McDonald's Offers Customers Free Burger Amid Boycott

A Saudi Arabian official has promoted a buy-one-get-one-free deal at McDonald's as customers in the Middle East boycott the fast-food restaurant for its perceived support of Israel.

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. Israeli officials have said that 1,200 people in Israel were killed in Hamas' attack, according to the Associated Press. Earlier this month, Israel launched ground operations in the territory.

More than 11,000 Palestinians have been killed since Wednesday, officials from the Health Ministry in Gaza said, the AP reported.

McDonald's has been impacted by a grassroots boycott campaign in Egypt and Jordan and there are signs that it may spread to Kuwait and Morocco, according to Reuters.

Following Hamas' attack on Israel, McDonald's Israel announced in a translated Instagram post that it "donated 4,000 meals to hospitals and military units, we intend to donate thousands of meals every day to soldiers in the field and in drafting areas."

People on social media criticized McDonald's for not supporting people in Gaza affected by the war and called for a boycott of the restaurant chain.

McDonald's told Newsweek via email that "McDonald's has national and many local promotions running across the country at any given time. Unfortunately, we are not able to maintain details on all local promotions ... 95% of McDonald's restaurants are independently owned and operated, prices and participation may vary."

Following the furor, several owners of franchises in the Middle East and Asia opposed the actions taken by McDonald's Israel. In a statement to Reuters, McDonald's Saudi Arabia said: "In regard to the news that McDonald's in Israel was donating meals. We affirm that it was an individual decision on their part[...]Neither global McDonald's nor us, nor any other country, had a role or relationship with that decision, neither directly nor indirectly."

On Friday, Turki Al-Sheikh, a Saudi adviser at the Royal Court, posted a video promoting a new deal at McDonald's. As the strategic partner of Riyadh Season, which is an annual state-funded winter entertainment festival held in Saudi Arabia's capital, McDonald's is offering to give customers a free meal when they buy a meal. The offer is available from 12 p.m. local time Thursday until 2 a.m. on Saturday.

"An invitation extended to all the people of Riyadh, from Riyadh Season and McDonald's, the strategic partner. Big time," Al-Sheikh said in the video.

Al-Sheikh's video received criticism on X, formerly Twitter. Ali Qadri said: "How low can these people go???"

YouTube channel Saudi Arabia's Reality posted the video on X and wrote: "Despite the global boycott against #mcdonaldsboycott after declaring its explicit support for the Israeli war on the #Gaza Strip, here is Turki Al-Sheikh, head of the Saudi Entertainment Authority, seeking to compensate McDonald's for the major loss it has suffered recently."

An X user who goes by Arif replied to the post: "Sell outs." Andrew Bryce replied, "How low can someone go? Truly embarrassing."

Update 11/29/23, 9:11 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to include comment from McDonald's.

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