Super Size Me means more bad press for McDonald's

by Staff,, Brand Republic 27-Jan-04, 08:30

NEW YORK - McDonald's has seen off obesity lawsuits and turned around sales with its 'I'm lovin' it' campaign, but it now faces a new wave of bad PR with the release of a documentary called 'Super Size Me'.

Previewed at the Sundance Film Festival at the weekend, the film shows what happened when Morgan Spurlock, a 6ft 2in New Yorker, decided to eat McDonald's at every meal for 30 days.

Spurlock has told journalists that he decided to make the documentary after seeing an item on the news about teenagers suing McDonald's for making them obese, which featured a response from the company that said its food was nutritious.

Doctors monitored Spurlock's health during the month-long experiment and were shocked at the results. As well as putting on 25 pounds, his liver function was impaired and his cholesterol rose dramatically. He also became depressed, plagued with headaches and his sex drive disappeared.

Viewers will know from the start that the progamme is a one-sided affair with Spurlock giving a mocking running commentary that preaches about the evils of fast food throughout. It is helped by the fact that Spurlock's New York girlfriend just happens to be a vegan chef.

McDonald's has issued a statement in response to the programme and said: "Consumers can achieve balance in their daily dining decisions by choosing from our array of quality offerings and range of portion sizes to meet their taste and nutrition goals."

Spurlock has said that his film isn't an attack on McDonald's but that he hopes it will make people think about what they eat. It is being described as a 'Bowling for Columbine' for obesity.

Spurlock said that he only ate at McDonald's only occasionally before his Mickey D's experiment and once he had started he began craving fat and sugar fixes between meals.

"I got desperately ill," he says. "My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut, which I've never had in my life. My knees started to hurt from the extra weight coming on so quickly. It was amazing -- and really frightening," he said.

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