KEY POINTS:
McDonald's is mounting a new campaign against "demeaning" dictionary definitions of "McJob".
The Associated Press reported today that the world's largest fast food company plans to launch a campaign in the United Kingdom to get that country's dictionary houses to change references to McJob.
The Oxford English Dictionary, considered by many wordsmiths as the gold standard for the English language, is one of those that will be targeted. It defines the noun as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, especially one created by the expansion of the service sector".
But McDonald's NZ communications manager Joanna Redfern-Hardisty said today the definition was not applicable to the New Zealand market.
"Our country manager started as a crew person on his 15th birthday and six out of our eight senior team started from rank at the restaurant."
Ms Redfern-Hardisty said that proved McDonalds was not a dead-end job outlet.
"And quite a few of our franchisees also started in the restaurants."
McDonald's NZ had a proven track record of successful people working right through to the top, Ms Redfern-Hardisty said.
"So that sort of definition seems to have been picked up more in the UK and US rather than New Zealand."
The word first cropped up two decades ago in The Washington Post, according to the dictionary. But executives at the Illinois-based company say the definition is demeaning to its workers.
"Dictionaries are supposed to be paragons of accuracy. And in this case, they got it completely wrong," said Walt Riker, a McDonald's spokesman. "It's a complete disservice and incredibly demeaning to a terrific work force and a company that's been a jobs and opportunity machine for 50 years."
But the restaurant chain that helped coin the phrase "super size" may have its work cut out.
In 2003, editors at the Merriam-Webster dictionary declined to remove "McJob" after McDonald's baulked at its inclusion in the book's 11th edition. Instead, the Massachusetts publisher said the word was accurate and appropriate.
- NZPA
