Yelp has temporarily disabled reviews for McDonald’s franchise in Pennsylvania Where former President Donald Trump French Fry Cooker And the drive-thru window launched on Sunday after his political opponents flooded the app with negative comments.
Supporters of the former president wrote laudatory reviews. One of them commented: “Best McDonald’s I’ve ever been to in 47 years. The old employee was very nice. Make McDonald’s Great Again! Bring back the dollar menu!”
but other Filled the page with one star reviews and comments unrelated to the restaurant’s food or service.
“The fries were as salty as if someone who lost a major election had been crying over them for an hour,” one reviewer wrote in a post on Monday.
Another reviewer wrote: “The man driving bore some resemblance to a man I had seen on the news as a convicted criminal.”
“Customer service was a joke. The old geezer put bronzer on my fries, not wearing gloves. Repeated myself several times, something about Ronald McDonald while in the shower at the golf club? another Yelp visitor wrote.
Visiting the page yields a pop-up window titled “Unusual Activity Alert.”
“This business has received increased attention recently, meaning people frequently visit this page to post their views on news,” the alert reads.
“Although we do not take a position one way or the other regarding this incident, we have temporarily disabled the posting of content on this page as we work to investigate whether you Whether the content you are viewing reflects actual consumer experiences. Recent events.”
It is common for businesses listed on Yelp that are mentioned in the context of political events to receive overwhelmingly negative reviews from customers who did not legitimately patronize the establishment in question.
shout out recently Published a trust and safety report It shows that 112 business pages in the US received an unusual activity alert for events related to politics or political figures last year. The app removed over 5,000 reviews.
“For Yelp to remain a useful resource for the community, reviews must be based on real, direct experience with a business,” Noori Malik, vice president of user operations at Yelp, told The Post.
“When we see activity dramatically reduce or stop, our moderators will clean up the page so that only reviews describing direct consumer experiences are reflected.”
Derek Giacomantonio, the franchisee who owns the location In Feasterville, issued a statement Said Monday: “As a small, independent business owner, it is a fundamental value of my organization that we proudly open our doors to all who come to the Feasterville community.”
Giacomantonio said, “That’s why I accepted former President Trump’s request to witness the transformative work experience of 1 in 8 Americans: a job at McDonald’s.”
The fast food chain’s corporate leadership tried to distance itself from the controversy on Sunday, saying it “does not endorse candidates for elected office and that’s true in this race…”
McDonald’s was pushed into the news cycle after Trump and his supporters raised doubts about whether his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, was being truthful when she said she worked at a Bay Area McDonald’s in 1983.
In his statement on Sunday, McDonald’s said it couldn’t necessarily confirm Harris once held a job at one of its burger joints – but said he was “proud to hear” that he had “fond memories” of working there as a teenager.
The fast-food giant invited Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, to visit one of its restaurants “to share how McDonald’s provides meaningful pathways to economic opportunity and nourishment for local communities.” And promotes.”
