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Woman burned by McDonald's hot coffee, then the news media

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In 1992, Stella Liebeck spilled scalding McDonald's coffee in her lap and later sued the company, attracting a flood of negative attention. It turns out there was more to the story.

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This advert for the Guardian's open journalism, screened for the first time on 29 February 2012, imagines how we might cover the story of the Three Little Pigs in print and online. Follow the story from the paper's front page headline, through a social media discussion and finally to an unexpected conclusion. A question to ponder: How do you think the media's influence helped shape public opinion of the pigs?

We're all a little more connected now than we ever have been before. It begs us to wonder if our connectedness informs our perceptions of things happening in the world. A Pew Research paper investigated this topic: Millennials will benefit and suffer due to their hyperconnected lives. Do you think being connected affects the way we think about current events? Here are the findings: Main findings: Teens, technology, and human potential in 2020

Nearly 20 million of the 225 million Twitter users follow 60 or more Twitter accounts and nearly 2 million follow more than 500 accounts.There are more than 800 million people now signed up for the social network Facebook; they spend 700 billion minutes using Facebook each month, and they install more than 20 million apps every day. Facebook users had uploaded more than 100 billion photos by mid-2011.

YouTube users upload 60 hours of video per minute and they triggered more than 1 trillion playbacks in 2011 – roughly 140 video views per person on earth.

John Mayer's song, Waiting on the World to Change, says: "And when you trust your television / What you get is what you got / Cause when they own the information / Oh, they can bend it all they want." Mayer's words may reflect the opinion of his peers (including the vast majority of 20-somethings around the world today) -- an opinion that blames news media organizations for twisting the truth and making stories into whatever they want them to be. What do you think? Is it interesting that 23 years earlier, a pop icon of the early 1980's wrote a song called A Little Good News that blamed the news itself for being bad -- not the people and organizations reporting it.

Over the last 500 years, the influence of mass media has grown exponentially with the advance of technology. Why does that matter to me? Is that a bad thing? For more information, check out this outline from Dr. Anthony Curtis from the Mass Communication Department at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.More than 20 years ago, 79-year-old Stella Liebeck ordered coffee at a McDonald’s drive-through in Albuquerque, N.M. She spilled the coffee, was burned, and one year later, sued McDonald’s. The jury awarded her $2.9 million. Her story became a media sensation and fodder for talk-show hosts, late-night comedians, sitcom writers and even political pundits. But cleverness may have come at the expense of context. A reporter for The Times reflects on how the world has changed since the lawsuit.

Journalism can be much more than reporting. An authentic, human narrative touches audiences and keeps them reading. Learn how to shape a human-centered news story, and the importance of facts, context and heart.

Colors, camera angles and logos in the media can all prompt immediate associations with emotions, activities and memories. Learn to decode the intricate system of symbols that are a part of everyday life -- from advertising messages to traffic signs.

