McDonald’s forced me to eat it, according to one plaintiff. In a first-of-its-kind lawsuit, a woman claims that McDonald’s advertisements were so enticing that she had no choice but to consume the burger and fries. The religious aspect of the suit is also worth noting. Because Ksenia Ovchinnikova, an Orthodox Christian, asserts that McDonald’s advertising prompted her to break her fast for lent in 2019, the restaurant is facing legal action.
Ksenia was attempting to give up meat, dairy, poultry, and by-products in order to avoid eating any during the duration of Lent. Ksenia observes the Julian calendar, which considers lent as a rigorous period of food abstinence from animal products. According to the Russian, she had kept her fast for a month before breaking it in April 2019 due to a McDonald’s commercial.
According to the lawsuit, McDonald’s is accused of breaking Russia’s consumer protection statute by enticing consumers with such delectable meals during lent, when they are most vulnerable to the allure of delicious burgers, fries, and chicken nuggets.
Christians were trying to avoid meat and dairy products in the early 2000s, therefore McDonald’s should not have advertised them, according to a pro-Christian lawsuit. Her case sought roughly $14 or 1,000 rubles in damages because McDonald’s owes her for moral harm she incurred as a result of advertising its meat and dairy goods.
Ksenia was able to keep her fast for almost two months during Lent. She was successful in doing so for nineteen years. However, this year, McDonald’s lured her with their advertising and she was compelled to go to the nearest McDonald’s location in Omsk, Russia, and order herself a burger.
“By this point, I had already been fasting for a month, but when I saw an advertising banner, I could not help myself. I visited McDonald’s and bought a cheeseburger,” Ksenia Ovchinnikova stated. “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.”
The case has yet to be scheduled for hearing by the court. However, in Russia, it’s possible that McDonald’s will face litigation for advertising its enticing meat products during Lent.
This woman, according to some readers, is going too far.
“That’s like suing a lingerie ad because it made a man cheat on his wife.”
“Always someone else’s fault, whatever happened to taking responsibility for one’s own actions?”
“Did she take into account that not everyone is fasting for lent due to religious reasons, and they do want to see an advertisement for hamburgers?”
Even a prominent detractor stated that Russia should “charge her for wasting court’s time.”
Someone made a joke: “I saw an advert for an electric car and immediately felt an urge to become a lefty greeno loser- can I sue the manufacturer concerned?”
