by patbarone
Much as been written about Oprah Winfrey buying Weight Watchers‘ stock for $40 million dollars and, in just a few days, tripling that investment, when stocks rose.
On the surface, like most media blitzes, the numbers look impressive.
And comics and cartoonists had fun with the idea that Oprah would make MORE money to add to her billions:
But beyond the media blitz and the jokes, there is something much more insidious and disappointing about this shoddy deal.
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by patbarone
In the past few years, McDonald’s has taken a hit to their reputation – from movies like “Food, Inc.”, “Fast Food Nation” and “Super-size Me.”
Now, they are out to improve that “unhealthy” reputation.
On March 3, 2010, they announced that Weight Watchers would promote and endorse several McDonald’s meals as healthy options for weight loss. If Weight Watchers ever had a serious reputation, it was gone that day.
Now, another layer of PR has appeared with McDonald’s seeking to convince consumers of their financial importance to their communities and to the farmers of their state. Recently, an insert into a Wisconsin newspaper made many interesting claims. I particularly like the “returned nearly 45 cents of every dollar earned to the local economy.” – Translated, that means they paid their workers less than half of what they earned and more than half was profit.
They listed the following as purchased from Wisconsin farms:
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