2. WHY WAS McSPOTLIGHT CREATED ?
3. WHO ARE THE McINFORMATION NETWORK ?
4. REMIND ME, WHAT IS McLIBEL ?
5. WHY WAS McDONALD'S SINGLED OUT ?
6. WON'T THEY TRY TO SHUT DOWN THE SITE ?
7. I WOULD LIKE TO HELP, WHAT CAN I DO ?
If you have any questions that are not answered here, please email us and we'll consider including them in the next revision of the FAQ.
The latest version of this FAQ will be available on request by email to McSpotlight, and is also available on the McSpotlight web site itself.
The site is dedicated to providing uncensored information on the infamous 'McLibel' trial, on McDonald's itself and on other multinational corporations.
When was it launched?
McSpotlight was launched on the 16th Feb 1996, in London, Chicago, Helsinki and Auckland. There is a report of the launch available (including pictures of the McLibel defendants activating the site - using a laptop connected to the Internet via a mobile phone - outside a McDonald's in Central London).
Who can see it? Where is it actually located?
The site can be accessed from anywhere in the world, by anyone with access to the Internet. The host server for the site is currently located in the Netherlands.
Additionally, there are mirrors sites (complete, identical copies) available in:
How often is it updated? How big is it?
The site is constantly updated and already contains about 21,000 files (about 120mb of data).
What information is on it?
The information includes: the full court transcripts, closing submissions, daily reports of the closing speeches, approx 90 McLibel witness statements, scores of other documents about the case, company publications, scientific reports, newspaper articles, cartoons, extracts from books, transcripts of TV and video appearances, plays, internal company memos.
In The Issues the information has been split up into relevant categories - Nutrition, Advertising, Employment, Environment, Animal Welfare, Free Speech, Multinationals & Global Trade, Capitalism & the Alternatives, McDonald's International Expansion.
Much of the material has been the subject of previous legal action by McDonald's and has hence been out of circulation until resurfacing on McSpotlight.
Any special features? Other key features of McSpotlight are:
Which are the most popular pages?
Currently the most popular pages are:
How many visitors does it receive?
It is difficult to calculate the number of visitors to the site. Most web sites simply publish the total number of 'hits' , however these figures are completely meaningless without careful interpretation. Between the launch 16/2/96 and 16/2/97 (12 months) the total number of hits to all of the McSpotlight sites (main server and mirrors) is conservatively estimated to have been at least 7 million, thats almost 600,000 hits per month. The total number of visitors in that period is calculated to have been in excess of 200,000. During that period, about 24,000 people have read the orginal factsheet complained of by McDonald's.
McDonald's themselves accessed the site 1,300 times in its first week alone.
Has it had much coverage in the 'old' media?
As far as we are aware, McSpotlight has received the most press coverage of any website in the world. Some examples are: USA Today (front cover with photo), NBC TV, Channel 4 (Website of the Week), ITV, BBC1 (prime time news), BBC2 (Most Informative Website), The Independent (with photo), The Guardian, The Observer (Website of the Week), Daily Express, Chicago Tribune, San Jose Mercury News, Chicago Sun Times, Denver Post, Australian, Undercurrents, Times of India (inc. cartoon), Helsingin Sanomat (Finland), LA Weekly, Daily Telegraph, BBC Radio 4.
Many of these press articles are available in the press cuttings section.
Why has it attracted so much press?
Apart from the sheer unadulterated brilliance of the site's construction, design and layout, :-) there can be little doubt that the main 'draw' is the content of its 21,000+ files. Time and time again people have observed that this is a site that goes into real depth about real issues that affect real people.
The Guardian said "It is claimed to be 'the most comprehensive source of information on a multinational ever assembled' - and that doesn't sound like an exaggeration".
The fact that it is closely involved with one of the most extraordinary battles of modern times has certainly helped increase coverage. The McLibel Trial revolves around the question of the right of ordinary people to stand up to corporate censorship, and many press articles have picked up on McSpotlight taking this battle onto new territory - the unstoppable and uncensorable Internet.
You really think you can close down McDonald's?
McSpotlight was not created in the belief that it would succeed in driving McDonald's out of business. However, it is of course hoped that people will learn to use the principles of 'ethical consumerism' when deciding what to buy, and that companies will react by cleaning up their acts rather than getting their public relations departments to 'gloss-over' the reality.
What are their collective aims?
The McInformation Network is dedicated to compiling and disseminating factual, accurate, up-to-date (as far as is possible) information, and encouraging debate, about the workings, policies and practices of McDonald's and other Multinational Corporations and all they stand for. The Network also highlights opposition to McDonald's and other transnational companies.
Haven't they got anything better to do?
The volunteers are generally all involved in other progressive issues such as human rights, workers rights, green issues, political and constitutional reform, animal rights and veganism. All the volunteers do have a life beyond McSpotlight - when time allows ;-)
How much did it cost to set up?
As all of the equipment was donated, and everybody worked for free, McSpotlight was set up without a single penny being spent. Phone bills and other costs are now coming in, and have been paid for by donations from the public.
What is their relationship to McLibel?
The Network is autonomous to, but supportive of, the McLibel defendants and the McLibel Support Campaigns in the UK and elsewhere; who are, in turn, giving their support to McSpotlight.
How can I get in touch?
To contact the McInformation Network:
How long has it been going? Who's paying?
