The lawsuit says that Allen’s companies, which include properties such as The Weather Channel and Justice Central, represent 90% of the Black-owned advertising market in the country. As such, McDonald’s would need to spend more than $50 million annually advertising with Allen’s properties to meet its goal, according to the lawsuit. However, McDonald’s allegedly only proposed spending “a tiny fraction of its advertising budget” with Allen’s companies.
The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s plan was a “self-serving ploy to cast itself as racially sensitive and sympathetic” while misleading the public.
“McDonald’s had no intent to fulfill its commitment,” the lawsuit said. “Its ‘plan’ was and is a fraud.”
The company said in a statement that it will defend itself against Allen’s allegations and “will not be coerced by these in terrorem tactics.”
“While McDonald’s continues to invest in diverse initiatives to create real change in communities, Byron Allen files baseless lawsuits as part of a public smear campaign against our company to try to line his pockets,” it said. “This latest action is straight from his standard litigation playbook, cherry picking allegations to create a false and misleading narrative that is inconsistent with the facts and calculated to distract from the markedly low ratings and reach of his media properties.”
