McCartney to fans: Boycott McDonald's

LONDON, Oct. 8 (UPI) -- Paul McCartney is calling on his fans to boycott McDonald's after one of its restaurants in Liverpool put up pictures of the Beatles without his permission.

The longtime vegetarian and animal rights activist was said to be livid after discovering Beatles photos were used to decorate his hometown McDonald's, The Daily Telegraph said.

"What sort of morons do McDonald's think Beatles' fans are," Geoff Baker, McCartney's spokesman, told the newspaper. "It's ridiculous and insulting to use images to peddle hamburgers. Fans should boycott McDonald's, and not just in Liverpool."

"He (McCartney) became a vegetarian after watching lambs play in a field outside his home and surely would not want anyone to use his likeness to help promote meat," a spokeswoman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, a group for which McCartney is an ambassador, told the Telegraph. "We hope anyone who sees his picture on the wall will be reminded that he's a vegetarian and skip the Big Mac for a veggie burger."

A representative for McDonald's said the photos were meant to "acknowledge the outstanding contribution the Beatles made to both local and global culture."