I found passage below near the conclusion of the article that mentioned McLibel interesting and decided to look up what it was on wikipedia:
>By the 1980s various protest movements gained traction... Between March 1995 and February 2005 the longest-running court trial in British history, dubbed ‘McLibel’, saw McDonald’s bring a claim of defamation against protesters associated with Greenpeace for their distribution of anti-McDonald’s leaflets outside businesses.
>Steel and Morris chose to defend the case. The two were denied legal aid, as was policy for libel cases, despite having limited income. Thus, they had to represent themselves, though they received significant pro bono assistance, including from Keir Starmer.
Seems everything is very connected, never would of guess just a reference deep I'd find him there.
> "By the 1980s various protest movements gained traction, including the ‘Burger Off!’ campaign led by over 5,000 residents against a new McDonald’s outlet planned in Hampstead Heath."
Ironically, after McDonald's spent 12 years in the 1980s/90s fighting legal battles for the right to open it, the Hampstead High Street restaurant closed down in 2013. Turns out the well-heeled residents of Hampstead weren't that keen on McDonald's after all.
It reminds me of supermacs in Ireland. People love it there but I never did. Their burgers are clammy, bread that falls apart (like burger king's). And dried out pizza slices (under a heat lamp too long) from their subsidiary Papa Joe's.
I've never had a nice meal there. I did eat there sometimes after drinking because they stayed open longer than Mc Donalds. But even drunk I would be disappointed with the food.
For anyone nostalgic there is still a Wimpy's burger in Wodonga (Victoria, Australia), I was driving through there last week, and was amazed to see it. It was a good burger and very cheap ($8AUD)
Wimpy was not alone, before McDonald's franchises were commonly available in the UK, there were many burger shops that sometimes operated as a small chain.
One survivor is Burger Star (best by far), which is now down to a single location, down from their peak of about four locations.
When McDonald's was not everywhere it was quite easy for local shops to offer an American dining experience because most people had never been to the USA or McDonald's. It was cultural appropriation of sorts. In the 1980s everything American was awesome in the imagination of British people, exactly like the movies with Disney theme parks as the ultimate. In these times anything American was more sophisticated, whether it was 501 Levis, Nike shoes, water beds and much else that we stereotyped.
Wimpy made no claim to be faux American, it was definitely very British. So I don't see a battle of the burgers. Wimpy went the way of Little Chef, another British food chain that just got stuck in the past. People just didn't want that sit down, waited on experience any more, they wanted take out, which was not something Wimpy was known for.
I found passage below near the conclusion of the article that mentioned McLibel interesting and decided to look up what it was on wikipedia:
>By the 1980s various protest movements gained traction... Between March 1995 and February 2005 the longest-running court trial in British history, dubbed ‘McLibel’, saw McDonald’s bring a claim of defamation against protesters associated with Greenpeace for their distribution of anti-McDonald’s leaflets outside businesses.
In particular this part of the wiki article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLibel?useskin=vector#Libel_c...
>Steel and Morris chose to defend the case. The two were denied legal aid, as was policy for libel cases, despite having limited income. Thus, they had to represent themselves, though they received significant pro bono assistance, including from Keir Starmer.
Seems everything is very connected, never would of guess just a reference deep I'd find him there.
Note that this was 'London Greenpeace' which was not the same as 'Greenpeace'. Hence not having the global organisation funding their legal costs.
There are still a couple of locations around the UK: https://location.wimpy.uk.com/
It's also going strong in South Africa: https://locations.wimpy.co.za/
Unfortunately the UK Wimpy locator just says "0 Locations found" and won't even let me browse a map to see where there might be one.
I'd be interested to try one again ( we had one in Belfast decades ago ) but they're not making it easy.
Wimpy has 61 locations in the UK as of April 2025
> "By the 1980s various protest movements gained traction, including the ‘Burger Off!’ campaign led by over 5,000 residents against a new McDonald’s outlet planned in Hampstead Heath."
Ironically, after McDonald's spent 12 years in the 1980s/90s fighting legal battles for the right to open it, the Hampstead High Street restaurant closed down in 2013. Turns out the well-heeled residents of Hampstead weren't that keen on McDonald's after all.
It reminds me of supermacs in Ireland. People love it there but I never did. Their burgers are clammy, bread that falls apart (like burger king's). And dried out pizza slices (under a heat lamp too long) from their subsidiary Papa Joe's.
I've never had a nice meal there. I did eat there sometimes after drinking because they stayed open longer than Mc Donalds. But even drunk I would be disappointed with the food.
For anyone nostalgic there is still a Wimpy's burger in Wodonga (Victoria, Australia), I was driving through there last week, and was amazed to see it. It was a good burger and very cheap ($8AUD)
I remember eating at The Great American Disaster, in London, in 1973, when I lived in the West End.
It was my favorite restaurant.
Wimpy’s was … wimpy.
I don’t remember McDonald’s at all. The first one I saw, was in the US.
I remember Wimpy from my school days. I have never, and probably will never, eat anything as monstrous as Wimpy's Bender in a bun with cheese.
McDonald's will never replace Wimpy in my heart
As long as you guys don't try to claim you invented the burger, as you do the sandwich, we're all good.
(Spent a few weeks in the UK maybe 10 years ago. Stayed at The Earl of Sandwich's mansion now a hotel.
Tales of his exploits o'sandwich creation abounded.
I wonder how true that is. Bread is from all ages. I'm sure people figured out you could put stuff in between before :)
Shhh, the Ghost of Sandwich may hear you.
Wimpy was not alone, before McDonald's franchises were commonly available in the UK, there were many burger shops that sometimes operated as a small chain.
One survivor is Burger Star (best by far), which is now down to a single location, down from their peak of about four locations.
When McDonald's was not everywhere it was quite easy for local shops to offer an American dining experience because most people had never been to the USA or McDonald's. It was cultural appropriation of sorts. In the 1980s everything American was awesome in the imagination of British people, exactly like the movies with Disney theme parks as the ultimate. In these times anything American was more sophisticated, whether it was 501 Levis, Nike shoes, water beds and much else that we stereotyped.
Wimpy made no claim to be faux American, it was definitely very British. So I don't see a battle of the burgers. Wimpy went the way of Little Chef, another British food chain that just got stuck in the past. People just didn't want that sit down, waited on experience any more, they wanted take out, which was not something Wimpy was known for.
>People just didn't want that sit down, waited on experience any more, they wanted take out,
They actually wanted "take away", being British and all ;)
And now they want delivery! Now days there often seems to be more Uber Eats etc riders waiting on McDonald's orders than there are ordinary customers.
> "Wimpy went the way of Little Chef"
Not quite. Little Chef is long gone, but there's still quite a few Wimpys dotted around the country.
There is also one Blockbuster in Alaska.
"I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."