Advertising
McWhopper
This was part of the ad published in the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune.
But McDonald's is having none of it.
Burger King's idea was to "get the world talking" about the Peace One Day charity, which is lobbying for September 21 to become an official Peace Day. The fast food chain's SVP for global brand management Fernando Machado said it wasn't just a PR stunt, and it was hoping McDonald's would agree to sell the hybrid burger on September 21.
Steve Easterbrook, McDonald's CEO, responded to Burger King's request on Facebook, and it wasn't in favor of the idea. He said the two brands could do something bigger to make a difference, and suggested that the business rivalry between the companies shouldn't be equated to the real pain and suffering of war.
Here's his post:
However, many McDonald's fans appear to think this was a misstep from Easterbrook. Here are some of the responses to the post:
The negative sentiment to McDonald's response was echoed on Twitter.
@AndrewBloch how did @McDonalds get the response to BK so wrong? CEO Steve needs to talk to his PR before writing pompous random gibberish
- nickfulford (@nickfulford) August 26, 2015@McDonaldsCorp @BurgerKing disappointed in this McDonald's. Such a BS response. It's clear that BK's plan was ruled out in seconds.
- Andrew Bernal (@AndrewBernal87) August 26, 2015Also, this is probably the worst response @McDonalds could have went with: https://t.co/yrnnQhIljr
- Traci (@Tat11) August 26, 2015