McDonald’s is giving customers who bought cadmium-tainted Shrek glasses a $3 refund per glass, more than the $2 and change it initially charged. Bloomberg Businessweek has more:
Starting tomorrow, customers can fill out a refund slip and return the glassware to any McDonald’s restaurant in the U.S., the Oak Brook, Illinois-based company said today on its website. The 16-ounce glasses featuring characters from “Shrek Forever After” were recalled June 4 by the CPSC. The designs on the glasses contained the cadmium, typically used in making batteries, metal coatings and plastic. Brief inhalation of high concentrations of cadmium may cause lung disease, according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.
McDonald’s also said today that sales at restaurants open at least 13 months climbed 3.4 percent in the U.S. in May. Sales were fueled in part by the popularity of the “Shrek” promotions, McDonald’s said in a statement.
This is a great PR move by McDonald’s. Its price-sensitive customers will be happy to have extra change in their pockets (and maybe buy some food with it). McDonald’s comes off looking generous instead of negligent.
The most ethical thing for McDonald’s to do, however, would be to figure out how cadmium got into the glasses, then tell the public. Sadly, something makes me think that the buck still might stop at $3 refunds.
