The ongoing boycott against F&B giants McDonald’s and Starbucks continues with more attacks towards its stores. Recently, a McDonald’s and a Starbucks outlet in Tawau, Sabah, were vandalised.
According to Free Malaysia Today, the attack on the coffeehouse occurred on the morning of 18th April (Thursday). As shown in photos, the walls of the premises were spray painted with the words “boikot (boycott)” and the phrase “free Palestine”. It’s believed that the vandalism was the deed of someone boycotting the multinational coffee chain.
Like McDonald’s, Starbucks is one of the companies targeted in the global boycott due to it allegedly having ties to Israel. However, the Malaysian branch of the US chain previously released a statement assuring the public that it has no connections to the state. Nevertheless, many Malaysians continued to boycott the company, along with other food brands such as McDonald’s.
As for the culprit behind the vandalism, Tawau police chief Champin Piuh said the store’s CCTV caught two individuals committing the act. Unfortunately, the footage wasn’t clear and thus, the duo couldn’t be identified. The police chief said that authorities are now working to track down the suspects. At the same time, he also urged the public not to create provocation on the matter, including vandalising the stores’ premises.
Meanwhile, the same word and phrase also appeared spray painted on the wall of a McDonald’s outlet in Tawau. China Press reported that the vandalism incident at McDonald’s happened around the same time as the Starbucks incident. The news outlet also alleges that the same culprits were behind both acts. However, the local authorities have yet to respond to this matter.
Starbucks Malaysia and McDonald’s Malaysia have yet to address these strikes on their outlets – but what are your thoughts on these incidents?
Sources: Free Malaysia Today, China Press
