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autotldr Bot ,

This is the best summary I could come up with:

David Shear, RBI’s president, said in March 2022 that Burger King’s main operator in Russia had “refused” to shut the outlets following the first attacks on Ukraine.

Steven Tian, part of a team of researchers at Yale University who track what companies have done in response to the Ukraine war, argued using franchise agreements as an “excuse” was a “convenient smokescreen”.

Mark Dixon, founder of the Moral Rating Agency, which campaigns against firms doing business in Russia, called for RBI to disclose what specific actions it had taken in its attempts to leave.

David Bond, partner at law firm Fieldfisher, said RBI’s 15% stake meant it could not simply “dictate terms” to its fellow shareholders to require them to close Burger King branches.

He also suggested companies that franchise out their brands would be reluctant to simply walk away from deals as it could lead to “dire consequences”, including being sued for breach of contract, as well as reputational damage.

But he said consequences aside, there was nothing stopping RBI from terminating the franchise arrangement if it was adamant it wanted to do so, though added it might not result in the Burger King brand ceasing to exist in Russia.

The original article contains 671 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 70%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

greyscale ,
@greyscale@lemmy.sdf.org avatar

Capital Scum doing capitalist scum shit.

brain_in_a_box ,

Yeah, they should only operate in good countries, like the US.

jackmarxist ,
@jackmarxist@hexbear.net avatar

And Israel

Borkingheck ,

On all the shorts etc showing sanction life in Russia, not one has mentioned burger King is still there.

Synthead ,

Ukraine: Have it Russia’s way.

downpunxx ,
@downpunxx@kbin.social avatar

Restaurant Brands International owns Burger King, Tim Hortons, Popeye's Chicken, and Firehouse Subs

Fuck RBI, they are lying war profiteers putting tax revenue in the hand of the Kremlin which it uses to fund it's war of genocide in Ukraine. Do not eat in any of their restaurants

Ooops ,
@Ooops@kbin.social avatar

Are you also telling us how much they own of those Burger King franchises in Russia they are supposed to shut down?

deegeese ,

They are getting paid 100% of the franchise fees of their Russian businesses.

Tarte ,
@Tarte@kbin.social avatar

You don’t own franchise partners by definition. They are individually owned restaurants that pay you a fee to use your brand (name, menu, marketing, etc.).

„Shutting down“ here means: Don’t renew these franchise contracts. The restaurants will continue to exist, but they will have to rebrand and be less lucrative.

CobraChicken ,

but they will have to rebrand and be less lucrative.

And what do you do if those Russian franchise owners refuse to rebrand and continue using the BK name, supplies and signage?

Do you stop providing logistical support? Do you cut them off the BK supply chain (shut that down too) and not provide any new menu items / marketing materials?

Has BK done that?

Airazz ,

Yes, obviously you should cut supply lines, duh. Why would you supply products to someone who isn’t paying for them.

CobraChicken , (edited )

So what is burger king doing wrong here?"

Edit: At least 10 people didn’t read the fucking article, BK did cut the supply line. This place is just like Reddit, all hurr durr without reading the article.

TheGreenGolem ,

They are telling you, literally. They should revoke the branding licence, cut every supply lines, and sue them if they continue using the brand (as they would surely do if I just started to have a Burger King without a licence). They don’t do these things. Which is wrong. And that’s what they are doing wrong.

Ooops ,
@Ooops@kbin.social avatar

What imaginary supply line are you talking about? Do you think that any food there is not supplied locally? That they import paper wrappings with a logo from the US? Actually the ones probably importing their stuff are sitting in the US, even if it's just plastic trash from China.

It's a name. And if they got told not to use it anymore or they just don't pay anything anymore... what is supposed to happen? Someone goes to Russia and sues them there?

AngryCommieKender ,

Burger King corporate supplies the wrappers, the branding, the marketing, and the damn product. These franchises don’t “make” anything in house. They reheat par-cooked food that, in this case, BK corporate has delivered to them via truck. BK corporate has had over a year to cut that supply line. They own the branding, and therefore the wrappers.

