https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe...sia-heralds-new-cold-war-20220309-p5a35i.html No more Big Macs: McDonald’s boycott of Russia heralds new cold war By Matthew Knott March 9, 2022 When McDonald’s opened its first Russian restaurant in January 1990, less than two months after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it sent a powerful message that the hostilities of the Cold War era were starting to thaw. An estimated 38,000 people queued for hours in Moscow’s Pushkin Square to buy a burger, a testament to the seemingly unstoppable rise of western-style capitalism in the communist-dominated Eastern Bloc. Hundreds of Muscovites line up outside the first McDonald’s restaurant in the Soviet Union on its opening day, January 31, 1990. Credit:AP/File The physical and cultural barriers that had divided the east and west for decades were suddenly crumbling. “McDonald’s was more than the opening of a simple restaurant,” McDonald’s Russia chief executive Marc Carena told Voice of America in 2020. “It came to symbolise the entire opening of the USSR to the West.” Now visitors to Pushkin Square will no longer be able to buy a Big Mac or Quarter Pounder after the company announced it was temporarily closing all of its 850 stores scattered throughout Russia. McDonald’s has closed its restaurants in Russia to protest Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Credit:Getty Just as the arrival of the fast food giant in Moscow marked the beginning of a new era in geopolitics, so does its departure 32 years later. McDonald’s decision formed part of an abrupt exodus of well-known western companies from Russia, as corporate chief executives join politicians in seeking to punish Vladimir Putin for his invasion of Ukraine. Facing intense public pressure to sever ties with Russia, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Starbucks announced on Wednesday that they were suspending operations in the country. It came on the same day US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a ban on the purchase of Russian oil, gas and coal. In an email to staff, PepsiCo chief executive Ramon Laguarta noted the company had entered the Russian market at the height of the Cold War, saying it had “helped create common ground between the United States and the Soviet Union”. Unilever – a major producer of food and hygiene products – announced it had paused all imports from and exports to Russia. Yum Brands, which has more than 1000 restaurants in the country, said it was suspending operation of company-owned KFC outlets and would soon close its Pizza Hut stores. A military parade in front of posters of then Russian president Boris Yelsin and Coca-Cola in 1999. Credit:AP A day earlier jeans maker Levi’s announced it was suspending all sales in Russia – another symbolically powerful moment. During the Cold War, Levi jeans became synonymous with American capitalism – so much so that authorities in Eastern Germany banned them from being sold. For young people living under communism and yearning for freedom, wearing them was as much a political statement as a fashion choice. Similarly, the explosion of luxury stores in Russia in the early 1990s represented the arrival of a new era dominated by oligarchs. The speedy transfer of state-owned assets to private firms after the arrival of democracy enriched an elite cadre of businessmen and their wives. Many took delight in flaunting their newfound wealth. Soviet-style asceticism was out, conspicuous consumption was in. Ukraine President delivers a defiant speech to the British House of Commons Now Russian shoppers, accustomed to an abundance of capitalist choices, are confronting a new period of Soviet-style scarcity. A raft of luxury goods stores including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Gucci and Prada have announced the closure of all their stores in Russia. So has cosmetics giant Estée Lauder. Even though they are cut off from social media platforms and banned from accessing independent journalism, the business blockade makes clear to Russians their country has become a pariah state – one increasingly isolated from the Western world it once rushed to embrace. Just three decades after the end of the previous one, a new cold war has begun.
It's causing long lines and a need McDies now crisis... Russians Rush To Get One Final McDonald's Before More Than 800 Restaurants Close https://www.ladbible.com/news/russians-race-to-get-mcdonalds-before-it-shuts-20220309 Russians have scrambled to their nearest McDonald's restaurant for one final meal before all the Golden Arches in the country close. Lines are stretching for nearly a kilometre outside some Macca's places as many are desperate for one last Big Mac. Video footage is appearing on social media that shows car after car lining up in a Moscow drive-thru. Other photos show desperate Russians lining up around the block on foot, waiting it out in blisteringly cold temperatures for a cheeky Big Mac. McDonald's has revealed all 850 restaurants in Russia will temporarily close from March 8. The announcement comes after the fast food company faced pressure from social media users to pull out of Russia after the hashtag #BoycottMcDonalds went viral. Some savvy Russians have also been snapping up the last-remaining burgers so they can sell the food online. They're flogging cheeseburgers, drinks and Happy Meals for grossly inflated prices. One person wanted 40,000 rubles (AUD$422/£234) for a selection of three burgers. As images surface online of the mad rush for Maccas, some are comparing it to the bedlam that broke out when McDonalds first opened in Russia in 1990. (More at above url)
But not as healthy as recycled low carbon green tofu stroganoff which I understand Putin has volunteered to make personally for some underprivileged street urchins.
Russians are cashing in by stockpiling McDonald's in fridges and selling Big Macs for £250 https://www.indy100.com/news/russia-mcdonalds-stockpiling-big-macs