McDonald's USA released a video today addressing its animal welfare practices and standards, following animal rights and food activists' complaints over its poultry contractor compliance and food sourcing. The outcry over farm practices has also drawn celebrities including Ryan Gosling and Jamie Oliver to lobby the quick-serve food giant to lead the fast food industry by raising the bar on ethical food practices, while the restaurant chain defends its sustainable supply chain policies.

Discussing the issues in a new video above: Todd Bacon, McDonald's USA Senior Director of Quality Systems, suppliers (a group that McDonald's has been featuring in its farm-to-front-counter advertising campaign) and animal welfare experts incuding Dr. Temple Grandin, the well-known animal behaviorist who is a member of the chain's Animal Welfare Council. Watch the video and weigh in with a comment below.

Causes.com, founded in 2007 by Napster creator and Facebook co-founder Sean Parker and advisor Joe Green, has raised more than $40 million for over 500,000 causes in the last four years.

The concept is simple and social: individuals create grassroots communities called “causes,” focused on specific issues or non-profit organizations. By leveraging Facebook, Causes maximizes the potential of collective action, and has become the world’s largest online platform for activism and philanthropy.

One high-profile example of what Causes.com can do to boost brands' corporate citizenship efforts is how AT&T last month launched Connect For Good with Causes to spur action around three issues: texting and driving, recycling cell phones and the dramatic decline of high school graduation rates.Continue reading...

An animal-rights group sent some of its members undercover and what they found has resulted in McDonald’s ditching an egg supplier in Minnesota, according to the Associated Press. 

What they found, as you might imagine, were some highly unpleasant acts taking place — the burning of beaks off of living chicks, the suffocation of male chickens, the overstuffing of chickens into small spaces, dead chickens being left to rot in the henhouse — and they captured every unpleasant detail on video (which you can watch here, if you're up for it) for all to see. 

In the spring, the supplier in question, Sparboe Farms, unknowingly hired a few members of Mercy for Animals, who then secretly filmed outrageous acts taking place at Sparboe’s facilities in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado, the AP notes.  Sparboe was a subcontractor, so McDonald’s did not directly contract with Sparboe. The connection came through its relationship with Cargill Inc., which suspended Sparboe, the AP reports.

McDonald’s also made it clear that it had no idea that any such things were going on. "The behavior on tape is disturbing and completely unacceptable. McDonald's wants to assure our customers that we demand humane treatment of animals by our suppliers," said Bob Langert, McDonald's vice president for sustainability in a company statement, according to the AP.Continue reading...

Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz isn’t running for public office but he still keeps a close eye on nationwide employment numbers and wants to help boost them. The Seattle Times reports that Starbucks, which laid off 39,000 employees over the two years ending last fall, is about to start hiring again.

By year’s end, Starbucks will have a new barista battalion, some 3,500 strong, pulling on their aprons and dealing with steam burns, the Times notes. Next year will see 200 new Starbucks added to the nearly 11,000 existing ones. Those will need to be staffed up while 1,700 other Starbucks go through job-creation remodeling.

And if that weren’t enough, Starbucks will add a fifth roasting plant, which will create more jobs. The current ones exist in Sandy Run, S.C.; Carson Valley, Nev.; York, Pa.; and Amsterdam. And the neighbors probably wake up with vim and vigor just from the smell coming out of the doors of those places. Employees surely don’t suffer from mid-afternoon drowsiness there.

It all comes as Starbucks launches its "Create Jobs for USA" campaign this week.Continue reading...

Google and its YouTube video portal are among the top five brands ‘best perceived’ by lesbian, gay, bi-sexual and transgender Americans.

Videos like the brand's "It Gets Better" clips below, and the rainbow enhancement to gay-related searches for June's pride month, are only two for the reasons why the search giant has won favor with the gay community, according to new research from YouGov BrandIndex.Continue reading...

As part of the White House's new "Joining Forces" campaign to rally support for service members and their families, First Lady Michelle Obama, Dr. Jill Biden and Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis visited the Sears Distribution Center in Columbus, Ohio today.

As shown in the clip above, they applauded the retailer's ongoing commitment to the military, and a new "Permanent Change of Duty Station" policy that enhances the company's recruiting and HR programs that already support miltary service members and their families.Continue reading...

To celebrate Earth Day 2011, Intel IT Sustainability Program Manager, Bill Guyon, shares how Intel IT is helping to lower Intel's carbon footprint through videoconferencing, laptops, server consolidation and other energy-saving measures.Continue reading...

Dow is promoting the upcoming World Water Day (March 22nd) with a PSA that urges consumers to conserve water while promoting its water filtration technology and work bringing clean water to Haiti. The theme for the 18th anniversary of the UN-created event — "Water for Cities: Responding to the Urban Challenge."

We plan to update the latest on P&G's clean water commitment, and below, you can find out what Aveda is doing to promote clean water around the world. Any other brands with clean water initiatives you'd like to share? Post a comment or drop a line to editor@brandchannel.com as we continue our coverage.Continue reading...