Gem of the day

Lately, it feels like approximately 75% of the information that passes before my eyes is unintentional satire. Case in point here, as an author on industry news hub Triple Pundit delivers this gem of an article:

"Sustainability for All: Three Cheers for McDonald's"

No, this is not a joke. The article uses McDonald's as a case study to examine this mind-blowing question: "What about the CSR initiatives at corporations that have bad reputations, make questionable products and are late to the CSR game? Is there room for them?"

Here's the key points the author provides to, essentially, answer "yes" in the case of McDonald's:

• "The company...provides an impressive 71 page 2009 sustainability report on its website"
• "McDonald’s suppliers are required to maintain codes of conduct and standards with regards to fair labor and equitable working conditions"
• "The company also hopes to work with its suppliers on environmental impacts of the supply chain"
• "McDonald’s in Wal-Mart locations participated in the World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour in March" 

So let's review these points of accreditation. One of the biggest companies in the world is lauded for having an extremely long PDF report that is probably prohibitive to read, due to said length, maintains basic policies and codes of conduct, has aspirations towards *maybe* working with suppliers on the massive environmental and social impact of its global supply chain, and took an hour out a busy day to participate in a one-time-only energy efficiency initiative?

Right.