Avatar for Renata Gonzalez
I get why they would want to sue the company, her burns was horrible and all she wanted was to not have any other person going through the same
05/08/2020 • 
 18 Responses
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Avatar for Isaac Garcia
He wants $50,000 to pay for his hospital bills and a full disclaimer of them bye taking full responsability
11/19/2020 • 
 1 Response
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Avatar for Mónica Arzate
A Starbucks coffee shop in Dublin will have to pay a customer of Thai origin a compensation of 12,000 euros, after an employee drew a smiling face with "slanted eyes" on the paper cup of the premises. The Irish Labor Relations Court decided today that Suchavadee Foley suffered "a racial assault" because the worker "made a clear reference" to her ethnic origin, by identifying the glass with the aforementioned drawing, instead of writing the name, as it is common in these popular establishments. The legal representatives of Starbucks denied during the process that this event can be classified as "racist", while the worker said that she made the drawing of "a smiling face" because she considered that Foley was "glamorous".
05/04/2021 • 
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Avatar for Victor Garza
This becomes one of the most abundant stories for just spilling hot coffee that resulted in a burned elderly lady who got talked about in the news that gives her a lawsuit from the McDonald's company for a large amount of money but missed the story of spilling coffee for the facts.
05/16/2021 • 
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Avatar for Leonardo Mondragón
In 2005, a Brazilian woman sued her partner because he was unable to make her reach orgasm. The 31-year-old woman said that her partner, 38, usually ended sexual intercourse without her having achieved orgasm.
05/17/2021 • 
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Avatar for Eduardo Oviedo Mireles
the error of a company can trigger different problems, such is the case of Mc´Donalds, since through this a human misfortune was generated, the power of the media, and corruption were observed.
05/19/2021 • 
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Avatar for Carlos Sánchez
The lawsuit was fair because the company has all the money in the world to pay for the damages caused by the excessive temperature in its coffee. Damage to each person's body often cannot be treated.
05/20/2021 • 
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Avatar for Daniel Martinez C
I think the U.S. has a reputation for these silly, million-dollar lawsuits. But here we can see the other side of the coin. It seems to me that the lawsuits that do only seek to make a profit, dismiss the real lawsuits that need attention and credibility.
05/22/2021 • 
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Avatar for Victoria García
The customer had an accident and they wanted to use their insurance, they went to the hospital and they didn't want to accept them for having the insurance instead of paying as other customers. They went to another hospital, days later when everything was okay they claimed with the insurance company and the hospital was removed form their portfolio of hospitals.
07/20/2021 • 
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Avatar for Fernanda Cuellar
It is understandable what happened to the lady, she went through her burns, the only thing she wanted was that no other person went through the same thing, she did not pay so much attention to the economic but wanted that this type of accident would not happen again .
07/21/2021 • 
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Avatar for YAEL TELLEZ
What seemed like a bad time costs the company thousands of dollars, what is certain is that the lady did not deserve the bulliying because she suffered severe damage to her legs.
11/03/2021 • 
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Avatar for Lizbeth Balboa
In my opinion, the worst that the company did, was not admiting that they were bad and just try to adecuate the products to the clients prefferences.
11/25/2021 • 
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Avatar for Jerry Ds Rincón
11/25/2021 • 
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Avatar for Clarisa Sánchez
McDonald's makes their coffee so hot to keep it hot and fresh for people travelling long distances. ... Serving coffee at this high burning temperature is also a reason to save coffee. According to McDonald's, hot coffee at the temperature of 180-190 degrees Fahrenheit helps save coffee.
11/25/2021 • 
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Avatar for Elene Victoria González Silva
.
11/26/2021 • 
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Avatar for Jesus Barraza Armenta
It is important to consider whether a product is related to the needs associated with each product and the risks that can be had on these and how they are managed.
11/28/2021 • 
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Avatar for Alejandro Arévalo
There is some facts and opinions in the jury that doesn´t mention in the video, the video doesn´t put a neutral position at all. It shows more how the people attack to the old lady by getting burned by the coffe, the problem with the case is that in certain way, Mc Donalds has all to win the case. You can´t demand by an accident that obviously is warned previously, like the coffee machines, they obviously warms the water and it is hot, putting the coffe between her legs is a terrible idea, and trying to drink it in a car, double terrible idea.
12/06/2021 • 
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Avatar for Jose Villegas
I believe that the affected woman at some point, as she mentioned, sought to sue the aforementioned company or obtain benefits, she was only asking for support to pay for medical services, but the company refused and for the same reason she reached that point. Later the media would make the whole context of the story look totally different from what was real, ending up affecting the credibility of the woman.
