McDonald's tells U.S. restaurants it's not a 'political brand' after Trump visit
www.cnbc.com
McDonald's said it is not endorsing a presidential candidate after Trump's visit to one of its restaurants.

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 @[email protected] in [email protected]

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.

  • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
    743·
    8 days ago

    It was probably a franchise owner that did it and corporate didn’t know till the rest of us.

    Obviously fuck Sicky D’s, but I bet corporate is more pissed off than anyone else.

    • kobra@lemm.ee
      47·
      8 days ago

      They did know beforehand, an AP article said as much:

      “Upon learning of the former president’s request, we approached it through the lens of one of our core values: we open our doors to everyone,” the company said. “McDonald’s does not endorse candidates for elected office and that remains true in this race for the next president. We are not red or blue – we are golden.”

      • vodka@lemm.ee
        12·
        8 days ago

        Open doors to anyone, by closing them for anyone not pre approved to show up when Trump was there.

      • RestrictedAccount@lemmy.world
        22·
        8 days ago

        To be fair, they can’t stop a franchisee from being a dip shit - even though it is causing serious damage to the brand.

        • barsquid@lemmy.world
          10·
          8 days ago

          They can. They own the property as a requirement for franchising. If they don’t want it to happen they can deny the request and remove for trespassing anyone who doesn’t cooperate.

        • kobra@lemm.ee
          8·
          8 days ago

          They could’ve theoretically played it that way, but they didn’t. They said they got the request and approved it.

    • The Pantser@lemmy.world
      2112·
      8 days ago

      Nope the corporate had to have been fully aware since there was a joke on SNL about his visit happening the next day. It was in the news that it was gonna happen and McDonald’s did nothing to stop it.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.worldEnglish
        299·
        8 days ago

        since there was a joke on SNL about his visit happening the next day

        It was in the news

        I think you’re confused.

        Because I said they likely found out when everyone else did…

        And you replied saying they found out…

        When everyone else did?

        McDonald’s did nothing to stop it.

        Then there’s the part where I’d still need to explain how franchising works

        • houndeyes@toast.oooEnglish
          65·
          8 days ago

          Then there’s the part where I’d still need to explain how franchising works

          Hah! I love how palpable you made your exasperation!

      • dhork@lemmy.worldEnglish
        162·
        8 days ago

        McDonalds is a franchise, local owners are separate entities from the franchise “parent”.

        Plus, McDonalds is a huge company. They probably couldn’t move their massive legal machinery to respond in time to stop it. Even if they could they would probably have had to know which franchisee was doing it ahead of time, and also have to find something in the franchise agreement specifically they were violating.

      • Em Adespoton@lemmy.ca
        4·
        8 days ago

        If they had done something to stop it, they would have been sued by the franchise owner who did nothing to violate the franchise agreement.

        Which is interesting, because usually corporate has all the power in franchise agreements.

    • CileTheSane@lemmy.ca
      2·
      8 days ago

      They could have made their “we’re not political” announcement the day after it was announced, instead of after the event already happened.

    • absGeekNZ@lemmy.nzEnglish
      2·
      8 days ago

      It is a difficult position to be in.

      So the crazy makes a plan with a local franchise owner. Tells corporate he has already said yes. Even though they likely don’t want anything to do with it, as it is a no win situation for them, they are fucked either way.

      They have the shit job of saying no one of the most petty people in the world; who may be the next president. He could tell his cult to avoid McD’s because they snubbed him etc…so now it is either piss off the MAGA crowd, quite possibly their biggest market, or piss off the dems…

      McD’s is not great food, but it isn’t terrible either. I don’t envy the higher ups having to make this situation palatable.

      Their statement is pretty good though.

      we open our doors to everyone

      This is basically saying even though he is a criminal, we would still give him a chance. That is a dem dog-whistle if ever I saw one.