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I hate Russia’s war as much as anyone, but McDonald withdrawing from a country is not in itself a message that can’t be ignored or turned around. To put things

I hate Russia’s war as much as anyone, but McDonald withdrawing from a country is not in itself a message that can’t be ignored or turned around. To put things in perspective, in an unrelated case Meta raised a risk of withdrawing from EU depending on the sanctions they face, and the general opinion on that hasn’t been to lament the EU governance. I’m willing to bet the farm that the Rubble falling down and the direct financial sanctions leading to restricted access to deposits have far more psychological impacts than McDonald’s and Coca Cola (did Coca Cola actually withdraw from Russia ? I thought the local bottling company was still doing business)

jdrc 5y ago
Let's make it more concrete: the elephant in the room here is Apple and Google (android).
- spacemanmatt 5y ago
  Samsung and Xiaomi are the elephants in that room. Google and Apple are comparatively minor players in Russian handset sales.
  - jdrc 5y ago
    The devices don't work without OS
    - makeitdouble 5y ago
      Neither Samsung nor Xiaomi need Google to ship android devices. Play Store/Google Services presence is a big plus, but if the choice is between not shipping the phones or shipping without Play Store, I’m sure the decision will be simple (at least for Xiaomi, I’d see Samsung more open to take a stand against Russia)
XorNot 5y ago
So here's the thing: a huge amount of Europeans don't really like Meta, and realize it's a highly substitute-able thing. McDonalds in Russia is...kind of a big deal. It's a giant billboard that Russia is open and participates in the global economy, and the wealth and opportunity that brings. Americans don't see it because they were never that cut off, but for anyone behind the iron curtain the whole concept is still a sign that they had left an age of rationing, empty shelves and unavailable produce. If you're a young person in Russia today, you have probably heard stories from your parents about when their wasn't McDonalds, or supermarkets which had things. The big mark of stuff getting better after the cold war the influx of the American brands, and the massive luxuries they brought in. This is a cultural perspective that's hard to communicate, but Russia - well the USSR - used to have exactly one McDonalds - which opened in 1990 in Moscow[1], and parents would save for months to be able to afford to take their children there. The people who lived through that time are still alive. [1] https://www.boredpanda.com/first-mcdonald-restaurant-opens-soviet-union-moscow-russia-1990/ https://www.boredpanda.com/first-mcdonald-restaurant-opens-s...
- dunkelheit 5y ago
  I think you are ovestating things. Yes, this was true in the 1990s, when McDonalds was one of the few windows into what western capitalism has to offer, but this magic of novelty is long gone. Right now McDonalds is, like in the rest of the world, just a place where you can grab food of predictable shitty quality when you are low on time and money (though indeed often the primary choice).

jdrc 5y ago

Let's make it more concrete: the elephant in the room here is Apple and Google (android).

spacemanmatt 5y ago
Samsung and Xiaomi are the elephants in that room. Google and Apple are comparatively minor players in Russian handset sales.
- jdrc 5y ago
  The devices don't work without OS
  - makeitdouble 5y ago
    Neither Samsung nor Xiaomi need Google to ship android devices. Play Store/Google Services presence is a big plus, but if the choice is between not shipping the phones or shipping without Play Store, I’m sure the decision will be simple (at least for Xiaomi, I’d see Samsung more open to take a stand against Russia)

XorNot 5y ago

So here's the thing: a huge amount of Europeans don't really like Meta, and realize it's a highly substitute-able thing. McDonalds in Russia is...kind of a big deal. It's a giant billboard that Russia is open and participates in the global economy, and the wealth and opportunity that brings. Americans don't see it because they were never that cut off, but for anyone behind the iron curtain the whole concept is still a sign that they had left an age of rationing, empty shelves and unavailable produce. If you're a young person in Russia today, you have probably heard stories from your parents about when their wasn't McDonalds, or supermarkets which had things. The big mark of stuff getting better after the cold war the influx of the American brands, and the massive luxuries they brought in. This is a cultural perspective that's hard to communicate, but Russia - well the USSR - used to have exactly one McDonalds - which opened in 1990 in Moscow[1], and parents would save for months to be able to afford to take their children there. The people who lived through that time are still alive. [1] https://www.boredpanda.com/first-mcdonald-restaurant-opens-soviet-union-moscow-russia-1990/ https://www.boredpanda.com/first-mcdonald-restaurant-opens-s...

dunkelheit 5y ago
I think you are ovestating things. Yes, this was true in the 1990s, when McDonalds was one of the few windows into what western capitalism has to offer, but this magic of novelty is long gone. Right now McDonalds is, like in the rest of the world, just a place where you can grab food of predictable shitty quality when you are low on time and money (though indeed often the primary choice).