McDonald’s, Starbucks reeling under boycotts in Indonesia, Malaysia

Medan, Indonesia: Putra Kelana, an entrepreneur, typically breaks fast with his family and friends at several restaurants located throughout his city in North Sumatra during the holy month of Ramadan.

However, one establishment won't be on the offer this year. Since October, when McDonald's Israel claimed on social media that it had given thousands of free meals to the Israeli military during its conflict in Gaza, Kelana has boycotted the fast food restaurant company.

“It is not so much an outright boycott, rather a feeling of being deeply unhappy with Israel,” Kelana said, Al Jazeera reported.

“I used to have a McDonald’s sticker on my car which gave me discounts when I used the drive-through, but I ripped it off when the war started.”

“If I could go to Gaza to help fight against the Israeli forces, I would do it. Muslims are being killed by the Israelis every day. Because I can’t go there in person, the next best thing is to show my support by not using products affiliated with Israel.”

Calls for a boycott of products thought to have connections to Israel are clearly hurting the bottom lines of big corporations throughout Southeast Asia.

McDonald's said in February that the war contributed to the mere 0.7 per cent increase in foreign sales in the fourth quarter of 2023—a stark contrast to the 16.5 per cent growth in the same period the year before.

“The most pronounced impact that we’re seeing is in the Middle East and in Muslim countries like Indonesia and Malaysia,” McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski said in an earnings call.