SheeEttin ,

By truck? From the US?

AngryCommieKender ,

Yeah, because a multinational corporation is run by idiots, like you.

CobraChicken ,

This is how I know you didn’t read the article.

BK did cut the supply chain logistics. It’s mentioned in the article.

Sue the franchisees? Where? In Russia? In the middle of an economic war with the west? Even if the suit proceeded for some reason, who do you expect the court to rule in favor of?

BK did everything to severe ties. The only thing that remains is to sell their share of the franchise. If they sell now (even if they find a buyer), they likely won’t be paid in anything other than rubles which is useless.

Lightor ,

Lol dude, take your own advice. Read the article, about how they’re dragging their feet and didn’t even want to exit in the first place. How much that BK PR team paying you lol.

Also they didn’t say they were cutting supply chain, it says “The spokesperson for RBI said the company was refusing new investment and supply chain support.” Refusing NEW investments is not the same as killing the existing supply chain. Jesus, read.

Airazz ,

They continue operating in russia as if everything’s fine.

Ooops ,
@Ooops@kbin.social avatar

Nothing, because you just hallucinate supply lines. The franchise pays for the fucking name and that's it. And if they are not allowed to do so anymore, who's going to Russia and sue the owning oligarchs there?

Snapz ,

Especially with firehouse subs having such a purpose washed image/mission, you think they’d be smarter.

calzone_gigante ,

War profiteer is an interesting way to look at it. If a company doesn’t cut ties with warmonger countries, they are war profiteers ?

They should also get away from US, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and most of the “developed” countries that are historically exploiting poor countries ?

They sell fucking burguers, if they manage to not put too much garbage in the food to save money, they are doing enough.

atk007 ,

That’s one way to defeat Russia. Have them eat garbage food.

wholeofthemoon ,

Yo those chips look fresh

Chozo ,

Can Burger King pull out of the US first? Absolutely the worst fast food chain ever. The only reason anybody goes to BK is if McDonald's is on fire.

Burn_The_Right ,

Even their water tastes like Burger King. Every structure they inhabit becomes an eco-disaster of BK stench.

Goodtoknow ,
@Goodtoknow@lemmy.ca avatar

Why is that vs McDonald’s?

Burn_The_Right , (edited )

I’m not sure, really. But Burger King is at the bottom of the pile. BK food makes McDonald’s food almost seem like real food.

Almost.

Jakeroxs ,

When’s the last time you purchased something from either?

My experience now is McDonalds has slipped significantly, whereas BK is just better in most ways. McDonalds prices have even gone up quite a bit yet the food has just gotten worse.

Burn_The_Right ,

TBF, it’s been decades. I’m still waiting for the after-taste to dissipate.

It doesn’t surprise me that McD’s is worse these days. Do they still have the fake soft-serve machine that’s always mysteriously “out of order”?

Jakeroxs ,

Yes they do!

HubertManne ,

if your older there was a day when mcdonalds was extremely bad. The whole heat lamp thing you might see in movies came out of the way mcdonalds was in the 80's. At that time BK was riding high. They mostly cooked to order (that sorta fell apart at rushes) so your burger was always fresh from the broiler conveyor. One thing about places when they are popular is the food is fresher because they go through it fast. At some point that all fell apart and they started having their patties sit in these plastic warming pans with some sort of oil to keep them moist. I have noticed that this seemed to happen mostly in city burger kings while ones in the boonies still seemed to do alright.

hh93 ,

At least for vegetarian options they are way ahead of McDonalds

Can’t speak for the rest of the menu though

Airazz ,

McD has zero vegetarian options, besides some very sad salad.

SunnyAdriano ,

Technically the apple pie is vegetarian. Fries, in the US, are not vegetarian.

Airazz ,

Looks like they’re vegetarian but not vegan, because flavouring includes milk.

AnonStoleMyPants ,

Yeah, in Finland at least the vegan Whopper is waaaaaaaay better than what McD or other similar franchises offer.

Critical_Insight , (edited )

Personally I prefer Burger King over McDonald’s. Haven’t been since the first BK opened in my city.

