The People vs McDonalds – In 1986, activists from London Greenpeace claimed that McDonalds was exploiting its workers, resulting in the longest trial ever to take place in England (313 days – good pub quiz trivia). The majority of the claims in the leaflet were found to be libellous, but some of the claims around nutrition were found to be true.
It is a fascinating case of David vs Goliath, a company worth billions with huge legal teams versus a couple of activists aka. a gardener and a former postman. Changes were then made to the legal system to stop these similar cases playing out in the courts .Yet it is not the trial that is the heart of the new documentary series by Mark Steel. It’s what happened afterwards, with a shocking story about covert policing and the consequences of this work on its victims.