04/29/2022 • 
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Avatar for Kathye Lopez
dfgh
05/03/2022 • 
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Avatar for Regina Dea
Euthanasia, that is, intentionally causing the death of someone who obviously requests it because they are suffering from an incurable disease, is undoubtedly one of the best debates that can be proposed, both from different points of view and from topic controversy. Should it be legalized? How can we be sure that the patient is fully sure of what he asks for? Can it be applied in all cases? How should it be done? Who should cause the death of the person? Does it violate the Hippocratic Oath of doctors? Undoubtedly many very enriching topics of debate can be drawn.
05/04/2022 • 
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Avatar for Pedro A
a similar case happened in Canada, where a woman got burnt by mc donalds cofee
05/04/2022 • 
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Avatar for Vanessa Magaña
• After she won the case and receive a lot of money, press started to print the story in papers and that’s when the truth started to be distorted and became an international case to judge from everyone’s perspective.
05/04/2022 • 
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Avatar for Ivana Morales
I see it from a point of view that Mexico is absolutely good at creating great things but at its convenience and not for the good.
05/04/2022 • 
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Avatar for Fernando Hernandez Morales
I think that the amount that the lady asks for the accident was exaggerated, in which she also had a little responsibility
05/05/2022 • 
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Avatar for Carlos Mauricio Cabrera Chavez
The story that goes viral because one of the employees spilled hot coffee on an older customer and it affected everyone. This becomes one of the most abundant stories for just spilling hot coffee that resulted in a burned elderly lady who got talked about in the news that gives her a lawsuit from the McDonald's company for a large amount of money but missed the story of spilling coffee for the facts.
05/07/2022 • 
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Avatar for Emmanuel Flores
05/07/2022 • 
 1 Response
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Avatar for Gatherer's Garden
As a fast food corporation you should try to handle hot things to avoid accidents of this type.
11/17/2022 • 
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Avatar for Luis Lara
Despite the fact that the person suffered the accident, it was very compliant of the employees to give a coffee that was too hot which if given to a person would have been too hot.
11/17/2022 • 
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Avatar for Nancy Roque
I consider interesting the turn that the case took, Stella was only looking to prevent future accidents due to the temperature of McDonalds coffee, being a victim herself, but when the news reached the media, the tables were turned.
11/17/2022 • 
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Avatar for Daniel Sanchez
The establishment that offers the service must have greater empathy with the clients, try to understand the pain of the client and understand that they are not only looking for money.
11/17/2022 • 
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Avatar for Renato Aldair Mendieta Osorio
The case was very interesting to read and analyze. I believe that the brand was not directly responsible for the woman's accident, however, it was indirectly responsible because the photographic evidence showed how dangerous coffee can be at such a high temperature. A fine of less than 10,000 USD would have been enough in addition to forcing them to lower the temperature in their coffee. The results of the case also exposed the lady because she was mocked by many media outlets.
11/17/2022 • 
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Avatar for Adriana Robles
The demand is very useless, I think there is a lack of fundamentals
11/17/2022 • 
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Avatar for Adriana Robles
In this discussion I understood that human beings are very influenced by the media and society.
11/18/2022 • 
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Avatar for Alexia Garcia
In the end, McDonald's could have avoided the PR nightmare and saved a lot of money if it had settled the lawsuit in the first place. Liebeck won the case because McDonald's intentionally served a dangerous product despite the risks. Unfortunately, he never regained his full strength and died in 2004 at the age of 91. McDonald's now sells its coffee 10 degrees colder than it used to.
11/18/2022 • 
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Avatar for Cesar García
I think the lady took too much advantage of the opportunity and the franchise did not want this to be more severe than it is, so she got into a conflict and accepted the lawsuit.
11/21/2022 • 
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Avatar for Nerea Astrid Chung Zárate
Nobady should pay 2 million dollars for a mistake, they have to pay attention to the customers, and be prepared to repair the damage.
11/21/2022 • 
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Avatar for Dulce Limones
This case shows how media outlets spread misinformation for the engagement and money without getting any consequences after ruining someone’s reputation, the old lady just wanted McDonald's to pay her hospital bills and make McDonald's coffee less hot, and got awarded 2.7 million dollars by the judge, but because of misinformation being spread people called her a money grabber and made her case a running joke for years.
