlane (04:42):
So if I just just to level, set everybody
right, they have four areas.
Okay, they focus on the planet,so that's climate action,
packaging and toy waste Sorry,packaging toys and waste nature,
forests and water, so that'sunder the planet, under food
(05:02):
quality and sourcing.
Their categories are foodsafety, nutrition and marketing
practices, which I think isactually pretty interesting.
Responsible sourcing, animalhealth and welfare and
responsible antibiotic use.
Under jobs, inclusion andempowerment, fall, human rights,
dei and talent and benefits,and we're going to see DEI
(05:26):
evolve more towards inclusiveefforts.
And then community connection,which is community impact, and
philanthropy and, of course, thefamed Ronald McDonald House
charities.
Okay, a lot of different areasthat they touch.
Brittany S. Hale (05:42):
All right.
So this inclusion andempowerment being morphed,
melded into inclusion.
Karen McFarlane (05:52):
Yes, yes.
So I think there's a lot tounpack in it, but I think the
way that we could kind of sum itup is that they actually have
been doing well on all of thesefronts, right?
And so if you are moving from,say, aspiration to, or if you
(06:20):
have moved from aspiration andyou've gotten the work done
right to a certain degree thatyour company is proud of, you've
met your goals.
Maybe you're even doing betterthan other.
You know benchmarkorganizations around you.
What is your next step?
Do you stop Right or are youlooking for a way to be more
(06:46):
impactful in what you're alreadydoing?
And if you dive deeper intotheir report and their data, you
see they're doing actually verywell in these areas and they're
focused on.
Brittany S. Hale (07:04):
Of course, this is self-reported, right but
I but I also want to note atleast what I saw in you know
kind of the coverage over theyears.
They're recognized as one ofthe best places to work for
LGBTQ plus equality.
For seven years, so for almosta decade, this has been a space
(07:31):
that's been recognized for whatwe would now call inclusive
practices, so that's veryinteresting.
Karen McFarlane (07:42):
Well, the Human rights quality index.
They got a hundred for manyyears in a row, a perfect score.
So where do you go from there?
So you know, just to underlinethat point you're making.
Sorry to interrupt.
Brittany S. Hale (07:56):
No, no, I think I think that's a perfect
kind of segue into what thatevolution is, because it seems
like the human Rights CampaignFoundation's Corporate Equality
Index is also a target right forconservative groups who want to
(08:18):
advance a political agenda toeither adjust or eradicate DEI
programming Right.
And so now, given that I mean,it seems like McDonald's is
saying they are going to take astep back and that they're going
(08:39):
to they're no longer going toself-report to external groups
and really just kind of focus onwhat they're doing internally
One, I'm curious to know whatyou think about that.
And then, two, I'm also curiousto know what happens to these
(09:02):
indexes.
What do we do with that?
If other companies follow suitand stop self-reporting, is
there value in even having thesestill?
Karen McFarlane (09:14):
I believe in the reporting because people
need to aspire to something.
So I understand to some degreewhy McDonald's is like oh, we
keep getting 100.
What's the value?
I'm sure it's not easy to pullthese reports together, the
resources, all of that stuff,right.
(09:35):
And so every organization haslimited resources in one area or
the other, right, no matter howbig they are.
And so they may be redirectingthose resources into something
that they feel is going to bemore impactful for their
business.
So I understand the thinking,if that's the thinking.
At the same time, you know, whenyou don't have organizations
(09:59):
that are capable, like you can'tsee that organizations are
capable of reaching the higherthresholds, then the companies
that are aspiring to that, youknow, will have this issue.
You have to see it to believeit, right, essentially.
So I still believe in thereporting.
I think the Human Rights Indexhas some work to do around,
(10:23):
unfortunately, right, because ofthe attacks on them, on how
they can evolve their process.
I don't know if it needs to beeasier, I don't know, I don't
know the details about that, butto encourage companies to not
give up on, you know, reportingand benchmarking.
Those benchmarks are incrediblyimportant, like when we, when
(10:45):
we consult for clients, right?
People want to know how they'redoing against other
organizations, likeorganizations.
So I really do think it's theresponsibility of the
organizations to continuereporting it to them.
That's my, that's my personalopinion.
Brittany S. Hale (10:57):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, I I agree with that.
You know, I always think thatthere needs to be some sort of
accountability.
