Chief executive defends McDonald's

McDonald’s chief executive Jim Skinner told shareholders yesterday not to believe the recent surge of “fiction” that has maligned fast food and pledged that the company will be more aggressive and creative in setting the record straight.

Skinner’s comments at the fast-food chain’s annual meeting were the strongest evidence yet of its initiative to counter negative publicity from a new children’s book and soon-to-be-released movie, both associated with the 2001 book 'Fast Food Nation'.

“These days, big equals bad,” he said at the meeting at McDonald’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois. “And fiction somehow has become more compelling than fact.”

“You have every reason to be proud of your company, our values and our social responsibility record.”