A McDonald’s in North Andover, Massachusetts, is apologizing after some killjoy customers became offended by their “possibly racist” Halloween decorations.
The decorations in question were some black stickers of a spooky Halloween scene. The holiday, of course, is widely associated with death, gore, and all things scary.
Definitely not appropriate. Why are we associating Halloween with lynching which obviously this is undoubtedly a display of such an act.
— Adnak (@Flavaboyfan) October 25, 2019
The drama began last week when a “man” named Erik Pocock stopped by the fast food restaurant to get something to eat.
“When they got to the register, Pocock noticed a design on the cashier’s stand that appeared to display some jack-o’-lanterns, black bats and an eerie tree,” Today reports. “But when Pocock looked closer, he noticed that there was what appeared to be a black rope dangling from the tree — with a lifeless black stick figure hanging from it.”
Though it was just a few creepy Halloween stickers, Pocock was “completely shocked.”
“My friends and I were completely shocked that a large establishment like McDonald’s would put decorations like these up for all to see. It’s disgusting, insensitive and I can’t believe someone thought this was a good idea,” Pocock told Today.
Naturally, a Twitter mob also formed against the burger joint — despite the fact that the scene is clearly meant to be a silhouette and the race of the figure is not known.
Definitely not appropriate. Why are we associating Halloween with lynching which obviously this is undoubtedly a display of such an act.
— Adnak (@Flavaboyfan) October 25, 2019
Chuck Lietz, the owner and operator of the McDonald’s franchise, has apologized over the stickers.
“We deeply regret that these decorations were on display, and as soon as we identified the inappropriate content, we immediately removed the decorations display,” Lietz said. “Creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all our guests and employees is critically important to us, and we apologize for any unintended offense they may have had on our community.”
