McDonald’s Plans to Make Bigger Big Mac Amid Sales Decline and Boycotts

McDonald’s plans to make the Big Mac bigger to attract more customers and reverse a declining sales trend. Ian Borden, McDonald’s chief financial officer, said on Tuesday that chefs and restaurants around the world would create a “bigger and richer burger”, the Daily Telegraph reported on its website.

The new burger will be introduced in some markets to prove its appeal to customers, Burden said. McDonald’s is currently facing a wave of boycotts after videos surfaced on social media of its Israeli franchise, where Israeli army soldiers who were fighting the Hamas terrorist movement were given free meals. This killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, during the October attack on Israel.

But more than 34,000 Palestinians have already died in the war, at least that’s how the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health calculates the loss of life. However, his data is considered reliable by both human rights organizations and many representatives of the Israeli security forces.

Therefore, residents of Middle Eastern countries accuse McDonald’s of supporting Israel and stop going to its branches, which also applies to other countries with a Muslim majority such as Malaysia or Indonesia. So McDonald’s sales fell for the first time in two years in these markets, to which the company must respond. TV CNBC reported that sales in the Middle East had fallen by 50 to 90 percent. The fast food chain first announced the purchase of 225 Israeli franchises, now comes the development of the main product, which is expected to be the first in history.

McDonald’s restaurants in Israel have been owned by local franchisee Alonyal Ltd., which is controlled by businessman Omri Padan for more than 30 years. “Upon completion of the transaction, McDonald’s Corporation will own the restaurants and operations of Alonyal Limited and the same terms and conditions will be maintained for employees,” McDonald’s said in a statement.

Chris Kempczinski, the company’s chief executive, denied being biased and called claims of support for Israel “disinformation”.

However, boycotts in international markets do not represent a disaster for McDonald’s – in the last quarter, the company’s global sales increased by 1.9 percent in total, thanks mainly to strong sales in the SA.

Seattle-based coffee chain Starbucks has also faced calls for a boycott in recent weeks. The company was sued by the Workers United union over a pro-Palestinian message posted online. Although Starbucks later called claims about its support for the Israeli government false, the Al Shaya Group franchise, which operates Starbucks coffee shops in the Middle East, still had to lay off 2,000 people, which ‘ representing approximately ten percent of their workforce.