HubertManne ,

There has been a lot of debate on this. Is it cruel and unusaul punishments. Have the russiand done things so bad to deserve burger king. only time will tell.

DragonTypeWyvern ,

Hey, they’re the only place that serves Impossible Burgers, and they’re not bad in my experience.

Well, probably not in Russia.

Carry on.

Cruxifux ,

I’ve already boycotted Burger King just for how aggressively bad their advertising song is.

BruceTwarzen ,

I boycott burger king because it's disgusting

Tankiedesantski ,

Putin isn’t chowing down on BK, neither are the oligarchs, or the heads of the army, the FSB, or so on.

What’s the point of making sure BK leaves the market except and ineffectual attempt to hurt ordinary Russians?

jackmarxist ,
@jackmarxist@hexbear.net avatar

Honestly, BK should just leave. Russians or as a matter of fact no one deserves to eat that “food”.

Tankiedesantski ,

I remember when the sanctions started and Western fast food, media, and social media were all pulling out. Someome quipped “oh no, Russians will be the healthiest and happiest people on the planet. How awful.”

boredtortoise ,

Then they just kept the same fast food joints but changed the names after the franchise exits

Flaps ,

Mfw when no pizza hut gorby-sad

radiofreeval ,
@radiofreeval@hexbear.net avatar

BK staying is the punishment

FiskFisk33 ,

Well, it’s about economics, not hurting ordinary russians. Doing business in russia gives them money, which helps them pay for the war. It’s as simple as that.

Tankiedesantski ,

But Burger King sells to Russians and repatriates some of its profits back to the US. If BK leaves Russia then Russians will spend their money on other restaurants, presumably ones which do not send profits overseas (due to the sanctions) which paradoxically means more money staying in Russia.

If the restaurants close then there will be some momentary unemployment but there’s a war going on so unemployment helps smooth over manpower issues. That’s also ignoring the possibility of a Russian entity stepping into BK’s shoes like they did with McD’s and just running the place without the trademarks.

I don’t see any purpose beyond moral posturing.

jackmarxist ,
@jackmarxist@hexbear.net avatar

They don’t even have to respect trademarks anymore because of how much Russia is sanctioned. They can just keep running their own Burger King with the only difference being that the real BK won’t see any profits and the money will stay inside Russia.

Tankiedesantski ,

Worst case scenario for the west is that the Russians just rename the chain “Burger Tsar” or something and continue as normal. Russians still get their treats, BK gets no money.

usernamesaredifficul ,

they wouldn’t even have to stop calling it burger king

SoyViking ,
@SoyViking@hexbear.net avatar

It is about economics. If Burger King leaves Russia, they’re still leaving the restaurants, distribution networks and the employees behind. They’re not going to sit idle just because the brand left, rather they’re going to keep going under a new name, just like how McDonald’s did.

What effect does that have on the Russian war effort? None.

PR_freak , (edited )

The main purpose is to create a sentiment of dissatisfaction for the current government

Edit: I am just pointing out their purpose, it doesn’t mean that I share their view boyz

Tankiedesantski ,

Is it effective? Especially since McD’s leaving the country has just resulted in the Russian suppliers and restaurant owners running the place on their own with the same recipes.

Are the Russian people going to be angry at the lack of clown/king related branding?

7bicycles ,

Are the Russian people going to be angry at the lack of clown/king related branding?

I point to things like Aunt Jemima or something and tell you I can see how this might seem like it works to the US

usernamesaredifficul ,

that’s because Americans just want to be angry at each other about something. Ultimately the American obsession with culture war stupid bullshit comes from the fact that the American constitution is an objectively stupid foundation for a country and its checks and balances prevent any actual politics from getting done so to differentiate themselves politicians have to focus on nonsense

this has also effected other countries that have too much american news

I don’t really know a way forward other than just getting rid of the United states as a legal framework and starting a new country entirely from scratch there is really nothing salvageable about the way american democracy is structured and it needs a redesign from the ground up

BelieveRevolt ,

Russians are going to be so angry about no Burger King they’ll do a 1917 on Putin for sure.

