There’s a new item on the Golden Arches secret menu: The McSmackdown.

That’s the only way to describe McDonald’s big victory over the Humane Society of the United States at the company’s shareholder meeting in May.

McDonald’s was facing a campaign from HSUS seeking to replace two board members. The goal was trying to jump start a board discussion around changing the company's pork sourcing policy.

This wasn’t any normal campaign, however. HSUS had recruited billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, a real-life Gordon Gekko, to lead the charge. Icahn’s daughter previously worked for HSUS and was likely a silent cheerleader.

McDonald’s did not shrink from the challenge.

McDonald’s accused Icahn of hypocrisy, noting he hadn’t called for the same pork reforms at a pork processing company owned by his holding company. McDonald’s also won support from two major shareholder advisory firms.

In the end, despite all the bluster, Icahn and HSUS got 1% of the vote. It’s a humiliating loss for HSUS.

Perhaps McDonald’s was fed up with being the subject of yet another activism campaign. There are loads of them out there, on issues from animal rights to environmentalism to executive compensation. Or perhaps McDonald’s looked at the numbers and realized there was simply no good supply of alternative pork — people aren’t demanding it at the grocery store or when they go out to eat.

Whatever the motivation, fighting back worked.

I’m reminded of PETA's campaign against KFC about 20 years ago, which had a moniker of “Kentucky Fried Cruelty.” It was a full-bore campaign. But PETA lost. KFC realized that, despite the negative ads, people who ate fried chicken were unmoved by PETA’s antics. So they held firm.

Today, the KFC Cruelty website looks like it hasn’t been updated in 15 years, and the Twitter account has nine followers and hasn’t tweeted since 2014.

Fighting back works.

So now here’s our challenge: Encourage more people to do it in the restaurant and retail industry. The facts have been on our side from the beginning. Farmers and vets are the animal welfare experts, and the public (according to polling) trusts them on decisions of animal husbandry. I’ve never seen any credible evidence that mainstream consumers make purchasing decisions based on a company’s pork or poultry sourcing.

But facts aren’t enough. The will to fight is a necessary component. The activists know this, which is why they pick on restaurants and supermarkets with investments in their brand and consumer good will.

Many companies are now realizing they’ve been sold a bill of goods on animal welfare pledges they made 10 years ago. A recent survey by HSUS found that many companies had rolled back some of these pledges in the ensuing years, likely after coming to terms with the higher costs for no tangible gain.

With external factors like record inflation, the table is set for companies to follow McDonald’s lead. What the ag community can provide is encouragement to get them to follow through. When McDonalds can find the strength to tell the grievance lobby to buzz off, there is no excuse for others not to follow.

Fighting back works

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