McDonald’s Plans Get Cool Reception From East Berlin
U.S. fast-food giant McDonald’s unveiled plans today to open its first outlet in East Germany but found its global hamburger empire was not to everyone’s taste.
Environmentalists and city politicians hostile to the move snuffed a planned blaze of publicity, ensuring that not a single Big Mac made it across the Berlin Wall to accompany the news.
“We are a successful restaurant chain offering quality products, not some wandering snack bar,” Walter Rettenwender, chairman of McDonald’s Germany, said at a news conference.
Not everyone agreed.
East Berlin’s City Council refused permission for a mobile McDonald’s burger stand in the Alexanderplatz, saying it wanted to cut down on street traders in its main square.
McDonald’s canceled a five-star press reception in an East Berlin hotel, fearing disruption from ecologists who say the company is bad for health and the planet.
Even plans to hand out burgers at the news conference went wrong. Journalists had smoked-salmon sandwiches instead.
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