Tankiedesantski ,

Without American fast food, Russians will have to resort to eating rotten maggot-infested meat. It will be like a million Battleship Potemkins all at once.

Commiejones ,
@Commiejones@hexbear.net avatar

Like the time I overthrew my government when my favorite pizza joint closed.

usernamesaredifficul ,

I’m just going to point out here the lockdown protests

frippa ,
@frippa@lemmy.ml avatar

IDK I would be pretty happy if shitty body-ruining fast food and proprietary Spyware like Microsoft left my country, I would like my shitty neofascist government sliiiightly more (I am Italian, sadly) if instead of sucking on uncle Sam’s hairy balls they would kick harmful corpos out

hackris ,

I think the narrative these people are trying to push is that these companies get dollars flowing into Russia, they buy roubles, and Russia uses the dollars on the international weaponry market. I don’t get why this would be a problem, since Microsoft still does the same shit I assume (most Russians definitely use Windows)

usernamesaredifficul ,

also if they left then the burger kings in russia would just stay open. It is not a complicated business to copy when you already have the equipment and staff. It’s as simple as continuing to sell burgers

Burger king could end it’s francisee relationships but the burger shop is already in russia

jernej ,

I thought burger king staying was the punishment

SoyViking ,
@SoyViking@hexbear.net avatar

They outrage is such a great example of western exceptionalism. The existence of western consumer businesses in the countries of the non-Aryan jungle is supposed to be an immense benefit to these places and their departure must necessarily be disastrous for them. Nowhere is the idea entertained that Russians are perfectly capable of creating their own shitty burger restaurants to replace those if the west.

Maestro ,
@Maestro@kbin.social avatar

You're missing the point. For BK to operate in Russia means dollars flowing into Russia, because BK needs to buy Rubles. Dollars that Russia needs to buy arms on the international market, because nobody is accepting Rubles.

hackris ,

This is true. However, if I owned BK, I’d see this as an amazing business strategy, although a quite unethical one (but as we can see, multi million+ dollar companies aren’t the most ethical either way). I mean, now the literal government has an interest for it to stay in business, they may even start to promote the brand.

zinguszna ,

Except BK is an American company. They wouldn’t operate in Russia if they weren’t making a profit. So their net effect is to have money flowing out of Russia.

emptiestplace ,

Many words considering no point.

Let them.

Flyberius ,
@Flyberius@hexbear.net avatar

Don’t be upset

BelieveRevolt ,

It’s like that 80s news footage of the first McDonald’s opening in Moscow where they’re like so-true ”finally those filthy commies get to enjoy our superior Western treats”

Then they interview someone who says it wasn’t really worth it to stand in line and pay so much lenin-laugh

sunbeam60 ,

Man your historical revisionism is almost endless at hexbear.

I grew up in a navy/embassy family, so moved around every 3-5 years onto new postings. At an embassy posting in Stockholm, it was common for the attaché-community to pair newly arrived families with someone who had been there for a while. My mum thus got paired with a newly arrived Soviet wife-of-an-attaché to show her the ropes of diplomat life. This lady was on her first posting (it was quite common for Soviet embassy staff to have a LOT of newcomers for fear that they would get to used to western life style and seek asylum) and she was showing this lady where to do shopping in Stockholm. I was joining as I was too small to be left at home on my own.

So we walk into this supermarket and the Soviet lady sort of walks in, stops for a second, then walks through the one-way gates and stops again. And then she bursts into tears.

Diplomat life is hard on partners - so tears in the opening days aren’t that uncommon. My mum pulls her to the side and starts saying the usual (“I remember when we started”, “it’ll get better” bla bla) and the Soviet lady says basically “you don’t understand! I’ve never, ever seen so much choice and food and my life”.

She wasn’t crying because she had left home. She was crying because she was realising how fucked up home was - and remember this is someone who was sent out as a diplomat so reasonably well connected at home.

The West had a reason for its exceptionalism back then. Compared to many places it still does. In others, of course, we need to wake the fuck up - China is a great example, where there is definitely no cause for a feeling of exceptionalism. Russia, oh boy, yes we can still feel exceptional.

