A Russian woman is reportedly taking fast-food giant McDonald’s to court for making her break fast during Lent with its aggressive advertising showing delicious burgers.
Ksenia Ovchinnikova, an Orthodox Christian from the Russian city of Omsk, is suing the world’s largest fast-food restaurant chain for allegedly making her break fast for Lent two years ago, with its delicious-looking ad banners. The woman accuses McDonald’s of breaking the consumer protection law and insulting her religious feelings by advertising delicious meat products during a time when Christians attempt to refrain from eating meat and other animal products. She is requesting 1,000 rubles ($14) as compensation for sustained moral damage.
In her complaint, Ovchinnikova is referring to an event that reportedly took place in April of 2019, while she was fasting for Lent. The woman hadn’t eaten any meat for about a month, but as she was walking through the streets of Omsk, she saw an appetizing banner ad for McDonald’s cheeseburgers and chicken McNuggets.
Although she had fasted successfully during Lent for the previous 16 years, she couldn’t resist her cravings, so she went into the nearest McDonald’s and ordered herself a burger. The woman immediately regretted giving in to her weakness, but blamed the fast food chain’s aggressive advertising for her weakness.
“By this point, I had already been fasting for a month, but when I saw an advertising banner, I could not help myself, I visited McDonald’s and bought a cheeseburger,” Ksenia Ovchinnikova wrote in her statement. “In the actions of McDonald’s, I see a violation of the consumer protection law. I ask the court to investigate and, if a violation has taken place, to oblige McDonald’s LLC to compensate me for moral damage in the amount of one thousand rubles.”
The date of the preliminary hearing on Ovchinnikova’s claim has not yet been set, court sources told Zamoskvoretsky press service.
Oddity Central