Cross-posted from “Too Bad, So Sad, Too Late - McDonald’s tells U.S. restaurants it’s not a ‘political brand’ after Trump visit” by @JimmyBigSausage@lemm.ee in !news@beehaw.org
Excerpt:
Though President Donald Trump visited a Pennsylvania McDonald’s location on Sunday, the fast-food giant is trying to stay neutral in the presidential race.
“As we’ve seen, our brand has been a fixture of conversation in this election cycle. While we’ve not sought this, it’s a testament to how much McDonald’s resonates with so many Americans. McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next President,” the company said in an internal message viewed by CNBC and confirmed by a source familiar with the matter.
I haven’t eaten at a McDonalds since before covid, and I don’t really miss it.
They can distance themselves all they want. The damage is done.
They’re all franchises
I can’t imagine there is anything in the contract they violated either.
But, that being said, I would certainly avoid that Macca’s and the franchise owners ones
That’s part of the damage done. They can claim they’re non-political, but they allow their franchisees to make corporate appear political, because they’re basically the same thing to the average person because they don’t know the difference.
Streisand effect. Firstly, the first thing Trump dumbasses are going to do is claim freedom of speech and start trashing maccas joints. Doing that will hurt all maccas franchises and make it dangerous for them.
Secondly, not if its not in the contract… Trump will threaten to fight for them. It won’t matter if he loses (Right wing idiots will pretend they’re winning). Maccas is a global brand, so there is a lot of potential for damage.
Best thing to do is simply block the franchise owner from getting any more franchises, and prioritise other franchise owners. It’s subtle, and it works longer term