McDonald’s changes lids to save German hedgehogs
Posted: Thursday, March 06, 2008 12:56 PM
Filed Under:
Mainz, Germany
By Andy Eckardt, NBC News Producer
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the zeal of the recycling-conscious German public. Little did I know at the time that one waste product was potentially life threatening – at least for German hedgehogs.
Hedgehogs, spiny creatures which are native to Africa, Asia and Europe, are so beloved in Germany that they led McDonald’s Germany to introduce a new, hedgehog-friendly design for its McFlurry ice cream treat containers.
Two years ago, McDonald's Germany was contacted by BUND, one of Germany’s largest environmental groups, which reported that up to 100 hedgehogs had been killed as a result of being caught in the lid holes of the popular McFlurry treat.
"There were no solid statistics on hedgehog deaths caused by McFlurry lids," said Alexander Schramm, a McDonald's spokesman in Munich. "But, because our company had confronted the same problem in the U.K. in 2006 and had already changed the product line, we decided to do the same in Germany."
The re-design process included several different lid-sizes and cover flaps, which could prevent hedgehogs and other small animals from getting stuck inside the containers and, as a result, starving to death.
"This was not a marketing campaign. It simply did not involve big financial and organizational measures to make the change," Schramm says.
But the conscientious move surely hasn’t been lost on the German public, including Ulrike Pachzelt, who runs a small hedgehog shelter outside of Frankfurt called "Hedgehog Island" that takes in an average of 1,000 sick, underweight or injured hedgehogs per year.
"The little fellows became a passion for me 17 years ago," said Pachzelt, "but I think they are extremely popular in Germany because of Mecki, the hedgehog, a comic figure, which was introduced by a popular German magazine back in 1949."
Thanks to the new McFlurry lips, hopefully the little creatures will continue to charm Germans for generations to come.
