A Russian woman is suing McDonald’s for allegedly forcing her to break her Orthodox fasting with their delicious cheeseburger ads. Ksenia Ovchinnikova is an Orthodox Catholic and was observing Lent when she saw a poster for McDonald’s chicken nuggets and cheeseburgers in the town of Omsk, Newsweek reports. Sadly, she just couldn’t resist and stopped in for a bite to eat.
- She’d been fasting for about a month. Ovchinnikova hadn’t eaten meat for about a month before she saw the ad. However, it was too enticing to ignore and she felt powerless to stop herself from ordering a McDonald’s cheeseburger. “When I saw an advertising banner, I could not help myself,” she said in a court statement obtained by Russian media.
- This was the first time she broke her fast in 16 years. After seeing the ad, Ovchinnikova went to the nearest McDonald’s and ordered the burger from the poster. She was immediately disappointed in her decision but didn’t see herself at fault. In fact, she blames McDonald’s.
- McDonald’s should be held responsible for luring her in. The lawsuit states: “In the actions of McDonald’s, I see a violation of the consumer protection law. I ask the court to investigate and, if a violation has taken place, to oblige McDonald’s LLC to compensate me for moral damage in the amount of one thousand rubles.”
- She’s asking for 1,000 rubles, equivalent to $14. However, no court date is currently set in the case as the drafting complaint is stalled. The court says Ovchinnikova still has time to complete it. It’s one of several legal challenges McDonald’s is facing. In May 2021, brothers James and Darrell Byrd sued the company for racial discrimination, though the lawsuit was later dismissed in June 2021. Another lawsuit filed in May 2020 complained that the managers at one McDonald’s franchise weren’t allowing employees to observe social distancing. Documents claimed that managers refused to follow safety procedures and were not offering protective equipment or training to its workers.
