McDonald's Faces Backlash Over Flipping Its Logo
First came the buzz, then came the backlash. McDonald's made headlines nationwide when photos emerged of its iconic golden arches flipped upside down at a restaurant in Lynwood, CA. At first, it seemed like a practical joke: Did Wendy's go all senior prank on Mickey D's? Is it the real-life interpretation of McDowell's from Coming To America? Is it an actual senior prank?!
McDonald's soon announced it was the first of a series of temporary changes in honor of International Women's Day. The logo change - upending the arches to turn the "M" into a "W" - was put in effect across social media and on the uniforms and packaging at 100 stores across the country. While it was intended to celebrate "the extraordinary accomplishments of women everywhere and especially in our restaurants" - as the brand's global diversity officer Wendy Lewis wrote on Medium - many people questioned just what, exactly, the gesture was achieving.
"Hey @McDonalds, maybe instead of a cheap PR stunt where you make the M a W to 'support' women, you do something real - like paying your workers a living wage," tweeted Democratic Coalition Executive Director Nathan Lerner. He was far from the only one criticizing the move:
how about paying women equally instead of just turning your logo upside down
- Joe From Jersey (@JoeDeL101) March 8, 2018
glad to see mcdonald's ended sexism by changing their logo into a W for women
- ben (@benwalter__) March 8, 2018
#McDonalds: “should we celebrate #nationalwomansday by paying women a living wage? ... Nah! Let’s just turn our logo upside down.” #corporategreed #allaboutwomen #boycott @McDonalds #emptygestures
- Tucker Neel (@tuckerwonders) March 8, 2018
Dear @McDonalds and @kfc,
Though it was nice gestures, I can’t imagine I’ll be teaching about the Third Wave of Feminism was finally fulfilled when McDonald’s flipped its logo and KFC revealed a female Colonel. https://t.co/KYrAqrcRhI- Nicholas A. Ferroni (@NicholasFerroni) March 8, 2018
