Defamation of character is a term that is used to describe when false statement is written or spoken about an individual with the intent of harming or slandering their reputation. Unfortunately, defamation of character claims are extremely difficult to be proven in the court of law despite the fact that they are The Law Dictionary Featuring Black's Law Dictionary Free Online Legal Dictionary 2nd Ed.
McDonald's is a publicly-traded corporation, but most of its retail branches are not owned or operated by the company itself. Instead, they are owned by independent business owners through franchise agreements.
They are a public company owned by their shareholders. CMG is the stock symbol and all of this is public record. McDonalds was formerly an investor until 2006 when they divested and Chipotle went public. McDonalds exited their positions in other food based businesses around the same time including Boston Market to focus on McDonalds locations.