11/22/2022 • 
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Avatar for Nelly Martinez
It´s a really interesting case where many thing affect in the facts and for consequence the case couldn´t be resolve
04/26/2023 • 
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Avatar for Jaqueline Carrasco
The importance of doing good research on a topic to talk about, especially if you are a highly influential media outlet, is key to stopping misinformation and starting to spread reliable information that explains the why of things.
04/27/2023 • 
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Avatar for Elly Montes
When you first hear it, it sounds too absurd, however, after seeing what is behind the story, it makes sense after all that the poor woman and the other victims of this accident went through. It was very unfair to me that they didn't believe her, especially at her age and when the evidence is there.
05/01/2023 • 
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Avatar for Eduardo Martinez G.
I believe that Mrs. Stella's story was a complete injustice towards the privacy and right that she had when claiming for the burns she suffered from the McDonald's coffee, because I feel that she did not deserve that her story be spread as a total bad intention to acquire "easy" money, also that her story was altered to the degree that she was the villain of the story. I fully believe that a story should only be believed by the person who lived it by firsthand, because there will always be people or media that are in charge of changing details at their convenience.
05/03/2023 • 
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Avatar for ximena rivas
Although I believe that the neighborhoods should also be careful with the service they provide
05/03/2023 • 
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Avatar for Fabiola Carolina Zúñiga Franco
The media plays a significant role in shaping public perception of legal cases as we have studied in this case. I believe, so far, we can tell how the media can sensationalize and distort the facts of a legal case, influencing public opinion and potentially impacting the outcome of a trial.
05/03/2023 • 
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Avatar for Wendy Gomez
A GUY FROM MERIDA WANTED TO GO TO A CLUB FOR THE FIRST TIME AND WHEN HE WAS AT THE ENTRANCE THE GUARDS DENIED HIM ENTRY BECAUSE HE WAS A DISABLED PERSON AND COULD NOT BE IN THE FACILITY.
05/03/2023 • 
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Avatar for Nayeli Juárez
The media affect our points of view because they are an important source of information and are part of our cultural environment. The media present us with representations of reality that can influence how we perceive and understand certain social groups or issues. Media representations can be stereotypical, simplistic or incomplete, which can lead to prejudices and negative attitudes towards specific social groups. In addition, the media may have commercial, political or ideological interests that influence the selection and presentation of news and other content. Therefore, it is important to be critical of the information we receive and to seek out diverse and reliable sources to form an informed opinion on any topic.
05/04/2023 • 
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Avatar for Fer Hernández
Artificial intelligence (AI) could replace the equivalent of 300 million full-time jobs, a report by investment bank Goldman Sachs says. It could replace a quarter of work tasks in the US and Europe but may also mean new jobs and a productivity boom. And it could eventually increase the total annual value of goods and services produced globally by 7%. Generative AI, able to create content indistinguishable from human work, is "a major advancement", the report says.
05/04/2023 • 
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Avatar for Ruben AGV
People tend to give an opinion, without even knowing practically anything about a subject, just driven because others do it, causing misconceptions to spread that cause more problems that could end up negatively affecting those originally involved, as was the McDonald's case.
05/05/2023 • 
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Avatar for Diana Villanueva
Set rules for large companies to avoid this type of incident.
05/06/2023 • 
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Avatar for Anette ss
I didn't think it was fair the way in which an elderly lady was massively judged, who in no way wanted to have a burn of that magnitude.
05/06/2023 • 
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Avatar for Academia de finanzas
If we're talking money, it was definitely more than anyone wouuld expect by suing for the reason this woman did, but it was a big company and seen by this woman's point of view, it w as entirely the fast food restaurant's fault, but in my opinion, this could've been avoided if she had been more careful, I guess it all depends on the way you see the case, what do you think?...
05/06/2023 • 
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Avatar for Kate Quintanilla
Nowadays people in the media think they are right about everything and that they can judge without really knowing anything about anything. if they are going to make comments, I think it would be better if they researched the cases and then give their opinion.
05/10/2023 • 
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Avatar for Yami ZG
Stella Liebeck just want justice from an accident, McDonald's was wrong in the temperature so they have to pay for it
05/11/2023 • 
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Avatar for lydia martinez
The law says that any type of discrimination is illegal, and in this case this actress is being discriminated against because of her age, when she could have the talent of any younger one.
05/14/2023 • 
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