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McDonald’s slammed for separating Golden Arches to promote social distancing
It’s a supersize lapse in judgment. Last week, the social-media accounts of McDonald’s Brasil separated the brand’s Golden Arches in order to encourage social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak, Ad Age reported. But the reimagined spaced-out M has since been scrubbed after critics slammed the move as insensitive. “F - - k right off you award-desperate morons,” wrote …
It’s a supersize lapse in judgment.
Last week, the social-media accounts of McDonald’s Brasil separated the brand’s Golden Arches in order to encourage social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak, Ad Age reported.
But the reimagined spaced-out M has since been scrubbed after critics slammed the move as insensitive.
“F - - k right off you award-desperate morons,” wrote Twitter user Lucian Trestler. “The source of my anger is that this is a disingenuous scam ad to win awards. Which would normally only annoy me but it enrages me when the topic is a global pandemic.”
Others weren’t lovin’ it either.
“Dear #mcdonalds: stop changing your logo for every event and actually f - - king DO something. Nobody cares how you’ve reformatted your ‘beloved’ arches,” blasted another angry Twitter user.
One chimed in saying: “How about pay your workers a living wage!”
The stunt was created with the help of Brazilian ad agency DPZ&T, and was paired with the statement “Separated for a moment so that we can always be together” when translated from Portuguese.
In a statement to The Post, McDonald’s apologized for the move and encouraged social distancing for its workers and customers.
“As a brand that operates in nearly 120 countries, we share a collective responsibility to help our communities in times of need,” a rep said. “Throughout the world, we are modifying operations to adhere to social-distancing guidelines and increasing our already-strong hygiene standards to protect restaurant crew and the public. We apologize for any misunderstanding of the intent to remind our customers and communities on the importance of social distancing during these uncertain times.”
The move came just before the burger joint shuttered more than 1,200 restaurants in the UK and Ireland Monday.
This isn’t the first time the fast-food chain has garnered heat for altering its golden arches to support a cause. For the past two years, McDonald’s flipped the M to a W on social media in honor of International Women’s Day, resulting in harsh criticism about the company being utterly out of touch.
Other major corporations like the Coca-Cola Company and Nike are also using the coronavirus pandemic as a way to strategically place ads.
In Times Square, Coke debuted its permanent billboard Sunday to show the Coca-Cola letters spaced out with the message “Staying apart is the best way to stay united,” Ad Age reported.
On Saturday, Nike posted on Twitter: “If you ever dreamed of playing for millions around the world, now is your chance. Play inside, play for the world.”
