The old McDonald’s restaurants in the Russian capital have reopened with a new name, Vkusno & tochka (“Tasty and It’s Over”), in a brand change designed to comfort Russians so that they can continue to live Western lifestyles, even if the Big Macs are gone. menu.
McDonald’s announced its exit from the Russian market in May, saying it would sell its 850 restaurants due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He joined an exodus of Western companies from the Russian market amid sanctions and serious shortcomings in some sectors.
On Sunday, the new Russian fast food chain bought by McDonald’s opened its first 15 restaurants in Moscow. Vkusno & tochka plans to reopen 850.
At a grand opening in Moscow’s Pushkin Square, the restaurant looked like an intentional copy of the American chain. On the menu were fish burgers, chicken nuggets and double cheese burgers. “Our goal is to ensure that our guests do not notice any difference in quality or atmosphere,” said Oleg Paroev, CEO of Vkusno & tochka. The restaurant served old packets of hot McDonald’s mustard sauce marked to erase any reference to the fast food chain.
The new name was a call to nostalgia for many Russians, who have become accustomed to Western products and brands, although the Kremlin has denounced Western influence. “The name changes, the love stays,” said the new restaurant’s slogan. Slogans sewn on employees’ uniforms said, “The same smiles.”
It was the smiles of employees that many Russians remembered 32 years ago, when the first McDonald’s opened in Pushkin Square in 1990, announcing an influx of Western goods and services into the closed Soviet economy. More than 30,000 Soviet customers lined up for hours in the cold to try their first burger or Coca-Cola.
Now, the opening of Vkusno & tochka marks a new trend towards isolation, as the war in Russia has left tens of thousands dead and its market has become untouchable for some of the largest multinationals in the world. world.
The name has been received with perplexity and a bit of mockery. “It’s a bit specific but … interesting,” a Muscovite said on the pro-Kremlin Life website. “MakDak would have been better,” said another, referring to the abbreviation the Russians often used to refer to McDonald’s. `
McDonald’s copies are not a new trend. A Russian-occupied McDonald’s in Donetsk was renamed DonMak after the city was captured after the start of the war in 2014.
Alexander Govor, the chain’s owner, said up to 7 billion rubles (98.63 million pounds) would be invested in the business, which employs 51,000 people, Reuters reported. But BBC Russian reported that the sanctioned bank Sovcombank could also have played a role in the acquisition, saying Govor would not have had enough capital to acquire the entire fast food chain on its own.
When the restaurant reopened on Sunday, a protester displayed a sign: “The Big Mac is back.” He was quickly escorted.