MCDONALD'S apologised to Singapore on Friday and brought a pig back to its toy menu, after a decision to leave the animal out of its Chinese zodiac collection upset many in the predominantly ethnic Chinese nation.
McDonald's this month started selling cartoon character miniatures depicting the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar, but the pig was replaced by love god Cupid as McDonald's said it did not want to offend Muslims.
But the move, just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and Valentine's Day in February, backfired as many Chinese customers complained in chatrooms and blogs that they would not have a chance to buy the animal sign of their birth year.
'We're sorry, and we're grateful,' the fast food chain said in a half-page advertisement in the Straits Times newspaper, saying it never intended to offend anyone.
'I understand that we need to respect our Muslim citizens as Singapore is a multiracial and multicultural society,' Ms Pauline Koh, whose daughter was born in the Year of Pig, wrote to the Straits Times. 'However, in this case, the Pig is one of the Chinese zodiac signs - part of Chinese culture and customs - and it is just a soft toy, not food.' -- REUTERS
Over a soft toy???
McDonald's this month started selling cartoon character miniatures depicting the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac calendar, but the pig was replaced by love god Cupid as McDonald's said it did not want to offend Muslims.
But the move, just ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday and Valentine's Day in February, backfired as many Chinese customers complained in chatrooms and blogs that they would not have a chance to buy the animal sign of their birth year.
'We're sorry, and we're grateful,' the fast food chain said in a half-page advertisement in the Straits Times newspaper, saying it never intended to offend anyone.
'I understand that we need to respect our Muslim citizens as Singapore is a multiracial and multicultural society,' Ms Pauline Koh, whose daughter was born in the Year of Pig, wrote to the Straits Times. 'However, in this case, the Pig is one of the Chinese zodiac signs - part of Chinese culture and customs - and it is just a soft toy, not food.' -- REUTERS
Over a soft toy???
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