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Ronald Smiling as Stock Soars

Food giant reacts to critics with new menus and marketing, but still loves trans fat

By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 22, 2007 5:36 PM CDT

(Newser) – Ronald McDonald is smiling as his stock soars and critics give grudging respect to his new menus, the AP reports. McDonald’s hasn’t yielded on all fronts – its fries still simmer in trans-fatty cooking oil – but nimble reactions to critics have helped boost the stock from $12 in 2003 to $54.80 yesterday. "Consumers' attention span is pretty short," says one analyst.

Yogurts and fruit have quieted critics, but “Let's be honest," one critic says, "their business is still driven by burgers, fries and Cokes.” Even foreigners rife with anti-American feeling are passing under the arches for those meals: Asian, Middle Eastern and African sales have jumped 12.4%. And they can now read nutritional data on the packaging, if they dare.

In this photograph released by McDonalds, Jim Delligatti poses with the world's largest Big Mac statue (14 foot high and 12 foot wide) during the opening of the Big Mac Museum Restaurant in North Huntingdon, Pa., Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007. Delligatti, an early McDonalds franchisee, invented McDonald's Big Mac sandwich...
In this photograph released by McDonalds, Jim Delligatti poses with the world's largest Big Mac statue (14 foot high and 12 foot wide) during the opening of the Big Mac Museum Restaurant in North Huntingdon,...   (Associated Press)
A Big Mac is displayed at a McDonald's shop in Tokyo 05 September...
A Big Mac is displayed at a McDonald's shop in Tokyo 05 September...   (Getty Images)
US fastfood giant McDonald launches the McDonald's Champion Kids...
US fastfood giant McDonald launches the McDonald's Champion Kids...   (Getty Images)
An undated photo provided by Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp., shows a Big Mac sandwich. The  burger, which helped spawn America's super-size culture and restaurants' ever-expanding jumbo meals, is turning 40.  (AP Photo/McDonald's Corp.)
An undated photo provided by Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonald's Corp., shows a Big Mac sandwich. The burger, which helped spawn America's super-size culture and restaurants' ever-expanding jumbo meals,...   (Associated Press)
John Francis, who owns the McDonald's in Sidney, Mont., poses for a photo in front of his restaurant,   Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007.  Francis  found himself outsourcing the drive-thru window to a Texas telemarketing firm, not because it's cheaper but because he can't find workers.  Record low unemployment across parts of...
John Francis, who owns the McDonald's in Sidney, Mont., poses for a photo in front of his restaurant, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2007. Francis found himself outsourcing the drive-thru window to a Texas telemarketing...   (Associated Press)
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