'Obama' Says 'God Bless Israel' In New McDonald's Ad
In the TV commercial, U.S. secret service agents round up a bunch of young Israelis in the middle of the night and force them to re-open a shuttered branch of McDonald's. After they've cooked a burger and fries, the meal is delivered to a black limousine. When the window rolls down to accept the food, an actor playing Obama sits smiling inside. "God bless Israel," he says. "And the Big America."
The ad is from Yehoshua/TBWA, Tel Aviv. Buzzfeed points out that the company made a similar ad a few years ago in which a President Bush look-a-like was used. That president, however, didn't say "God bless Israel." (He plumped for "Lucky you were open!" instead.)
This type of ad would never run in the U.S., of course, where McDonald's is regarded as a distinctly conservative, often unadventurous, advertiser.
But McDonald's is largely owned by its franchisees. Regionally, they have a great deal of independence. Slate has a roundup of McDonald's Israel's previous brushes with notoriety.