I'm also very aware of theconversations that tend to lead
a lot of these organizations,which are one.
(11:17):
We don't want to attract anysort of undue attention from,
these groups that are litigious,that seem to have support at
the executive level.
And how do we continue to onemaintain our business success
(11:41):
without attracting any sort ofundue attention?
So it seems like a lot ofcompanies are going to want to
fly under the radar.
Karen McFarlane (11:47):
Yeah.
Brittany S. Hale (11:49):
And I see a space where, in so doing, they
may not report externally.
But I guess I'm trying tofigure out what that external
reporting looks like.
Is it you just continue toreport to the HRC until someone
(12:10):
tells you to stop right, Untilyou receive some sort of
injunction or whatever, or do weevolve the way that people
report?
Karen McFarlane (12:21):
I think it's an evolution.
It might also be that theseorganizations join with.
You know, organizations likethe Human Rights Index, right,
like to, especially the onesthat are doing well to be like
all right, well, where do we gofrom here?
So how do we evolve thosepractices they know best because
they're doing the hard work,instead of just saying no, we
(12:42):
don't need to do this anymore.
Maybe they don't need to dothis anymore.
They might not need to do thisversion of it anymore.
So what is version 2.0, 3.0look like?
So I would invite them to thinkabout that and participate in
the larger discussion.
One of the things that I thinkshould be aspirational for all
(13:06):
brands, but particularly thoselike McDonald's, is to become a
regenerative brand which isactually giving more than what
it's taking out.
And what does that look like?
Maybe that's where McDonald'sand other companies like them
should be tracking towards.
It might be a very elite,exclusive group, but that's okay
(13:27):
.
You know um be those forwardthinking organizations that are
here for society.
Their, their purpose what did Isay their purpose was?
It was like to foster is tofeed and foster families, and
you know, feed is a can be avery specific term, but it could
(13:50):
also mean something a lotbroader, and so you know what is
.
What does that mean in a moreenlightened society?
It is one of the mostrecognized global brands, right
Everywhere worldwide.
Everybody knows McDonald's Someform of fashion, we know how it
(14:17):
.
Everybody, every single person,almost probably knows how it
tastes, or how it's supposed totaste, depends on what you're at
.
Brittany S. Hale (14:20):
I had a very delicious living mac in paris
did it taste the same.
It tasted a little bit better inmy opinion, but the, the flavor
combinations were the same andI think that's what you go to
them for, right?
Is that consistency?
And to the point of them reallykind of renaming their DEI team
(14:47):
to their global inclusion team,they're inclusive of the
flavors that are bestrepresented in those markets.
Yeah Right, yeah, all right.
(15:09):
So when you go to a Big Mac ora Big Mac, when you go to
McDonald's, you know, inSoutheast Asia you're going to
have different flavorsrepresented.
Right, you may have Ubi and youknow other, you know just a
purple sweet potato for peoplewho are unfamiliar, for people
who are unfamiliar, and that'snot something that's present in
Paris, but we're also going tohave other types of flavors that
a Parisian market or a Frenchmarket is going to respond to.
(15:30):
And I think that in and ofitself is the articulated value
of inclusion, and I canunderstand why they're moving
toward inclusion, given thatdiversity maybe unfairly has
become politicized and maligned.
Karen McFarlane (15:51):
And maybe maybe they have achieved the
diversity, right, they don'tneed to call that part out
anymore, right?
They are maybe embedding thehave already embedded many of
the equity components, right, soit no longer needs to be
(16:13):
highlighted as a focus.
I mean, one of the main thingsis that a lot of this was
aspirational and they have doneit right.
And, um, now it's just aroundjust all the time, being
inclusive all the time, becausethey've they, they have
diversity, they've shortened uptheir practices, and now it's
(16:35):
just about iterating thatinclusion.
Do I think that inclusion isabsent of diversity and equity?
No, because, right, what's thestatement?
You can have diversity withoutinclusion, but you can't have
inclusion without diversity,right?
For example, right, so it'salready, it's embedded in that
systemic process that they'vealready put into place and
(16:57):
they'll have to keep.
I just, and they'll have tokeep.
I think I just felt to keepmonitoring, right, like cause,
the pendulum can switch forwhatever reason at any time,
right, but you know, it seems asif this is just about language
rather than action.
