You've not read any of Azure's post have you?
1) As a vegetarian, I've avoided McDs because I didn't think there was anything vegetarian there to eat.... don't all their salads have chicken or some such?
2) After McDonald's spent millions on the McLibel case and took such a heavy hit in the media around it, I doubt they will try again this time.
3) As for the rest of this thread, we had this thread just last week where the meat-eaters bashed the vegetarians and vice-versa. I tried the Jon Stewart "tone down the rhetoric" stance, but it appears that means the thread dies, a new one starts up and the bashing continues.
So rather than retype everything, I'll just link to my old post:
http://forum.calgarypuck.com/showpos...9&postcount=85
I hate when these things threads get so overly charged that a reasoned discussion seems impossible.
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Some here are asking why vegetarians try to convert people. I typically don't bring it up, but I understand why others do. Why do those against abortion try to stop it and not just shut up about it? Because for many it is their personal belief that life starts at conception and that abortion is murder. I disagree with that, but if you are of that mindset, I can understand why you would stand up against it. Their end goal is to reduce perceived suffering, a goal with which I can relate. I just disagree on the ability to suffer. I have no problem with eating shellfish (other than I don't like them) given their lack of ability to feel pain, the very rawest form of suffering. I'm willing to bet that the group behind this ad, though proclaiming people should be vegetarian for health reasons, are mainly vegetarians due to ethical and moral concerns. The vast majority of doctors would be more inclined to say "reduce carbs, fats and meats, increase fruits and veggies" unless they had some other motivation.
Although I understand the preachers and believe their heart is in the right place, I've settled more into a "live and let live" stance. I'm going to do what I can personally to address suffering - be it helping at the food bank, gathering donations for the women's shelter, giving donations to Amnesty and Plan Canada - but I came to the conclusion that fighting with others to reduce suffering only made them more entrenched in their positions, made me depressed and burned out, and really only served to inflame the situation to a point where civil discussion seems like an impossibility, which is where this thread seems headed.
Even now, I have had situations like this. A friend invites me to a sports restaurant to watch a football game with his college buddies and I'll order veggie stir fry off the menu.
"You got no meat there. You a vegetarian?"
"Actually, yes. I am. Have been for 20 years."
"Why?"
I give the reasons stated in the linked post
"Who the F are you to tell me what I should be eating?"
If you think vegetarians are the only ones that are extremist and preachy think again. Many meat-eaters will viciously defend their position and LOOK for opportunities to preach their position.