TAMPA, Fla. — If you’re traveling up Adamo Drive in Tampa anytime in the near future, you might catch a glimpse of a controversial billboard. The ad, backed by an organization of doctors, asks Tampa General Hospital to get rid of its on-campus McDonald’s restaurant.
“It sends the wrong message,” said Dr. Yves Homsy, a member of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
The organization, which paid for the ad, wants Tampa General Hospital to get rid of the McDonald’s restaurant on the hospital campus when its lease ends.
The billboard, which steals from McDonald’s own “I’m lovin’ it“ slogan reads “I’m not lovin’ the ventilator“.
Dr. Homsy says fast food leads to obesity, diabetes, and other issues more likely to land COVID-19 patients in the ICU. They‘d prefer the hospital sell healthier meals rather than fast food.
“And the idea is to guide people into what’s good for them. Particularly in a hospital, which is a sanctuary for health. Or it’s supposed to be," said Dr. Homsy.
In a statement, Tampa General said it, “contracts with additional food service providers, including McDonald’s, to offer convenient meal options. Tampa General provides a wide variety of food options, and we believe our team members, physicians and visitors can make their own choice in what they choose to eat while on campus.”
McDonald’s in a statement of its own, added, “we are proud to serve team members, physicians and visitors at Tampa General Hospital and look forward to continuing to serve this community for years to come.”
Those familiar with the restaurant’s location and now the billboard had mixed reactions to it.
“I don’t think it’s right. If you’re going to try to spread health and that’s a hospital, it’s probably no place for it,” said neighbor Ron Savill.
But Savill’s wife Beth said the billboard’s message didn’t sit well with her.
“I think they’re just trying to play off of the COVID and make McDonald’s look like the bad guys,” she said. “And they’re not.”
Blake Casper, Florida’s largest McDonald’s franchise owner, sits on TGH’s board of Directors. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine points out Casper is also a co-founder at the Oxford Exchange in Tampa - a restaurant concept, they say, that could offer healthier options.
McDonald’s also sponsors the Ronald McDonald house at TGH. The company says it, along with franchisees and customers, donated over $145 million last year, providing 104 million overnight stays at Ronald McDonald House locations worldwide.
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine says the ad campaign will run through Feb. 12.
They hope the public will see it and put pressure on TGH to consider a new tenant when the McDonald’s lease ends, they say, sometime next year.