Ever since sanctions were imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, nearly all foreign businesses have exited the country. Among those more notable brands include McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Starbucks and many more.
The shutting down of these businesses have led to huge tailbacks in Russia on the final days of operation.
While many think that it would be the end of these brands in Russia, a new fast-food chain could be about to launch in Russia, with a logo strikingly similar to McDonald’s.
The Russian fast-food chain that Russian parliament's speaker has proposed replace @McDonalds has filed for this trademark. Not kidding. pic.twitter.com/6GAUNnbHVm
— Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) March 16, 2022
The local alternative, Uncle Vanya, appears to be gearing up to take a bite of the Russian burger business.
In a trademark filing on 12 March, Uncle Vanya’s yellow and red logo looks almost identical to the iconic Golden Arches of McDonald’s but tilted 90 degrees to the right. They form part of the letter “B” in the Cyrillic alphabet, which corresponds to the “V” in “Vanya.”
Although none of these new restaurants have opened as of now, it appears that their plan is to take over the existing shuttered McDonald’s restaurants.
— Mariusz R. 👥 (@mariusz_w_Raju) March 16, 2022
Last week, the speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, Vyacheslav Volodin said that Russian brands should take over McDonald’s locations. “They announced they are closing. Well, okay, close. But tomorrow in those locations we should have not McDonald’s, but Uncle Vanya’s,” he said. “Jobs must be preserved and prices reduced.”
Meanwhile, the officials have also said Russia can ignore the patents owned by entities from countries that Russia sees as hostile, while Russian President Vladimir Putin endorsed a plan to nationalize foreign-owned businesses that have left the country.
He said Russia must “introduce external management” on departing companies “and then transfer these enterprises to those who want to work.”
Besides Uncle Vanga, the Business Insider also reported that several other copycat versions of those brands that exited Russia are already positioning themselves to fill the void.
Russian authorities also listed trademark applications for “Starbucks,” “Makdonalds,” and “Makdak,” all three from the same applicant.
Netizens’ response
Some netizens thinks that this is actually a smart thing to do to make sure no foreign company will ever make business in their country for decades to come.
On the other hand, some had took the chance to troll these copycat brands by pointing out that Uncle Vanga literarily just slap a yellow rectangle into McDonald’s logo.
This is a very smart thing to do to make sure no foreign company will ever make business in your country for decades to come
— Bardho (@bardhooo) March 16, 2022
They literally just slapped the McDonald's logo onto a yellow rectangle, they have to be trolling, right ? pic.twitter.com/TS7NIVYGTw
— GeoPolEnjoyer_420 (@CEOofBeingHomo) March 16, 2022
What do you think about this? Share your thoughts!