(17:17):
Correct, here, right, here,right, without working there,
obviously so, and it seems as if, because they changed their
language and the rhetoric that'sgoing around, you know, it's
just created an inflammatoryenvironment around it.
(17:40):
If we we think critically aboutit, there is no way that a
company like mcdonald's coulderadicate it.
It is their soul, essentially.
You know what I mean.
Brittany S. Hale (17:58):
And they want to maintain their presence in
really every market.
Right, and if they wanted so,being myopic or, you know, say
hey, this doesn't matter, onlycreates an opportunity for a
competitor to fill that gap.
(18:18):
So for a small business,there's a space where you could
get up and look around thebuilding and say, huh, we don't
have a lot of women in IT or,you know, whatever the case is,
we don't have a lot of women inmarketing, and maybe you make
certain inferences that lead tobusiness decisions that way.
(18:40):
That is impossible for anorganization like McDonald's.
However, it is important thatthey understand who's buying
these franchises.
But what do the demographicslook like for particular areas,
not only of the country, notonly of the United States, but
(19:02):
of the world?
And how do we amplify our ownbusiness success based on what
we know?
Karen McFarlane (19:13):
We have to know that, yeah, One thing that's
there's so much in this report,right, but they have five core
values.
Okay, One serve we put ourcustomers and people first.
Number two inclusion we openour doors to everyone.
(19:37):
Three is integrity we do theright thing.
Four community we do the rightthing for community.
We are good neighbors.
And five is family we getbetter together.
I'm not mad at those.
Brittany S. Hale (19:52):
No, I can't say that I am.
Karen McFarlane (19:54):
I'm not mad at those and their growth pillars.
I'm not mad at those.
Brittany S. Hale (20:05):
And their growth pillars.
One of their first growthpillars is marketing oh, tell me
more.
Karen McFarlane (20:13):
Staying connected to what our customers
love about us and bringing thatemotion into our creative.
The second pillar is core.
Our core menu remains ourcompetitive advantage and a
strength that we arecapitalizing on to grow share.
And their third and finalpillar is digital delivery,
drive-through and development.
They're four Ds.
We will continue to expand ourloyalty program to power
(20:35):
personalized experiences whilegetting closer to our customers
by accelerating the developmentof new locations.
So just what I like about thegrowth is it's really very
focused on the customer set.
Right, it's just said they'regoing to listen and represent,
because I guess their primaryvehicle is through that creative
(20:55):
.
Creative is huge, right, butthat's how we get to know
McDonald's in many differentways, and they're going to keep
that consistency, what we loveabout it and they're going to
find new ways to share you knowmore about what we love and then
you have, like, all these othercomponents.
(21:16):
Like, one of the things thatwas highlighted in some of the
more negative articles was thatthey were pulling back on their
supplier diversity, outreach andgoals.
Right, but it's been a verycore component of how they
operate and so it seems to bemore not like we're going to
(21:39):
pull back on goals.
We've met our goals.
How do we?
Brittany S. Hale (21:42):
deepen that.
I believe three years ahead oftime, right?
Karen McFarlane (21:45):
Exactly.
How do we deepen and evolvethat engagement, right?
What does that look like?
You and I don't know, right,yeah, but if this is all true,
right, it's where we wantcompanies to be, because they
could have very easily saidcheck, check, we're done.
Brittany S. Hale (22:09):
Exactly, exactly.
Karen McFarlane (22:10):
They're like yeah, we're good, but we could
be better.
Brittany S. Hale (22:14):
Correct, correct, we could be better.
Question for you.
Yeah, now again the news cycleis going to be full of
reactionary headlines.
And, to your point, we delvedeeper, because that's what we
(22:35):
do and if you were listening orwatching you, that's what you
come to us for, right for, forthe deep dive.
But everyone is not going to dothat.
Additionally, as we continue toevaluate these steps, we're
(22:56):
entering a new space no one's in.
No one can say for certain.
I mean, I don't have my crystalball with me, got lost in the
mail.
I don't know if you happen tohave yours, no, mine broke.
But given that we're, you knowwe're we're flying a little bit
blind.
How much grace do we owe thesecompanies to iterate to figure
(23:20):
it out, knowing that all oftheir moves are going to be
assessed and or in the headline?
Karen McFarlane (23:33):
Part of me feels like we have no choice.
You and I know how the speed ofbusiness goes.
