+4 votes
in General Factchecking by Genius (41.4k points)
McDonald's has changed their paper food wrapping colors to white and blue in support of Israel.
by Newbie (410 points)
This statement is false.

According to USA Today, the wrapping has been used many times before the war and is mainly used during shortages for special items. I understand why this might be confusing, especially now with what's going on. McDonald's made it clear they have different versions of it and it wasn't meant to be political in any way.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/10/30/false-claim-mcdonalds-changed-wrappers-to-support-israel-fact-check/71349660007/
by Newbie (370 points)
This claim seems to be misleading. Although blue and white are the colors of the Israeli flag, according to politifact.com, the food wrapping colors are most likely blue and white since those were the colors of the wrapping when the big mac came out.

15 Answers

0 votes
by Novice (920 points)

This is a false claim. According to USA Today, McDonald's stated that "The wrapper shown in the video is one of several similar designs used for special orders, limited-edition products or temporary shortages of standard wrappers." This implies that these wrappers are not being specially produced and supplied in support of Israel. In fact, Reuters came to a simialr verdict. According to Reuters, McDonalds claimed that  "generic wrappers come in a veriety of colours . . . and none are intended to make any political statement." The original video posted that stated that this wrapping was in support of Isreal was postd on Instagram. The reel was posted by user ezzat_experience. This user is Izzat Dablan,  self-proclaimed "Public Figure" and verified user on Instagram. However, Instagram allows you to pay for verification and self proclaiming titles, so these details do not make him a trusted source. 

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/10/30/false-claim-mcdonalds-changed-wrappers-to-support-israel-fact-check/71349660007/

https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/white-blue-mcdonalds-wrappers-predate-oct-2023-israel-hamas-war-2023-10-26/

0 votes
by Novice (670 points)

This claim is false. The blue-and-white wrapper is reportedly "an example of a generic wrapper used for temporary shortages, special orders, and limited-edition products," according to Reuters. McDonald's additionally informed Reuters that "generic wrappers come in a variety of colors including blue, green, purple, and yellow, and none are intended to make any political statement." The Reuters article "White-Blue McDonald's Wrappers Predate October 2023 Israel-Hamas War 2023-10-26" provides factual information on the situation.

False
0 votes
by Novice (970 points)

This claim is false information. Mcdonald's has used wrappers with these colors in the past according to https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/oct/27/viral-image/mcdonalds-didnt-introduce-blue-and-white-food-wrap/ They are usually used when supplies are low of the normal wrappers. It is only coincidental that the colors were used during the recent conflict in the Middle East.

0 votes
by Apprentice (1.2k points)

The claim that is made is false. After doing some research, the claim was fact-checked on Reuters and confirmed that the change of wrapping occurred before October 2023. McDonald's claims that this wrapping is used as a temporary replace due to shortages of the main wrapping that McDonald's uses. Politifact, also reinforces the claim that this wrapping is used as a replacement for the originals. This claim that was originally posted by the user on Instagram, @ezzat_experience, can be viewed as misinformation. 

Politifact: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2023/oct/27/viral-image/mcdonalds-didnt-introduce-blue-and-white-food-wrap/

Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/fact-check/white-blue-mcdonalds-wrappers-predate-oct-2023-israel-hamas-war-2023-10-26/

False
0 votes
by Novice (570 points)
This statement is not true. McDonald's did not change their paper food wrapping colors to white and blue in support of Israel. An article in USA Today reported that a McDonald's employee stated that the blue wrapping began a few months ago after coming to a shortage of original paper. Another employee said the wrapping changed at a different time, however regardless of the speculation it has not been confirmed by McDonald's, therefore it is not safe to assume this decision was in support of Israel.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/10/30/false-claim-mcdonalds-changed-wrappers-to-support-israel-fact-check/71349660007/

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