A McDonald’s fast food restaurant sign is seen in Beijing on January 9, 2017. US fast-food giant McDonald’s will sell a controlling stake in its China and Hong Kong business worth up to USD 2.08 billion to state-owned Citic and a consortium. The Carlyle Group, it was announced on 9 January. / AFP PHOTO / Nicolas Esfori
(WFLA) – Fast food chain McDonald’s ran into some trouble when it placed an ad for its McCrispy burgers next to a cremation ground in the United Kingdom.
CornwallLive reported that the ad was located at a bus stop in front of the Penmount Crematorium in Cornwall, England.
To make matters worse, the “McCrispie” advertisement was on full display right next to a sign pointing to the crematorium.
Some locals laughed after a picture of the sign was shared by Cornwall Live.
One commenter told the news outlet, “No worse than our local council at the idea of allowing a crematorium to be built next to a retirement village.”
Another woman, whose family had to use the cremation ground for her mother-in-law, said that while some people may find it strange, it is very tasteless.
“I’m sure some grieving family members would not like it going to Pennmount for the funeral and cremation of a loved one,” she told Cornwall Live.
While McDonald’s wasn’t exactly under fire for the coincidence, the company took the situation seriously.
“We were unaware of the road sign in the vicinity of this bus stop. However, in light of the concerns raised by Cornwall Live, we have asked for our advert to be removed,” a spokesperson told Insider.
This is not the first time that the chain has courted controversy for missteps in its European ads. In 2019, McDonald’s had to apologize for using the words “Sunday Bloody Sunday” for a Halloween advertisement in Portugal.
The ad drew some flak over an apparent reference to the incident of Bloody Sunday, 1972, where unarmed protesters in Derry, Northern Ireland, were fired upon by British forces. 14 people had died in the firing.
