McDonald’s insensitive ‘Bloody Sundae’ ad sparks outrage

This McDonald’s ice cream sundae was not a happy meal for the Irish.

In Portugal, advertisements for a Halloween-themed “Sundae Bloody Sundae” dessert sparked social media outrage, according to the BBC. The reason: Bloody Sunday, also known as the Bogside Massacre, was a violent 1972 incident during the Troubles in Northern Ireland when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed Catholic protesters at a civil rights march, killing 13 and wounding 15 others.

The ads show cups of vanilla soft-serve topped with an unknown red sauce, resembling blood.

“Portugal is cancelled,” writes one Irish Twitter user, whose post earned 3,400 likes and nearly 450 retweets.

“[McDonald’s] culturally stone deaf,” replied a user named Maurice Leahy.

“Is this for real?” wrote another.

Kate Nash, whose brother William was among the people killed that day, told the BBC she was aware of the advertisement.

“I have to say, it is not that offensive to me,” she told the BBC. “This is in Portugal and highly unlikely that people there have sat down with the intention to offend about the events here in Ireland … Perhaps just in their innocence that they have settled on this slogan, without making any connection to Bloody Sunday.”

A McDonald’s spokesperson says all of the ads have been removed from its locations in Portugal.

“The campaign was intended as a celebration of Halloween, not as an insensitive reference to any historical event or to upset or insult anyone in any way,” the rep tells BBC.

via: https://nypost.com/2019/10/31/mcdonalds-insensitive-bloody-sundae-ad-sparks-outrage/

Photo Credit: twitter