Mar 5, 2022
Social Media Buzz: #BoycottMcDonalds, Trevor Noah, Hertz
, Bloomberg News
(Bloomberg) -- What’s buzzing on social media:
McDonald’s Corp., PepsiCo Inc., and other brands were asked to consider pausing their operations in Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine, New York State’s Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in letters to the companies, Reuters reported. The country has been hit with wide-ranging sanctions and scores of companies, from Ikea to Volkswagen, have suspended business there.
Calls to #BoycottMcDonalds circulated on Twitter to criticize the company for continuing to operate in Russia, with some users pushing back, noting that Western countries are still purchasing Russian oil and gas. None of the companies that received DiNapoli’s letter immediately replied to a request for comment, said Reuters.
Trevor Noah, the host of the Daily Show, called out some Western media coverage of the war in Ukraine, contrasting it to coverage of African or Middle Eastern conflicts. “You do realize that until very recently, fighting crazy wars was Europe’s thing,” he said. “That’s all of European history.”
Hertz is being sued in bankruptcy court by more than 230 former customers who say the rental car company erroneously reported them for car theft, leading to unexpected criminal charges and arrests. The claims span over a decade, with the company allegedly reporting vehicles stolen that customers told USA Today they had legally rented and returned. Hertz hasn’t commented but was recently ordered by a court to disclose 3,365 stolen vehicle reports.
WNBA player and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner has been detained and taken into custody in Russia after she was said to have drug paraphernalia in her luggage at an airport in Moscow, the New York Times reports. A criminal case has been opened and the investigation is ongoing.
Griner’s team, the Phoenix Mercury said in a statement, “We are aware of and are closely monitoring the situation with Brittney Griner in Russia. We remain in constant contact with her family, her representation, the W.N.B.A. and N.B.A.”
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