Popular boycott campaigns spread in several Arab countries, led by Egypt, after the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip since the seventh of last October, and included famous brands such as “McDonald’s,” “Starbucks,” and others.
Activists calling for a boycott focused on McDonald’s, after its agent in Israel said that it provides free meals to members of the Israeli army.
According to Reuters, an employee in McDonald’s management in Egypt, who requested to remain anonymous, said that Egyptian franchise sales in the months of October and November had decreased by at least 70 percent compared to the same months last year.
The employee explained that the company is barely covering its operating expenses, and Reuters has not yet been able to verify the numbers provided by the employee.
Sameh Sadat, an Egyptian politician and co-founder of TBS Holding, a supplier to Starbucks and McDonald’s, said that he noticed a decrease or slowdown of about 50 percent in the orders of the two customers.
At the beginning of this November, McDonald’s International published a statement on its official pages on social media, and it was also published simultaneously on the official documented pages of its agents in Saudi Arabia, the Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, and Oman.
The statement said: “We at McDonald’s International express our shock and extreme dissatisfaction over the misleading and false information and rumors that have been raised about our position on the current conflict in the Middle East.”
The statement added: “We affirm categorically that McDonald’s International does not finance or support in any way any governments or parties involved in this conflict, and that any action, action or decision taken by one of our agents is an individual action by that person.” The agent was taken independently and without our acceptance or approval.”
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