Go on then, dismiss me with your hexbear memes and be gone.

ghost_of_faso2 ,
@ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml avatar

www.cia.gov/…/CIA-RDP85M00363R000601440024-5.pdf

if it was so bad why did the CIA report that the average russians diet was better than compartively an americans?

‘I get to have 8 different brands of pepsi-cola im so free’ isnt a compelling arguement lmao, neither are annecdotes from your neo-liberal scum family.

Omega_Haxors ,

Vuvuzela 9000 dead. Don’t believe me? My parents used to live under the tyranny of communism and then left after they took their slaves.

Still think communism is cool? Guess again.

ghost_of_faso2 ,
@ghost_of_faso2@lemmygrad.ml avatar

listen up kid my dad worked in a european embasy and he said the people we bombed where poor so think again COMMIE about how many freeDOMS we have as a result of our rape of the third world

https://lemmygrad.ml/pictrs/image/ee789403-c1f7-43b7-b1f9-cf26aa13dac0.jpeg

krolden ,
@krolden@lemmy.ml avatar

Bullshit

sunbeam60 ,

Well, there’s no use sitting here arguing about this, is there. I know the truth hurts, so it’s easy to reject.

krolden ,
@krolden@lemmy.ml avatar

Who’s truth?

zinguszna ,

What sort of nonsense response is that? Anyone can poop out any anecdote they like to support their position and say “I know it hurts so it’s easy to reject”.

Jakeroxs ,

Man it’s a good thing homeless people in America get to enjoy all that choice!

sunbeam60 ,

Give me a break. No system is perfect and the discussion isn’t about perfection vs horror. It’s about a series of tradeoffs and the tradeoffs done in the west broadly resulting in better outcomes, on average, for the population there than they did in the Soviet Union. For China nowadays, I’m less certain. Definitely in the big Tier 1 cities, life is on par with Western outcomes, for some better for some worse.

Jakeroxs ,

I’m just saying, it’s ironic to use that example of a diplomat as opposed to how many people live paycheck to paycheck barely able to make ends meet or are actually homeless, I doubt those people are crying in joy when they walk into a Walmart

sunbeam60 ,

I think you’ve missed my point entirely - that could be my fault.

The example illustrates that even for those well-connected enough in the Soviet Union the sight of a western supermarket was enough to make them weep (this was ‘88).

I brought this example up to address the false belief that people in Russia weren’t all that impressed with western products (like McDonalds) back when the Soviet Union existed.

I don’t know how you’re managing to connect that with how people live today and their experience of walking into Walmart.

Finally, this didn’t take place in Harrods but in ICA in Sweden. Hardly a luxury shop - just an average supermarket.

Jakeroxs ,

The idea of communism (extremely simplified) everyone has the means to live and people at “the top” don’t get special privilege on that, obviously almost all actual implementations turn into dictatorships so the point is somewhat moot, however the fact a well connected diplomat in a communist country had to live in the same conditions as other non-well connected people would be a positive, not a negative, they’d see and hopefully be able to improve the lives of everyone as they understand what it’s like.

Compare that to a majority of the rich and powerful in America, they’re so ridiculously disconnected from the average experience that they literally do not understand at all what it’s like for those with less.

sunbeam60 ,

Ah, with that I broadly agree. But I do feel the goalposts are shifting.

In the case of “was it right for the west to feel their system was better than the Soviet one” my example simply illustrates that a western supermarket in ‘88 reduced someone from the Soviet Union to tears.

Jakeroxs ,

But that’s really misdirecting of the overall issue right? That’s why I brought up homeless or very low income people in America as a counter-example.

Sure capitalism brings us some good things because of the profit incentive driving some to continue pushing the envelope (there’s pros and cons, don’t want to get too in the weeds) but there’s also massive inequality, compared to the ideal of a communist or socialist perspective where sure it might not be as shiny or you don’t have as many options, but you’re definitely housed and fed.

sunbeam60 ,

I agree but I wasn’t trying to address the overall issue. Certainly no more me than the people I responded to, who used the example of shitty junk food joints to claim the people of the Soviet Union didn’t look with envy on the choices offered to the western citizens.