McLibel is now the longest trial, of any kind, in British history, and has stimulated world-wide publicity and protests. As no legal aid is available in libel cases, Helen and Dave were forced to defend themselves, funded entirely by donations from the public.
What happens when the trial is over?
Regardless of the final verdict of the trial, 'respected' industry analysts and legal representatives have already commented that the whole McLibel case and the media coverage has been a complete disaster for McDonald's and a victory for the activist movement.
However the trial ends, McDonald's will have failed to silence their critics. All the evidence will continue to be available on McSpotlight and will enable anyone who cares, to look at the evidence and judge the facts for themselves.
McSpotlight will continue to cover the McLibel trial until the end of the case and then act accordingly. The end of the trial may mean that greater resources can be used to turn the McSpotlight on other companies and industries.
Where can I get more information?
If you would like more information about the McLibel trial, there is of course, much more about the case on the McSpotlight site itself.
You might also like to read the Press Backgrounder produced by the McLibel Support Campaign.
Over the years McDonald's has bullied their critics with threats of legal action and nobody has stood up to them. Please see Other McLibels at for details of other organisations they have sued in the past. When Helen and Dave (the McLibel defendants) refused to be intimidated, McDonald's made a major mistake in taking the case to court.
Once at court, huge amounts of information about McDonald's business practices became available to the public for the first time. It is because of the availability of this information that the creation of McSpotlight was possible and it is the reason why the site in centred on McDonald's.
Another key reason that McDonald's has been singled out is that, because of the nature of the food industry, they come under criticism from many different campaigning groups - nutritionists, environmentalists, trade unionists, animal welfare campaigners and so on. In this way, they symbolise a wide range of different injustices, abuses and exploitations that are prevalent in the modern world.
They have also pioneered many business practices that have been taken up by others, and have come to represent a symbol of the way that society is going - 'McDonaldisation'.
Examples of others corporations that are as bad as McDonald's can be found with very little effort, but there are few on which so much information has been unearthed.
Who else gets the McSpotlight treatment?
Despite this, McSpotlight is expanding to cover other companies and industries. These are to be found in the Beyond McDonald's section of
McSpotlight.
Currently included are;
The success (i.e. influence and profits) of the corporation is based almost solely on a carefully manufactured image, created by billions of advertising dollars. They react swiftly to destroy any threat to that image and would clearly love to destroy McSpotlight - but they know of no way to do it.
What are you doing to stop them?
The nature of the Internet makes successful censorship very difficult. The McInformation Network has taken a number of steps to foil any attempt at shutting McSpotlight down.
Any attempt to shut down McSpotlight would result in massive media attention and outrage by the Internet community and concerned people everywhere. After all, it is obviously of vital importance that multinationals (which now dominate our lives and the world's economy) be subject to criticism and challenge.
What about legal action against the creators?
McDonald's, or any of the other companies exposed by McSpotlight, might be tempted to use legal action against individual volunteers of the McInformation Network.
Even if their legal action was successful, it would not help them in their attempts to silence McSpotlight. Better still, the publicity for McSpotlight would be highly beneficial to our cause, and the bad publicity for the company involved would make such action highly foolish.
There are many McInformation Network volunteers who would dearly love the opportunity to further expose the truth about McDonald's or other companies in court - but we doubt that any company would be stupid enough to provide the chance.
You could nominate McSpotlight for any on-line awards that you come across, or submit our URL to web sites than maintain lists of 'hot sites' etc.
You could add something to your email signature file. We suggest the following lines;
Can I add a link to the site?
If you have your own web homepages, you can add a link to McSpotlight, and perhaps your own comments about the site.
What about the kit?
You could download the McSpotlight Kit and announce the fact that you are ready to place it on the Internet in the unlikely event that McSpotlight gets closed down.
Do you want another mirror site?
If you have fast, reliable and permanent connection to the Internet, and you run a web server, you could pledge to provide McSpotlight with another mirror site.
I can do xxxx, can I help?
If you have a skill that might be of use to McSpotlight - such as Java or html programming, graphic design, or the ability to translate documents into non-English languages - you could contact us and offer your help.
If you have any information on McDonald's or any other company that might be of use to us, or you come across articles or reports that have been published about the issues involved in the case, you could send it to us.
What about non-Internet action?
Of course, it would be great if you could also get involved at the street level by helping to disseminate the leaflet (there is a pledge form on the site which can be used to make contact with campaigners in your area).
Most importantly, you can act on what you have learnt on the site by practising 'ethical consumerism' when you go shopping - and by encouraging others to do the same. Make sure you let the companies involved know why you are, or are not, purchasing their products.
How do I make a donation?
And finally you could even send a donation to help pay for our costs.
(Cheques payable to 'McSpotlight' can be sent to PO Box 10792, London, N10 3PQ, UK.)
How can I find new additions to the site?
To make it easier to see what is new on the site, there is a page dedicated to recording all major additions to the site at
What is the McLibel listserver?
You could also subscribe to the McLibel listserver, provided by the U.S. McLibel Support Campaign. This will provide you with details about all the latest news from the McLibel trial, as well as news about McSpotlight and anti-McDonald's campaigns from around the world.
What about the McSpotlight mailing list?
Also available is the McSpotlight mailing list. This list has a lower volume of traffic and nearly everything posted on the McSpotlight list will also be posted on the McLibel list. You will not usually find news about anti-McDonald's campaigns on the McSpotlight mailing list. The list is primarily intended to inform you that something new has been added to the web site so that you know its time to visit.
