McDonald's announced Monday it is ending some practices that are part of its broader mission to be inclusive, becoming the latest major corporation to scale back on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies that critics deem "woke."
The fast-food giant is the first company to adjust its DEI policies in 2025. Last year, a slew of companies made similar changes, including Walmart, Ford Motor Co., John Deere, Lowe's and Toyota, after activist pressure.
In an open letter to its franchisees, employees and suppliers, McDonald's touted its achievements in its commitment to inclusion, one of its "core values," and the company also said it wanted to "highlight a few important changes to our approach."
The changes include McDonald's scrapping its "aspirational representation goals," getting rid of its DEI pledge for its suppliers, changing the name of its diversity team to the Global Inclusion Team and ending external surveys.
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Although McDonald's did not mention any external surveys by name, the decision means it joins a lengthy list of companies that have pledged to end participation in the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index, which is an annual survey and report used to gauge "policies, practices and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) employees."
McDonald's said it began discussing the changes months ago, acknowledging that it was considering the legal landscape after the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling against affirmative action as well as similar moves by other companies.
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Anti-woke activist and filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who has been leading a campaign exposing major companies' woke policies, said on X after the announcement that he warned McDonald's three days ago that he would be reporting on their "woke policies" if they did not agree to change them.
Starbuck has taken credit for forcing changes at the companies named above, as well as Tractor Supply, Harley-Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Coors, Stanley Black & Decker, Jack Daniel's parent Brown-Forman, DeWalt tools, Craftsman, Caterpillar, Boeing and Nissan.
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Starbuck told his followers, "As our first corporate flip of 2025 I just want to say, HAPPY NEW YEAR!"
