In other boycott McDonald’s news, the pranks (in bad taste) have clearly begun.
Yesterday, this Facebook page posted up a 3-minute-long video depicting a group of youths pulling a prank on a McDonald’s fast food restaurant staff has gone viral on Facebook, irking many users in the process. In the video, the youths were seen driving up to a drive-through counter at a McDonald’s restaurant and ordering some food. They were laughing and cheering throughout the entire 3 minutes, repeatedly and confidently announcing that they were about to pull a prank.
Following which, when it was their turn to pay, they rolled up to the cashier’s counter & screamed anti-Israeli sentiments before promptly driving away.
Watch (WARNING: Contains vulgarities):
As at time of writing, the above video has been shared and liked more than 10k times. Netizens who have seen it were clearly disgusted by the prank, condemning them for being immature.
This is coming just too soon after McDonald’s Malaysia posted up an official media statement yesterday (Friday, 8th August) which said that some of their outlets have been subjected to the acts of vandalism to the extent that they had to shut down operations for the day. The fast-food company then reiterated that it doesn’t channel any sales, profits, or franchise fees from its restaurants/business to support any political causes or any conflicts in any part of the world.
Full statement reads as such:
We wish to state very clearly that McDonald’s Malaysia does not support nor condone the current conflictin the Middle East. Like all Malaysians, our utmost sympathies go out to the innocent victims in Gaza.
While we understand and respect that the act of boycotting is an individual decision, nevertheless we are disappointed that McDonald’s Malaysia has been unfairly targeted. We urge Malaysians to remain calm and to refrain from carrying out any acts that may harm any parties.
We wish to reiterate our stand that McDonald’s Malaysia does not channel any sales, profits or franchise fees from our restaurants to support any political causes or conflicts in any part of the world. We have been consistent and transparent in communicating our position, but unfortunately the information that we share have been misinterpreted by certain parties.
As a consequence, our employees who are practically all Malaysians have had to endure harassments, threats, and verbal abuse. Some of our restaurants have also been subjected to acts of vandalism to the extent that we had no choice but to shut down our operations for the day. The reality is that our employees and franchisees have done nothing wrong, and it is grossly unfair that they should be targeted in such a way.
Let us all remind ourselves that we are Malaysians and we share a common bond. We can agree to disagree respectfully. But most important of all, let us all continue to pray for the end of the conflict and continued peace in Gaza.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (August 8, 2014)
The location of the McDonald’s branch that the youths pulled a prank on could not be determined.
Malaysians, is there a real point in resorting to such measures to boycott McDonald’s Malaysia, a franchise holder? As Malaysians, we’re made of better stuff than just silly meaningless pranks which will in turn hurt others who are innocent, don’t you think?
UPDATE:
According to The Star Online, which quoted 25-year-old IT specialist Jeremy Chiam, there were also people who threw slippers, spat at McDonald’s Malaysia employees, and vandalised McDonald’s Malaysia outlets. The Masjid Jamek outlet has even gone to the extent of getting Rela personnels to guard their outlet.
We’ve also found some images from this site, depicting what has been happening at several McDonald’s outlets nationwide:
There are certainly better ways to help the Israel Gaza conflict aside from pulling silly pranks, boycotting unnecessarily, or spreading hoaxes.
What’s happening there is horrific and heartbreaking, and we wish it didn’t have to befall upon anyone. If essentially, your cause is to help, why not play your part by visiting Viva Palestina Malaysia to find out what you can do to help? There’s also Candies4Gaza, which is a page dedicated to the children of Gaza.
You know where to go and what to do.
(Source)
