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McDonald’s blasted over ‘insulting' Shamrock Shake tweet
Published March 14, 2017
It’s that time of year again, when McDonald's iconic minty-vanilla green Shamrock Shake starts popping up just ahead of St. Patrick's Day.
But this year, the golden arches chain managed to offend more than a few lovers of authentic Irish culture with a promotional tweet for its new chocolate-swirled Shamrock shakes, that has since been deleted.
The original post, which went up March 9, read “When your Shamrock Chocolate Madness plays all the right chocolatey-mint notes. #ShamrockSeason."
This Paddy's Day ad make us wonder do McDonalds even know where Ireland is https://t.co/wmplGPDeuW pic.twitter.com/HY1uqqshcq
— IE Watercooler (@IEWatercooler) March 10, 2017
The text was accompanied by a 10 second video of a bearded redheaded man, drinking his shake through a straw while wearing a tartan-looking hat (traditionally worn by Scots) and playing the straws like a bagpipe (yet another Scottish pasttime)-- while standing in front of England's Stonehenge.
The unusual post had many questioning whether McDonald's even knows where Ireland is or if it understands the difference between various cultures in the U.K.
Shortly after the tweet was posted, many did not hold back, declaring that the chain should brush up on some real Irish culture immediately.
@McDonalds Such an insult to the people of Ireland. And worse, highlighting the ignorance of your marketing department crew.
— DonaghGlavin (@DonaghGlavin) March 10, 2017
@McDonalds will McDonalds apologize for the Stonehenge Shamrock shake Ad? Why does Mcdonalds denigrate Irish American Heritage Month?
— Robert McDonald (@RthBHistCor) March 10, 2017
@McDonalds shamrock is Irish not Scottish not English you idiots🙄
— Sarah Mackey (@SarahMaiDesigns) March 10, 2017
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But plenty of posters found humor in the supposedly out-of-touch ad and added that they though it was nothing more than a clever publicity meant to generate more buzz about the limited-edition green treat.
From a PR stndpnt, the only way @McDonalds can make up for botched #ShamrockShake ad is to give all Irish people free shakes on March 17th.
— Madison McSweeney (@MMcSw13) March 11, 2017
@ireland @McDonalds judging by the amount of comments it's generated & the retweets, I sniff publicity stunt, which appears to have worked ☘
— Andi (@grumpycorkchef) March 10, 2017
Whether it was a cultural blunder or successful stunt, the post certainly got the social media sphere talking.
A representative for McDonald's was not immediately available for comment.
https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/mcdonalds-blasted-over-insulting-shamrock-shake-tweet