In theory the communist system is fantastic, in the same way the society described in The Culture is. There just hasn’t been any implementation that got close to that ideal and certainly the median citizen seems better off in the west.

Jakeroxs , (edited )

I guess the main thing they might have been talking about is how a lot of the “west culture” will only trumpet the “good” aspects of capitalism and downplay any/all negatives.

Like it’s cool we have McDonalds and many other fast food places available, but so many of them are bottom of the barrel quality/health wise and therefore it’s really not like it adds a ton of value to our lives over if we didn’t have to worry about having healthy food provided to us, even if we don’t have the choice.

Mostly splitting hairs at this point, I think we broadly agree :p

sunbeam60 ,

Yes agreed 🤜🤛

Pili ,

Better outcome is when everyone is homeless and dies from preventable diseases due to unaccessible healthcare, BUT they have a choice of 50 different shampoos.

And the horror is when everyone has a roof, is educated, in good health, but has to munch on the disgusting government provided nutritious food. 😡

Honytawk ,

When even a Russian diplomat has less options than an American homeless person, it should tell you enough.

Honytawk ,

Well, if you need to compare a diplomat to a homeless person, then that is a pretty big self own.

Jakeroxs ,

In what way?

jackmarxist ,
@jackmarxist@lemmy.ml avatar

This is unironically funny as hell. Great copypasta, I’ll add it to my collection.

mojave102 ,
@mojave102@lemmy.ml avatar

And that Soviet lady’s name? Albert Einstein!

Liberal theory is just bullshit anecdotes on top of bullshit anecdotes.

Stuka ,

Commies say the dumbest shit

TheAnonymouseJoker ,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

They should feed the homeless free borgors in USA and Europe instead, and just leave the great Mother Russia. Burger King is fucking mediocre in India.

Justfollowingorders1 ,

They’re very mediocre in Canada. But that said, they’re cheap as hell compared to their counterparts. And I’d argue, in many urban centers they definitely are feeding the homeless, just charging for it lol.

You can get two cheeseburgers, fries and a drink for $6. You can get a pack of nuggies for $3. You aren’t getting that sort of bang for buck at any other commercial fast food place around here. Something like that would easily cost close to $10 if not more at mcdonalds.

I always tell my wife if I was homeless, she’d find me begging for change at the intersection closest to a burger king.

TheAnonymouseJoker ,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

Well, I would prefer cooking raw materials myself if I were that poor. For $6 I could cook myself a day’s worth of food in India, but that probably cannot be said about Canada.

Justfollowingorders1 ,

Yeah it’s been a bit tight. Like surely, for $6 you could definitely get more food at the grocery store, but being that poor often involves not having the proper equipment or space to really cook anything. But yeah, our grocery store situation isn’t pretty right now. Fresh and healthy foods are expensive.

berrytopylus ,

but that probably cannot be said about Canada.

Depends on what you’re eating. Even in the most insanely priced areas, beans and rice tend to be pretty damn cheap, and North Americans do not eat a lot of rice or beans or chili or other cheap foods that are staples in lots of Asian diets.

Sinister Bot ,
@Sinister@hexbear.net avatar

wait they dont have the special vegan spicy no-meat burger alternative in India all the tiktoklings have been yapping about?

ProxyTheAwesome ,

How does this make sense? They lose money from giving away free burgers and lose money from leavig Russia. Why would they do this? This is like when George Michael throws a banana away for every dollar he steals from the cash register

TheAnonymouseJoker ,
@TheAnonymouseJoker@lemmy.ml avatar

Borgors are not very healthy, and these big brands induce a capitalistic slavery mindset among non-rich people. Burger King exports USA culture as well.

mayo_cider ,
@mayo_cider@hexbear.net avatar

They didn’t change their name like McDonald’s? No principles smh

ours ,

Burger Tzar

Omega_Haxors ,

You have got to try their condom pizzas. The condoms mimic the texture of cheese!

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