McDonald's Saudi Arabia Gives New Crown Prince its Blessing (For Some Reason)

Saudi Arabia recently named a new crown prince, one Mohammed bin Salman, and while the the king of the country issued a royal decree urging the public to swear allegiance to the new prince, he didn’t mention anything specifically about fast food companies.

None-the-less, today the Saudi Arabian outpost of McDonald’s took a out a full page advertisement in a Saudi national newspaper, swearing loyalty to the new crown prince.

"We renew our allegiance and obedience for his royal highness, the servant of the two holy mosques, King Salman the son of Abdul Aziz Al Saud," the ad reads, according to a report from Newsweek. “And we support Amir Mohammed bin Salman, his son, to become Minister of Defence and Prime Minister and to be nominated as successor. God give him wisdom and equip him to rule his kingdom. With peace and prosperity, McDonald's,” it continues.

Perhaps not so coincidentally, McDonald’s is owned by another prince, Mishaal Bin Khalid al Saud, which could explain the decision to run the advertisement.

Social media users quickly called the ad out as “bizarre,” but as the Independent notes, once Twitter users “jokingly” called out Burger King and Dominos to do the same, they quickly complied, tweeting their own messages of support for the crown prince.

Although members of the royal family are required to pledge allegiance to the new crown prince, who will become king when his father dies, and dissent is almost unheard of in the monarchial society, there isn’t a precedent for a fast food corporation to be so vocal with their support of a newly ordained royal.

While some American food and beverage companies have been vocal about their politics, it seems the opposite of Saudia Arabia's situation is the case in the States, where our president has pledged an allegiance (or at least an affinity for) McDonald's.