Putin’s war has closed every McDonald’s in Russia. I remember the excitement when they first opened
For a couple of years after those golden arches first appeared in Moscow on 31 January 1990, McDonald’s was a really big deal in Russia. It was more than a food experience. It was an exotic destination of devout pilgrimage. In 1992, I was living in St Petersburg for the summer to study Russian. I had travelled to Moscow on the overnight train with a group of Russian friends. The first thing I wanted to do – being in Moscow for the first time in my life – was to see Red Square as the sun came up. My friends had other ideas about the most important port of call. We had to go straight to McDonald’s and get a Beeg Mak or – just as exciting – a gamburger. (Actual Russian word.) There was no point in standing in their way. The Kremlin would have to wait.
This week, McDonald’s announced that it would be suspending its operations in Russia. This affects 847 branches and 62,000 employees, who will continue to be paid. The company’s president and CEO Chris Kempczinski said: “Our values mean we cannot ignore the needless human suffering unfolding in Ukraine.” The response echoes the actions of dozens of brands from Chanel and Burberry to Apple and Starbucks.
Once upon a time three decades ago, the arrival of McDonald’s in Moscow represented the end of the cold war and the triumph of the joys of capitalism. On that first day in 1990, that first branch on Pushkinskaya Square expected to serve around 1,000 customers. But even before opening time, a line of 5,000 Russians was snaking round the block. As Russian customers explained to the western media covering the event, the queue was not a big deal. Queueing was something they were very used to. Customers marvelled at the size of the milkshakes. Some kept Big Mac boxes and other
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