We you and I know how hard thisstuff is in terms of not even
(23:54):
doing it, but more so incommunicating what you're doing
and measuring what you're doing.
There's no I think there's noargument that the metrics are
still a little amorphous to manyorganizations or they're just
limited to you know, mostlythings around the talent
pipeline, when there's so manyother aspects to dive into, and
(24:16):
then people are paralyzed byfear because of you know the
rhetoric around DEI.
So I think we have to give somegrace in that respect, but we
can't allow people to take theirfoot off the gas around this.
And what does that look like interms of allowing, like as a
(24:39):
general consumer?
We have these platforms, oursocial media platforms, like, so
we say things out loud, wehopefully do our research, we
become more informed andeducated consumers and then,
ultimately, we just put ourdollars where our mouth is.
(25:01):
Now what I find a little trickyabout that, to be honest, is
that this is all aboutcollective power and I can
decide I'm not going to shopsomewhere anymore and spend my
dollars there.
But how does that translateinto a collective action or even
(25:26):
a collective report that,because of this thing that
Company X did, their shares havegone down, their revenues have
gone down, because Karen and 20million of her closest friends
decided that they were no longergoing to spend their dollars
(25:48):
there.
There is a disconnect in makingthat connection and so it kind
of sometimes feels, if I'm beinghonest, like you know, it falls
on deaf ears, right, because wedon't know how to galvanize
effectively around this stuff.
(26:08):
And a friend of mine weretalking about this this morning
was like, like you know, for theblack community in particular,
right, like, okay, some of ourlike, we don't, the heroes or
the voices are gone or they'renot as loud as they were, say,
in the 1960s.
Because, right, we can just goon social media and say
(26:31):
something, but there's, there'sno organizing.
But the problem is there's noorganizing around it, whereas
back then there was organizingaround all of this.
We've lost this humanconnection to the organization
of power and influence and wehave to figure out a way to get
that back.
Otherwise, we're just readingheadlines and reacting to them,
(26:54):
but not doing anything aboutthem.
Correct, correct.
Brittany S. Hale (27:00):
I think that's kind of the down part of the
advancement of technology.
Right, we scroll, we have thereaction, and then we scroll
once more and we're placatedbecause we can see something
that's more pleasing.
So then we forget to ask thequestion what do we do or what
(27:22):
can be done?
If I don't like this, what canI do about it?
Karen McFarlane (27:36):
Yeah, it's like when, for example, when George
Floyd was murdered and I waspresident of the New York
chapter of American MarketingAssociation.
At the time, you know AMA, youknow CEO and leadership were not
really interested inparticipating in the
conversation, were not reallyinterested in participating in
the conversation and a fewchapters, my you know few
(28:01):
presidents sorry me, and likesix others, were very intent on
doing something and we didn'tknow what that was at first.
Now we're all over the country.
So you know Zoom and stuff wasyou know Right.
Brittany S. Hale (28:15):
It's still gaining its legs.
Karen McFarlane (28:17):
Right, exactly, but we organized around that,
using technology, right, tobring us together, and we
organized around it on a regularbasis, so there was some
consistency around it.
We met almost every week, right, and then we figured out what
we were going to do.
We got it done and we met likeevery day like not every day,
(28:38):
like quite often for a year,right and to execute our plan
and there was an attachment tonot only the issue but to the
people that we were workingtogether right, and we became
friends and that was very uniquebecause of the situation.
But if you also think about, ifyou are organizing and you have
(29:02):
to go to a meeting right, youhave to physically put yourself
in these spaces and the energythat comes off of that fuels
your action, fuels your emotion,then you actually get more done
through that.
But, like you said, with socialmedia, if you're not connected,
(29:24):
truly connected personally, notonly to the issue but the
people that are fighting withyou like you need that group
mentality sometimes to keep yougoing then it's so easy to just
scroll and go see oh, you know,puppies, I love the puppies.
(29:48):
There's so many times I'm like,oh, I don't want to see that
scroll puppies Exactly.
There's so many times I'm like,oh, I don't want to see that
scroll puppies exactly.
So we have to takeresponsibility.
I mean, we are about to shiftinto a new era right now, the
changing of the administration,who has some pretty broad,
sweeping policies that arepretty, you know, antithetical
(30:14):
to my own personal beliefs and,I think, many others.
And, um, there there can be afeeling of hopelessness around
it.
