The American McDonald’s brand has recently been boycotted around the world because of the war in Gaza.
American fast food giant McDonald’s and coffee chain Starbucks say they have experienced “significant financial harm” as a result of the war in Gaza.
Many customers in the Middle East and other parts of the world have started boycotting McDonald’s restaurants because of the war in Gaza and US support for Israel.
CEO of McDonald’s Chris Kempczinski told about the restaurant giant’s losses for the first time on Thursday in his Linkedin message.
According to him, the boycott is unwarranted and the result of disinformation.
– It is depressing and baseless, Kempczinski wrote.
Kempczinski’s Linkedin message has been told, for example BBC.
McDonald’s has more than 40,000 restaurants around the world. About five percent of them are located in Muslim-majority countries in the Middle East.
McDonald’s boycotts have been reported in, for example, Kuwait, Malaysia and Pakistan. Some Middle Eastern restaurants that use the McDonald’s trademark have publicly declared themselves supporters of the Palestinians. For example, Oman wrote in October that it stands with the Gazans.
McDonald’s headquarters has refrained from commenting on the conflict in any way since the extremist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.
However, in the weeks following the Hamas attack, McDonald’s distributed thousands of free meals to members of the Israeli military.
The issue was reported in October, for example Reuters.
A Palestinian-led campaign encourages a boycott
The pro-Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement this week called for an official boycott of the McDonald’s brand.
BDS has in the past incited boycotts against Israel, but it has not targeted its boycott calls directly at McDonald’s.
BDS announced its boycott after McDonald’s Malaysia sued the Malaysian BDS movement, demanding around 1.3 million euros in damages for defamation and harming its business.
Also the American-owned coffee chain Starbucks has told of its financial challenges in the Middle East market after the outbreak of the Gaza war.
Source: AP