As reported on B&T on Wednesday, McDonald’s has headed a list of major western brands (Coke, Pepsi and Starbucks among them) to temporarily abandon their operations in Russia in response to the war in the Ukraine.
Macca’s has said it has temporarily closed all 850 outlets in the country, however it will continue to pay staff.
Arguably the brands were forced to act for fears of far more disastrous global boycotts if they’d failed to respond.
Macca’s also closed its 108 restaurants in Ukraine for safety reasons. The store closures in both countries predicted to cost the Chicago-based burger giant a whopping $A2.75 billion in lost revenues.
But it appears canny Russians who’d got wind of the boycotts and are now set to cash in.
Reports out of the country say ordinary Russians are now hoarding McDonald’s food items only to sell them at hugely exaggerated prices with a blackmarket Big Mac Meal reportedly on-sale for $A450!
Russia’s version of eBay, Avito, has reported that everything from single sauce sachets are for sale, to the $A450 Big Mac Meal and even a bag full of Macca’s burgers on offer for a staggering $A1100.
A Reddit forum allegedly showed one Russian’s home fridge overflowing with burger contraband.
The caption alongside the image read, “‘McDonald’s is permanently closing in Russia here is my friend’s stash.”
One person commented: “If its not for personal consumption, it sure is a good business opportunity to sell stale burgers at a jacked price.”
Another added: “So, what you’re saying is, this is a solid long term investment with no risks?”
“Could probably leave it on the shelf and it would still be good for months,” penned another.
While another wag added: “Looks like a White House party!” in response to Trump’s famous presidential catering.
Meanwhile, video has emerged of everyday Russians swamping a Victoria’s Secret store before the brand also pulls out of the country.
The lingerie merchant announced on Wednesday their local online store was shut down and they would be closing all its Russian outlets from March 10th.
Victoria’s Secret is a number of fashion brands to announce their departure from the country. Others include H&M, Adidas, Canada Goose and Uniqlo.
Check out the footage below:
Huge queues lined up outside @VictoriasSecret‘s lingerie stores in Moscow after the brand announced it was suspending operations in Russia.
The work of online stores stopped from 15:30 Moscow time, retail outlets will close at 22:00. pic.twitter.com/0unRDiNaku
— varun vasu narayanan (@varunnarayanan1) March 9, 2022
