KPLU Local News
(2010-08-04)
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McDonald's new ad campaign says that 95 out of every 100 french fries it serves in Washington is grown in the state.
Photo by: Gary Davis / KPLU
Its latest ad campaign highlights menu items grown in the Pacific Northwest.
Billboards feature a plump potato with the words "served in Seattle, grown in Pasco." TV commercials say if you order milk at a Washington McDonald's, it's probably local, too.
Paisley Madison is the Northwest spokeswoman for McDonald's. She says with all the interest in local food, the company saw an opportunity.
"There are a lot of McDonald's restaurants in Washington," she says. "There's also a lot of Washington in McDonald's."
Critics say it's just creative spin.
The campaign is only running in Washington - and only highlights certain foods.
"They're able to do it here because we grow certain products that they use in huge quantities," says Andrea Dwyer, executive director of Seattle Tilth, an organization that promotes organic and sustainable farming.
"It doesn't mean they're embracing a different philosophy in terms of how they source their products or where their products come from."
Madison says the campaign doesn't mean the company has changed the way it does business. Nor does it signal a move to be more environmentally friendly in the future.
She says it's just something more for customers to chew on.
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