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#607785 - 08/31/06 04:02 PM
Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Diamond Poster
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 2,121
Wherever the plane lands
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LONDON (Reuters) - Hedgehogs have finally humbled burger giant McDonald's after years of campaigning, forcing the company to redesign its killer McFlurry ice-cream containers.
Up to now the opening in the container has been large enough for hedgehogs to get their heads into for a lick of the left-over dessert -- a trap they have then been unable to withdraw from, so dying of starvation in untold numbers.
But from September 1, the wide-mouthed opening in the lid of the McFlurry containers will be reduced in size, making them too small for the sugar-loving animals to get their heads into.
"This is excellent, it is long overdue news," said Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society. "We have been in touch with McDonald's about this problem for over five years and are delighted that they have at last solved the problem."
McDonald's said in a statement the design change had resulted from pressure from the society which prompted "significant research and design testing" to develop new packaging.
"The smaller aperture of the lid has been designed to prevent hedgehogs from entering the McFlurry container in the unfortunate incidence that a lid is littered and is then accessible to wildlife," it added.
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#607786 - 08/31/06 04:06 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Sheeesh, all they had to do was put a disclaimer on there in hedgehogese.
Do I have to think of everything?
(ps. this scenario is much better than snakes on a plane)
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#607789 - 08/31/06 04:12 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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TX
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Quote:
Quote:
Sheeesh, all they had to do was put a disclaimer on there in hedgehogese.
Do I have to think of everything?
(ps. this scenario is much better than snakes on a plane)
oh my gosh LOL!!!
Somehow, I doubt even the disclaimer would have satisfied the "British Hedgehog Preservation Society". Am I the only one who hadn't a clue such an organization existed?
LOL!! Clueless here too.
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#607790 - 08/31/06 04:24 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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USA
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#607791 - 08/31/06 04:29 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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CA
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I wasn't aware of the huge Hedgehog shortage in the London area...thank goodness for the British Hedgehod Preservation Society! Now all we need is a McFlurry Lid Preservation Society...
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#607793 - 08/31/06 05:04 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Midwest
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Every time I come back to this thread, I start giggling... and then I go into Homer Simpson mode... thinking to myself "mmmmm McFlurries..." Now I just might hafta go to McD's (those big bad hedgehog murderers) for lunch! (can i negate the calories in the McFlurry by ordering one of those healthy-ish wrap meals for the main course?) heheheheeee
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#607796 - 08/31/06 05:11 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Anne Marie - "Homer Simpson mode"-too funny. GuitarDude - Don't even get me started on the Hot Coffee issue. That's just nuts!
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#607798 - 08/31/06 05:43 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 3,626
State of confusion
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Are you serious? Tell me this is some kind of a joke....are hedgehogs some sort of a protected species? If they are trying to steal my mcflurry they DESERVE TO DIE!! Just kidding. But seriously this isn't actually true is it?
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#607801 - 08/31/06 06:02 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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US of A
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All jokes aside, I applaud McDonald's for giving in and doing the right thing. (Of course, I'm not a McDonald's shareholder.)
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#607802 - 08/31/06 06:18 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 555
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GuitarDude - Don't even get me started on the Hot Coffee issue. That's just nuts!
Yep, just nuts!
Stella Liebeck of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was in the passenger seat of her grandson's car when she was severely burned by McDonald's coffee in February 1992. Liebeck ordered coffee that was served in a Styrofoam cup at the drive-through window of a local McDonald's.
After receiving the order, the grandson pulled his car forward and stopped momentarily so that Liebeck could add cream and sugar to her coffee. (Critics of civil justice, who have pounced on this case, often charge that Liebeck was driving the car or that the vehicle was in motion when she spilled the coffee; neither is true.) Liebeck placed the cup between her knees and attempted to remove the plastic lid from the cup. As she removed the lid, the entire contents of the cup spilled into her lap.
The sweatpants Liebeck was wearing absorbed the coffee and held it next to her skin. A vascular surgeon determined that Liebeck suffered full thickness burns (or third-degree burns) over 6 percent of her body, including her inner thighs, perineum, buttocks, and genital and groin areas. She was hospitalized for eight days, during which time she underwent skin grafting. Liebeck, who also underwent debridement treatments, sought to settle her claim for $20,000, but McDonald's refused.
