Unhappy Meal: 'Food Activists' Behead Ronald McDonald
Ronald McDonald is the victim of a crime -- and this time the Hamburglar isn't to blame.
A group of artists and activists in Finland kidnapped a Ronald McDonald sculpture from a McDonald's restaurant and, despite the efforts of police, managed to behead a version of the fast-food icon in a grisly recording shot in the style of terrorist videos.
Members of the so-called Food Liberation Army are believed to have kidnapped Ronald McDonald from one of the chain's Helsinki locations after presenting restaurant employees with phony documents, the Helsinki Times reports.
In a video posted Feb. 1, a masked man stands behind a hooded Ronald McDonald and demands greater transparency from the burger chain.
"We are the Food Liberation Army, and we hope that this extreme action will take us towards a better and safer food future," the hostage-taker stated.
"We love burgers, fries and McDonald's, but we can no longer watch silent when the food we love is being destroyed and brought to shame because of greed and indifference. Because of your short-sightedness, your burgers have become nearly inedible."
The black-clad activists said they would execute Ronald McDonald if McDonald's officials failed to answer eight questions about the eatery's manufacturing practices, ingredients, waste, health impact and business ethics before 6:30 p.m. Feb. 11.
"It is in your interest to answer our questions publicly, and develop your activities through them," the group wrote on its website. "Only this way you will survive in the future. Listen to our message and the Move. We will reward you by eating more of your burgers."
McDonald's officials declined to negotiate with the food terrorists, though they released this statement, according to The Consumerist:
A member of the Food Liberation Army -- a group whose logo contains a sword and the McDonald's motto "I'm Lovin' It" written upside down -- told NPR that police tried and failed to break up the execution.McDonald's is always available to engage in constructive conversations with our customers, stakeholders and the media. This stunt is in very poor taste and not a responsible approach to meaningful dialog.
Jani Leinonen told the radio station that cops interrogated him and an assistant for 30 hours and actually recovered the fiberglass statue. But the Food Liberation Army had developed a "backup plan" -- giving cops a decoy Ronald McDonald.
On Friday, the group posted another video showing the famed clown -- apparently one that had been custom-designed by activists -- meeting its end at the guillotine.
This isn't the first time a restaurant's mascot has been kidnapped.
In 2009, perps kidnapped an 8-foot-tall replica of the Statue of Liberty from a coffee shop in Brooklyn, N.Y., then sent the owners video of the statue's decapitation.
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