Moscow - When McDonald’s opened its first Russian restaurant in 1990 in Moscow, it was not unusual to see wedding receptions held there, so strong was the appeal of the quintessential American brand at the end of the Cold War.
In recent years, with US-Russia ties increasingly frosty, the fast food chain has pursued a different strategy: go native.
“We say it every time: We are a Russian company,” Khamzat Khasbulatov, the head of McDonald’s Russia, said.
“I don’t think there’s a single company that can call itself more Russian than us.”
Nearly all the restaurants' suppliers are Russian and its executives are all Russian, Khasbulatov said. The familiar McDonald’s logo outside the restaurants is all in Russia’s Cyrillic script.
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As for the golden arches, he said: “They are Russian arches. They shine wherever they are.”
The company has reason to play down its US associations.
After Washington imposed sanctions on Russia over its role in Ukraine in 2014, Russia’s public health watchdog briefly closed down dozens of McDonald’s outlets, including its original Moscow flagship in Pushkin Square, citing hygiene concerns.
Some Russian politicians called for the chain to be shut down completely. Khasbulatov acknowledged the link with the US was sensitive.