During discovery, McDonald's produced documents showing more than 700 claims by people burned by its coffee between 1982 and 1992. Some claims involved third-degree burns substantially similar to Liebeck's. This history documented McDonald's knowledge about the extent and nature of this hazard.
McDonald's also said during discovery that, based on a consultant's advice, it held its coffee at between 180 and 190 degrees Fahrenheit to maintain optimum taste. Other establishments sell coffee at substantially lower temperatures, and coffee served at home is generally 135 to 140 degrees.
Further, McDonald's quality assurance manager testified that the company actively enforces a requirement that coffee be held in the pot at 185 degrees, plus or minus five degrees. He also testified that a burn hazard exists with any food substance served at 140 degrees or above, and that McDonald's coffee, at the temperature at which it was poured into Styrofoam cups, was not fit for consumption because it would burn the mouth and throat. The quality assurance manager admitted that burns would occur, but testified that McDonald's had no intention of reducing the "holding temperature" of its coffee.
Plaintiff's expert, a scholar in thermodynamics as applied to human skin burns, testified that liquids, at 180 degrees, will cause a full thickness burn to human skin in two to seven seconds. Other testimony showed that as the temperature decreases toward 155 degrees, the extent of the burn relative to that temperature decreases exponentially. Thus, if Liebeck's spill had involved coffee at 155 degrees, the liquid would have cooled and given her time to avoid a serious burn.
McDonald's asserted that customers buy coffee on their way to work or home, intending to consume it there. However, the company's own research showed that customers intend to consume the coffee immediately while driving.
McDonald's also argued that consumers know coffee is hot and that its customers want it that way. The company admitted its customers were unaware that they could suffer third-degree burns from the coffee and that a statement on the side of the cup was not a "warning" but a "reminder" since the location of the writing would not warn customers of the hazard.
The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages. This amount was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck 20 percent at fault in the spill. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonald's coffee sales.
Post-verdict investigation found that the temperature of coffee at the local Albuquerque McDonald's had dropped to 158 degrees Fahrenheit.
The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 -- or three times compensatory damages -- even though the judge called McDonald's conduct reckless, callous and willful. Subsequent to remittitur, the parties entered a post-verdict settlement.
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#607804 - 08/31/06 06:27 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,476
USA
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Ok, Buddy....the reason I said it's nuts is not meant in anyway to say the McDonalds was not at some fault. I agree McDonalds should have more since than to know it's buring people, badly, with their coffee and not do anything about it. On the other side, a customer of McDonalds or any place, for that matter, should have enough since to know when they order hot coffee not to hold the cup between their legs. That's what cup holders were made for! My statement of "I think it's nuts" is because it's a case of where absolutely no one involved used any common sense!!
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#607805 - 08/31/06 06:28 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Diamond Poster
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,476
USA
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I thought this was another eposide dealing with Xodus and his McNuggets... ROFL...
I thought it was his McJimmies!! ROFL
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#607806 - 08/31/06 06:34 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Platinum Poster
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 555
Texas
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Quote:
On the other side, a customer of McDonalds or any place, for that matter, should have enough since to know when they order hot coffee not to hold the cup between their legs.
Jury found her 20% negligent for just that very reason.
Okay. Usually those who call it nuts have no idea what the fact are and, despite not knowing the facts, are completely against Stella.
Last edited by Buddy Love; 08/31/06 06:35 PM.
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#607809 - 08/31/06 06:37 PM
Re: Hedgehogs humble McDonalds
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Platinum Poster
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 555
Texas
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Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
GuitarDude - Don't even get me started on the Hot Coffee issue. That's just nuts!
The jury awarded Liebeck $200,000 in compensatory damages. This amount was reduced to $160,000 because the jury found Liebeck 20 percent at fault in the spill. The jury also awarded Liebeck $2.7 million in punitive damages, which equals about two days of McDonald's coffee sales.
Post-verdict investigation found that the temperature of coffee at the local Albuquerque McDonald's had dropped to 158 degrees Fahrenheit.
The trial court subsequently reduced the punitive award to $480,000 -- or three times compensatory damages -- even though the judge called McDonald's conduct reckless, callous and willful. Subsequent to remittitur, the parties entered a post-verdict settlement.
I did a paper on this back in my Law School days. The part of the story that most people are not aware of is that the woman's husband subsequently sued McDonald's for "Loss of his wife's services" and was awarded somewhere around 1.5 mil.
I've never heard that. Got any reliable proof online?
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