It’s been fascinating tracking the frantic re-branding of McDonald’s over the past year. Dirty, plastic seating has been stripped out from many branches, and replaced with smart, green ‘linger’ zones, contemporary artwork and mood lighting. Alongside Big Macs, fresh salads are available for one’s delectation and only ethically certified coffee served. Rumours abound that a famous fashion designer will shortly redesign the employees’ uniforms. Now, in its latest coup, McDonalds has become an academic institution. It is one of only three organisations given ‘Awarding Body’ status by the government, enabling them to grant A-level style diplomas to their staff – an act of canny corporate largesse or a genuine attempt to value their staff?

The corporation has also been busy taking on the Oxford English Dictionary. Arguing that the current definition of the word ‘McJob’ – ‘an unstimulating, unskilled, low paid job’ – is ‘out of touch with reality and ultimately insulting to the hard-working people who serve the public every day’, McDonalds want it changed. The company now gives the impression of being increasingly tormented by suggestions that it could be anything less than a responsible, ethical and excellent employer and being increasingly desperate in attempts to prove its worth.

So, are we witnessing an act of corporate repentance? Has McDonalds ‘seen the light’ and consequently modified its behaviour? Certainly, many of the recent changes are positive and we should guard against unqualified cynicism. Nevertheless, as far as McDonalds is concerned, nothing is changing – they have always been an ethical, caring employer and these latest moves simply confirm that. To suggest otherwise is to be out of touch with reality and to insult their employees (not the brand, of course).

Biblically speaking, repentance does indeed require action – specifically, the act of turning the focus of our existence entirely away from ourselves and entirely on to God. But, as the parable of the Prodigal Son illustrates (Luke 15:11-32), the motivation for such a turnaround is a coming to our senses about our need to change. This entails honesty about the past, not a denial of it. In order to embrace the new we have to be able to publicly label the old ways ‘old’. There is certainly a new glimmer to the golden arches, but is McDonalds confronting its past or trying to rewrite it? Perhaps before we answer that we should first reflect on our own capacity for real repentance – for embracing a re-branding that goes far deeper than appearances.

Ben Care