I have to admit I don't knowexactly what to do, or what you
know all the time, but I thinkthe biggest things that we can
do, that we have no choice to do, is use our power of voice At
(30:36):
the very least.
Brittany S. Hale (30:37):
Yeah, yeah, you know, and I think I think
it's always a valuable question.
Before we ask where are wegoing and what do we do is how
do we get here.
Before we ask where are wegoing and what do we do is how
do we get here.
What is very clear is there's asignificant group of people who
(31:02):
felt unheard, and thisadministration is a result of
that.
Whether or not it was trulytrue that they were unheard, the
point is to your point, theyuse their voice right to
(31:23):
exercise their power, and now weare facing the unknown, and I
understand that there's a lot ofemotional reactivity to it.
Karen McFarlane (31:47):
But as you said , the point is to continue to
use our voice, continue to becurious and ask questions and
continue to have theseconversations.
If you were um advising acompany right now, that is not
mcdonald's right.
Um has been doing some, somegood work, okay, but is fearful
of the admin that's coming in orbeing laser pointed at for some
(32:13):
reason, what would be if you'retalking to management, ceo or
C-suite team?
What would be your one piece ofadvice for them?
Brittany S. Hale (32:32):
My piece of advice would be to continue to
ask the question of how thisfurthers our business success.
(32:53):
Do any of these initiativesfurther our business success?
If so, how, and how do we know?
That's always a question I wantto know.
How do we know If this issomething that was performative,
(33:13):
perhaps PR, if it was somethingwhere, again, you're trying to
keep up with your competitorswithin your particular industry
oh, they're doing this, so nowwe need to do this.
My question is well, why, howdoes this further?
What is the legitimate businesspurpose of this, and how do we
(33:33):
know it's successful?
Karen McFarlane (33:37):
I think that's fair.
Brittany S. Hale (33:40):
Yeah, I think authenticity is going to be
critical as we move forward,because people, however people
feel about the administration,at the end of the day, people
are going to want to be able totrust that what they're being
(34:01):
presented with is the truth insome way, shape or form.
We all develop relationshipswith brands.
We all have these relationshipsthat we pour into, and so, if
this is I'm assuming that theorganization I'm working with is
somehow customer facing or hassome sort of customer facing arm
(34:24):
ultimately they are going tohave to present a perspective to
the public that they're goingto have.
You have to update your aboutus page Like it's.
It's going to have to happen,but you need the clarity and you
need to be able to mount a verystrong defense before you even
(34:49):
get.
I'm not even talking about thecourtroom defense before you
even get.
I'm not even talking about thecourtroom, I am talking about
for for the casual person comingthrough to say, well, what is
this about this inclusion stuffyou all have going on?
Yeah, you need to be able toanswer very clearly how this
(35:11):
furthers your mission, yourbusiness goal.
Ostensibly, you're in businessbecause you want to solve a
problem and be very successfulat doing so, and you want to
continue, year after year, tocontinue to be more and more and
more profitable.
This has to feed directly intoit, and so I uh we spoke about
(35:35):
accountability a little bitearlier.
Um, you know me, I'm apolitical optimist.
I'm going to seek theopportunity in all of the
adversity and I'm going to seehow does this deepen the trust
between this particular companyand their target audience?
Karen McFarlane (35:56):
I mean that's absolutely right.
I have my militant look ontoday, so I would also add to
that is do all those things andthen go control your freaking
company.
Right, correct?
You run things.
Okay.
Don't let any outside forcetell you how to run your
(36:16):
business.
Okay, if it works for you, ifyou, if you think that these
principles, however they show upin your organization, just like
you said, are important andthey're meaningful, go do the
damn thing and run your business.
Don't let nobody else push youaround.
That's how.
That's my little tough love,that's it, and that's all folks.
(36:39):
Take care of your damn business.
Yes, well, I'm glad we got totalk about this today that had
some positive news about acompany leaning into its values
and not pulling back and notrunning scared.
And so kudos to McDonald's fortheir hard work all these years
(37:03):
and continue to make us proudand show us how it's done.
You know and report on.
So we know and report on it.
Exactly.
All right, brittany Mina, arewe done?
Are we good?
Was that a good episode?
Brittany S. Hale (37:20):
We got the call, so it's time to wrap it up
.
Karen McFarlane (37:25):
All right, then , until the next time on the
e-word, Bye Brittany.
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