Russia has a rebranded version of McDonald’s (Vkusno i Tochka, which means “tasty and that’s it”). DMARGE has obtained photos that show what it looks like inside. It’s eerily similar, but also different.
Photos from inside a rebranded Russian Maccas, obtained by DMARGE, show the new version of the Western fast food chain, which suspended operations in Russia following Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, doesn’t look quite the same as the original.
In the first photo we have obtained (the image to the left in the graphic below), you can see the burger box no longer rocks the McDonald’s colour or logo). The drink cup is a little more threadbare, too, with less of the typical McDonald’s graphics.
Outside McDonald’s, too, the car park looks quite different to a typical Maccas car park. There are no Golden Arches, for instance. Inside the restaurant, the same logo-lacking difference can be seen. Take, for instance, the brown paper bags – there is no branding on them whatsoever (weirdly, not even the new store’s own brand).
When you open the bag and box, things look barer still. Not that we haven’t ever had a bad Maccas burger in our time, but when you see the Coleslaw-looking stuff on the bun to the right and the fish finger-looking thing beneath it (as well as the rather sad looking lettuce on the burger to the left), we’d say this new Russian iteration of Maccas is quite grim too (perhaps grimmer, even, than the creepy clown capitalist version we have here in Australia).
As for the taste, we haven’t had the pleasure of wrapping our mouths around one of these bad boys, but we’ve heard it’s underwhelming. According to a journalist at Insider: “The first bite of the cheeseburger wasn’t as exciting as it used to be – and the fries seem sadder.”
“The bun and cheese are clearly identical to the original version – McDonald’s was using 85% locally produced ingredients – but the meat patty seems slightly less salty, making that first bite a little less exciting. I also noticed the absence of the pickle slice, which I liked.”
Insider
Insider also reported that the menu is largely the same, however Happy Meals, the Big Mac and the McFlurry are now gone from the menu. DMARGE also has been told by a source in Russia that the potatoes are no longer imported.
Food for thought.
Read Next