Residents’ opposition to a new McDonald’s in the Melbourne hills suburb of Tecoma has linked direct action with online campaigning. In October 2012 an administrative tribunal overturned the local Council’s unanimous decision to reject a Maccas’s proposal for a new fast food outlet.
The Burgeroff [1] website has three videos documenting their campaign so far. The first was posted at the time of the decision:
In addition to lobbying, rallies and marches, the activists have brought some fun to the protests by unleashing hundreds of gnomes on the steps of McDonald’s head office. We await “the reckoning of the gnomes”.
[2]Gnomeageddon protest at McDonald’s headquarters in Melbourne
Courtesy: Burgeroff website
There is the inevitable Facebook page: NO McDonalds in The Dandenong Ranges [3] with nearly 6000 Likes. @SAVE_TECOMA [4], the No McDonald's Tecoma twitter account, was used recently to ‘SWAMP THE MACCAS SWITCHBOARD! [5]’
@SAVE_TECOMA [6]: This is happening today folks. Can you please donate 5 minutes, your phone and your voice https://www.facebook.com/events/100475593476242/ [5] …
An online petition [7] has 9000 signatories.
#burgeroff [8] has also been a popular hashtag for spreading the word. Freiheitdance (Kari) [9] has even claimed a famous son for the area:
@freiheitdance [10]: #JulianAssange [11] used to live in Tecoma & Emerald. Revolutionary folk start out here. I'm off to order my “No Tecoma Burger” now. #burgeroff [8]
John Weiss has been a supporter of the McDonald’s going ahead. He has challenged its opponents on the Burgeroff website and used his Facebook [12] page for this observation on the involvement of children in the campaign:
Wow, a bunch of grown ups harassing children. What a wonderful statement for your cause. Nothing more than child abuse from a group of school yard bullies!
The latest video, March against Maccas, captured the rally on March 2, 2013:
A crowd of approximately 3000 vowed that the “community stood united once again to declare that they won't ever back down from this fight”.
They are definitely not ‘lovin’ it'!