Iran is capitalising on American fast food brands, with reports surfacing the capital Tehran has launched a joint that looks remarkably similar to the golden arches of burger place McDonald’s.
The new restaurant is apparently called Mash Donald’s, reports The New York Times.
The owner reportedly told the NYT the team behind the joint are trying to get as close to the real McDonald’s experience as they can.
“If I had called my restaurant McDonald’s, I’d get a visit from the hardliners. So my son advised me to go for Mash Donald’s. It sort of sounds the same,” he said.
A burger joint that is Iran’s answer to McDonald’s. http://t.co/3KKxvWyAoG pic.twitter.com/WhKMNBtxQv
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) August 3, 2015
Many American brands disappeared in the country after the revolution in 1979, which has meant many knock-off companies have been sprouting around the nation, such as Pizza Hat, KFC (Kabooki Fried Chicken) and Burger House.
“The official distaste for American-brand products is by no means absolute,” writes NTY journo Thomas Erdbrink. “Coca-Cola and Pepsi, to take two examples, are ubiquitous here, to the surprise of many visitors. It is also no crime for an Iranian to chat on an iPhone, jog in a pair of Nikes or brush with Crest.”
However, Erdbrink notes no actual American food chain has had outlets in Iran since the revolution.
Read Erdbrink’s full article here.
