Two of my greatest passions had a nasty scuffle recently in Huntington Beach. Animal rights won on the street, while artist rights scored a knockout in the media.
At times like these, it smarts to be in the middle.
For those who missed Chris Epting's last In the Pipeline column — and the spate of sympathetic followups in the local and national media — here's a recap: A mural on a liquor store wall, which faced a McDonald's near Edinger Avenue and Edwards Street, got an unrequested paint job recently. The bottom of the mural, which featured Ronald McDonald and other characters hanging out in Surf City, had the word "vegan" superimposed in large black letters.
Who the perpetrators were, we may never know. But there's no question who's getting bad publicity right now. Consider the headline of Gustavo Arellano's piece in the OC Weekly: "Vegans Vandalize Beloved Huntington Beach Mural with McDonald's Characters On It." And then the Huffington Post "Vegan Graffiti On Beloved McDonald's Mural."