Pressure grows on McDonald’s and Coca-Cola to suspend Russia operations
McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and other major western food and drink companies are under mounting pressure to pull out of Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, amid calls for consumer boycotts of the brands.
The companies have been criticised for their failure to speak out about the invasion, and for continuing to operate in Russia, while a host of other firms such as Netflix, Levi’s, Burberry and Ikea have halted business in the country.
#BoycottMcDonalds and #BoycottCocaCola have been trending on Twitter since the weekend. Other western food and drink chains including Starbucks, KFC and Burger King are also still operating in Russia.
Sean Penn, the American actor and film-maker, urged Americans on Twitter to boycott Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and McDonald’s until the companies suspend their operations in Russia. Core Response, the non-profit group he founded in 2010 in response to the Haiti earthquake, is on the ground in Poland helping Ukrainian refugees.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Until Coca-Cola, PepsiCo & McDonalds suspend business in Russia, American citizens have a very safe & simple way to stand with Ukraine. Any among us can suspend our purchases of their products & ask our friends to consider doing the same.https://t.co/OGNPJRCjrQIn the UK, Dragon’s Den investor Deborah Meaden has also urged consumers to boycott the fizzy drinks giant Coca-Cola.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Can you stop drinking Coca Cola please. They are refusing to withdraw from Russia. Let’s show them some people power.Nicholas Christakis, professor of social and natural science at Yale, has similarly condemned Coca-Cola and McDonald.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>These companies, @CocaCola & @McDonalds, should be ashamed to Read more on theguardian.com
