By Andrea Hargraves 
Pressure is growing on some Western food and beverage giants to leave Russia, such as McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, as they have been urged to leave Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine. The two brands have been criticized on social media for not speaking out publicly about the attacks and for continuing to operate in the country. Several internationally recognized companies, such as Netflix or Levi’s, have already suspended sales or stopped providing services in Russia.
#BoycottMcDonalds and #BoycottCocaCola have been trending on Twitter this Monday as well as over the weekend respectively. The criticism comes at the same time as there are several calls for brands such as KFC, Pepsi, Starbucks and Burger King, to close their stores and halt sales in Russia.
However, most companies remained silent on this issue. Fast food chain KFC reached the 1,000 restaurant mark in Russia last year, ensuring it aims to open around 100 restaurants annually.
In information recently published on its website, McDonald’s revealed that it has 847 stores in Russia. The company also owns most of these outlets, while in the rest of the world most of them are usually operated by franchisees.
“This is not the time to be on top of the world,” Ian Peters, director of the Institute for Business Ethics, told BBC News. He noted that “the world is more likely to judge companies for what they do in such circumstances and ethical judgment will be as important as compliance with any government regulations and sanctions,” acknowledging that most companies must have a “moral compass” to use in order to take action. Big decisions.
“We advise companies in such circumstances to always look at the big picture and strive to do the right thing, putting the broader interest above short-term profit,” he added.