According to the British Medical Journal, some activists apparently hate McDonald’s more than polio and are angered at UNICEF’s deal with the former to fight the latter.
McDonald’s has an agreement with Unicef in which the international chain restaurant will distribute millions of orange boxes which children in the United States have used the past few years to raise money for UNICEF’s fight against polio. According to UNICEF’s Soraya Bermejo,
Obviously, the extra boxes will greatly increase the funds raised on behalf of children in need around the world. Like all similar Unicef activities, this one will be reviewed once we have allowed it to run its full course.
That’s not enough for activists with the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action which penned a letter to UNICEF complaining that UNICEF had,
. . . entered into a partnership with a company known worldwide for its aggressive promotion of foods that contribute to ill health and poor nutrition both in industrialized and non-industrialized countries.
Ah yes . . . the fight against polio is far less important than striking a pose against an evil corporation like McDonald’s.
Source:
Unicef comes under attack for Big Mac funding deal. Owen Dyer, British Medical Journal, 26 October 2002, p.923.