McDonald's Exists for Food, Not Social Engineering
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Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Editor's Note: This article is a lightly edited transcript of an excerpt from an episode of Newsweek Radio.
McDonald's is facing a nationwide boycott this week, fueled in part by the company's decision to roll back its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
"As a brand that serves millions of people every day, McDonald's opens our doors to everyone, and our commitment to inclusion remains steadfast," the company told Newsweek.
Since Tuesday, the company has been the subject of a boycott led by the People's Union USA, a grassroots movement that's accused McDonald's of price gouging, exploiting tax loopholes, corporate greed, and of walking away from its DEI commitments. The same group has also organized boycotts against Walmart, Amazon, and Target, and says it plans further action against McDonald's unless the company agrees to major changes in its corporate policy.
This is all happening while McDonald's is battling declining sales in the U.S. In May, the company reported a 3.6 percent drop in same-store sales nationwide, the steepest decline since 2020, at the height of the COVID pandemic.
Here's the part that needs to be said. Just because many of us are uncomfortable with public displays of DEI indoctrination in the workplace, and the quasi-religious nature of DEI seminars, does not mean we're not committed to the actual fundamentals of diversity, equity, and inclusivity.
GLOUCESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 13: The logo of the fast food restaurant McDonald's is displayed outside a branch of the restaurant, on June 13, 2025 in Gloucester, England.
GLOUCESTER, UNITED KINGDOM - JUNE 13: The logo of the fast food restaurant McDonald's is displayed outside a branch of the restaurant, on June 13, 2025 in Gloucester, England.Quite the opposite, actually. Many of us think the way DEI is being implemented contradicts and works against anything that actually resembles real diversity, equity, or inclusion. These words don't have a single definition. They're wide open to interpretation. What looks like diversity to you might look like uniformity to me. What looks like equity to me might look like inequity to you. What feels inclusive to both of us might feel exclusionary to someone else.
These are complicated concepts, and there's no logical reason to expect a company like McDonald's to solve them by using its workforce as guinea pigs for corporate social experiments.
McDonald's is here to bring us cheap food, hot and fast. That's what it does. That's what it's always done. If we want people to learn about DEI, then put it in a high school social studies class, where it belongs. Don't expect a fast-food chain, or any other corporation, to carry that load on behalf of the rest of society.
McDonald's isn't hurting right now because it moved away from DEI training. It's hurting because it's getting too expensive to keep employees at a job most people don't want to do, at a time when costs are rising and people are more health-conscious than ever.
It also doesn't help that the company has painted all the restaurants that weird drab gray color that matches the color of its beef patties. It's not exactly an inviting atmosphere.
That said, McDonald's has still got the best fries, in my opinion. And I'm rarely disappointed in the Filet-O-Fish with a Coke.
If McDonald's wants a quick rebound, it should focus on bringing costs back down on the original menu, restoring the customer experience, and maybe adding a little warmth and color back into the stores. Hopefully now that DEI isn't eating up so much time in the workday, it can get back to doing what it does best.
At the end of the day, McDonald's doesn't exist to make us better people. It exists to feed us. And sometimes, that's enough.
Jesse Edwards is director of Newsweek Radio & Podcasting, and the host of Newsweek Radio.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
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