In recognition of International Women’s day, fast good giant, McDonald’s decided to make a special gesture for the occasion… and it simply did not go as planned.
With their iconic “M” being one of the more recognisable symbols across the world, McDonalds decided to flip it upside down to a “W” which, according to them, stands for “women”. This of course raised a few questions, most notably, “has the ‘M’ stood for ‘men’ all along?”
What might have been a well-meaning gesture lead to many questioning the fast food chain’s priorities, even going as far as accusing them of doing the bare minimum.
The timing of the campaign might not have been ideal also, especially since McDonalds was recently shrouded in controversy after staff in one of their outlets in South Carolina were filmed kicking out a homeless man, accusing him of trespassing – even though he was a paying customer.
It might have been a well thought out PR campaign but, judging from the online reaction, it didn’t quite get the desired result.
McDonalds: In celebration of women we are flipping the arches upside down.
Or you could give your employees better benefits.
McD: Look it’s a W!
Maybe a living wage? Better family leave? A career path forward in the face of automation?
McD: The W stands for women.
— bogwolf (@truebe) March 7, 2018
mcdonalds is flipping the arches on their signs to celebrate international women’s day
all other days it stood for MEN https://t.co/TRrgCYWVQZ
— vagina uterus haver XX (@shoe0nhead) March 8, 2018
you, a sexist: let’s get sausage McMuffins at McDonalds for breakfast
me, a feminist: i would be happy to join you at WcDonalds and partake in some sausage WcWuffins
— Clio!!! On Ice (@cliomiso) March 7, 2018
Of course, some just decided to take the mickey… or is it the Wickey?
mcdonalds employee: what can i get you?
me: ill have a big mac
mcdonalds employee: great thatll be thr-
me: ACtually *smiling knowingly* its international womens day so ill have a big Wac *entire mcdonalds bursts into applause*
— ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀʙᴇᴀᴛssᴄɪssᴏʀs! ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ (@paperbeatstweet) March 7, 2018
you, a sexist: let’s get sausage McMuffins at McDonalds for breakfast
me, a feminist: i would be happy to join you at WcDonalds and partake in some sausage WcWuffins
— Clio!!! On Ice (@cliomiso) March 7, 2018
McDonalds is flipping one of their signs to celebrate International Women’s Day, which is cool! but as a bonus now they can sue every anime ever made pic.twitter.com/ag54a772tl
— Cabel Sasser (@cabel) March 7, 2018
TOP IMAGE: @ABC7 / Twitter