Racial hoax causes PR headache for McDonald’s

• Bigred1995

  

  
  
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110613/us_yblog_thelookout/racial-hoax-causes-pr-headache-for-mcdonalds

  An online hoax that falsely suggests McDonald's discriminates against African-American customers is causing a PR headache for the Golden Arches.
  Over the weekend, the photograph above circulated widely on the internet. The image shows what looks like an official McDonald's notice in the window of a restaurant, telling customers that blacks will be charged $1.50 extra "as an insurance measure due in part to a recent string of robberies."
  Many internet users retweeted the photo, using the words "Seriously McDonald's," to express their disapproval of the burger chain.
  In response, McDonald's sent a tweet of its own on Saturday: "That pic is a senseless & ignorant hoax McD's values ALL our customers. Diversity runs deep in our culture on both sides of the counter."
  But that clearly wasn't enough to clear things up, because Twitter users continued to send out the picture, with that same message of condemnation: "Seriously McDonald's." Indeed, so many people sent "Seriously McDonald's" Tweets that the phrase became a leading entry on Twitter's trend list.
  That led to a second, blunter McTweet, on Sunday: "That Seriously McDonalds picture is a hoax."
  The latest pushback effort seems to have helped keep the photo from spreading too much further--but there's no telling how many people out there still think the photo is for real.
  This is hardly the only recent barrage of negative publicity for the burger behemoth--some of it more justified. McDonalds CEO Jim Skinner recently was forced to defend the company's renewed use of the Ronald McDonald mascot to appeal to children, after critics said the restaurant's fat-laden burgers and fries endanger kids' health.
  It's not clear who created the hoax image. It appears to have first showed up on the popular 4chan message board, and it was posted last year on an anti-McDonald's blog.
  But there's no doubt it's fake. As some Twitter users have pointed out, the toll-free number given at the bottom of the sign is actually the number for ... Kentucky Fried Chicken.

  I don't care who you are, this is funny! Especially the part that the number on the flyer is the number to KFC!
  
  I'm not sure if this has been posted or not. I couldn't find it with the search feature so I'm guessing it hasn't!
• O-Trap

  

  One of the marketing buddies I have actually was there and saw that. He even thought it was funny as hell.
  
  He called the number as well. He got KFC's (not called Kentucky Fried Chicken anymore) consumer services. LOL!
• coyotes22

  

  Bigred1995;801972 wrote:
  
  http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110613/us_yblog_thelookout/racial-hoax-causes-pr-headache-for-mcdonalds
  
  
  I don't care who you are, this is funny! Especially the part that the number on the flyer is the number to KFC!
  
  I'm not sure if this has been posted or not. I couldn't find it with the search feature so I'm guessing it hasn't!

  
  I was just reading this last night on yahoo. LOL. I love the part about them trying to save face on twitter.
• Manhattan Buckeye

  1) Hilarious.
  
  2) How stupid are people to buy into the hoax? Seriously, so if a restaurant is plagued by robberies it's recourse is to charge other customers more? As if a robber would even care about that.
• Raw Dawgin' it

  

  The picture is old. Apparently is was created by a 4chan member in 2010
• Sage

  

  Hard to believe people are stupid enough to fall for this.
• krambman

  

  I guess this is the negative side of instant social media. Something like this can go viral so quickly and it can be nearly impossible for McDonald's to do damage control. It may get covered by the news as being a fake, but many of those who saw this on Twitter will likely never see the news story or see that it was a hoax on twitter, and years from now they'll still think it was true.
• I Wear Pants

  You don't want people stupid enough to believe something like that to be your customers anyway.
• thavoice

  ^True! Plus..I am thinking that between those who have 4 brain cells and know it wasnt actually something McDonalds posted, and those who think it was just a photoshop hoax I think it will be a very few poeple left who believe it is true.
  
  There is something to be said about not wanting those people awho would be that stupid to believe it as customers.
• Jughead

  

  Seriously McDonald's.
  FFS,
• Heretic

  

  I Wear Pants;802118 wrote:You don't want people stupid enough to believe something like that to be your customers anyway.

  
  People stupid enough to believe something like this are the same type of people who will repeatedly buy McD's without thinking about things like nutritional values and whatnot, so I'd say they'd be more than willing to smooth things over, so fatties won't get pissed off and not shovel their Big Macs down one by one.
• I Wear Pants

  I was mostly joking.
• coyotes22

  

  I Wear Pants;802140 wrote:I was mostly joking.

  
  He must need to attend my reading class with me. As he clearly could not see the sarcasm in your post. SMH
• Heretic

  

  I Wear Pants;802140 wrote:I was mostly joking.

  
  THIS! IS! SERIOUS BUSINESS!
• BR1986FB

  Heretic;802134 wrote:People stupid enough to believe something like this are the same type of people who will repeatedly buy McD's without thinking about things like nutritional values and whatnot, so I'd say they'd be more than willing to smooth things over, so fatties won't get pissed off and not shovel their Big Macs down one by one.

  
  Racially profile the sh#t out of me but don't you DARE take away my damn Chicken McNuggets!
• I Wear Pants

  coyotes22;802143 wrote:He must need to attend my reading class with me. As he clearly could not see the sarcasm in your post. SMH

  If I actually thought what I said about not wanting them as customers (as far as a fast food chain goes) then I probably wouldn't be very good in my major, let alone when I graduate and get a dregree/job.
  
  Also, took me a little bit to get your joke about the reading. Because I'm dumb.
• O-Trap

  

  I Wear Pants;802173 wrote:Because I'm dumb.

  Based on the post in my sig, we already know that.
• Curly J

  

  BR1986FB;802161 wrote:Racially profile the sh#t out of me but don't you DARE take away my damn Chicken McNuggets!

  People go Ape **** over McNuggets, must be like Crack !!!
• coyotes22

  

  I Wear Pants;802173 wrote:If I actually thought what I said about not wanting them as customers (as far as a fast food chain goes) then I probably wouldn't be very good in my major, let alone when I graduate and get a dregree/job.
  
  Also, took me a little bit to get your joke about the reading. Because I'm dumb.

  
  Its ok, we understand.
• O-Trap

  

  Curly J;802185 wrote:People go Ape **** over McNuggets, must be like Crack !!!

  
  
  
  Yes, big ghey crack.
  
  Good to know where your mind is at, though.
• I Wear Pants

  O-Trap;802181 wrote:Based on the post in my sig, we already know that.

  coyotes22;802187 wrote:Its ok, we understand.

  I will never stop telling the truth.
• coyotes22

  

  I Wear Pants;802238 wrote:I will never stop telling the truth.

  
  Thats what makes you stand out as an A+ poster.
• 4cards

  

  ...The shi+ would be fly'n even more if they would have done this at Popeye's!
• O-Trap

  

  4cards;802256 wrote:...The bullets would be fly'n even more if they would have done this at Popeye's!

  Fixed for accuracy.
• Steel Valley Football

  Let's be honest tho, hoax or no hoax, what color are the people who rob most McDonalds?