War becomes a gauntlet for McDonald's
As soon as companies position themselves in crisis situations, they make themselves vulnerable. But after the brutal Hamas attack on Israel on October 7,silence was not an option for some companies either.
"To say nothing is cowardice," CNN quotes Yale professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld. Companies can no longer afford to just stand silently on the sidelines. "They have to have the courage and stand by their convictions."
The decision by some Israeli McDonald's branches to hand out free meals to soldiers was recently criticized by a branch in Birmingham. Videos circulating on the internet show men releasing boxes of mice in British McDonald's restaurants. Some of the animals' fur was dyed in the colors of the Palestinian flag. Calls to avoid the fast food chain had previously been made on social media under the hashtag BoycottMcDonalds.
According to the British news agency PA, a McDonald's spokesperson expressed dismay at the incidents. He emphasized that in Israel these were independent decisions made by individuallicense holders. The vast majority of McDonald's branches are run by local franchise operators who act as independent companies.
This means that the Group cannot dictate to the operators how they position themselves. It is therefore also possible that McDonald's operators from Kuwait and Pakistan quickly distanced themselves from the Israeli campaign. Some franchise groups from the region emphasized that they would not cooperate with their colleagues from Israel. Some also declared that they were donating to aid organizations in Gaza.
At the same time, however, there were also calls for boycotts and reports of vandalism against McDonald's branches on the Internet in the Arab world. Many customers are unaware of the difference between local operators and the corporate brand. "In peaceful times, brand recognition makes a brand attractive to customers around the world," CNN quotes Michael Seid, managing director of MSA Worldwide, a provider of franchise consulting services. But now that uniformity could become a liability.
"We have seen with the Russian attacks on Ukraine that there is now a much greater expectation that companies will do the right thing and speak up," CNN quotes Richard Griffiths, managing director of London-based strategic communications consultancy Citigate Dewe Rogerson.
However, he warns that the situation is more complex than the war in Ukraine given the war between Israel and Hamas. "This is a conflict between Israel and an internationally recognized terrorist organization." The smartest thing for companies to do now is therefore to show solidarity with all those affected.
Any stand a company takes "must relate to what resonates with your employees, customers and investors," Griffiths added. "It's important to understand stakeholder expectations." And once that position is taken, companies should stick to their guns.
In response to the criticism, some McDonald's franchise operators in Pakistan and Kuwait distanced themselves from the Israeli campaign, despite facing calls for boycotts in the Arab world. During this Israel war, McDonald's as a corporation cannot control the actions of its individual license holders, leading to a complex situation for the company.
Source: www.ntv.de
