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A McDonald’s location in Altoona, Pennsylvania, became the center of an unexpected online storm after a customer tipped off an employee about Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Following Mangione’s capture at the restaurant, sympathizers quickly took to the internet to criticize the McDonald’s worker who alerted authorities, and the restaurant itself is now facing a wave of negative reviews.
A shift from fast food to foul-mouthed fury
After the arrest of Luigi Mangione, who has been named a person of interest in Thompson’s tragic death, internet backlash exploded. Online users, many of whom appeared to be sympathizers of Mangione, flooded McDonald’s Google pages with derogatory one-star reviews, accusing the restaurant of harboring “rats.” The critical reviews began rolling in soon after news broke that Mangione had been spotted eating at the McDonald’s by a customer who recognized him from surveillance footage, leading the employee to call the police.
“I won’t be going to this location again after they helped to ‘rat out’ a man who was simply enjoying some fast food,” one user posted.
Others were more direct, accusing the employee of being a “snitch,” with some even using violent language to threaten the worker who made the call.
One reviewer’s complaint had nothing to do with the food at all but instead slammed the restaurant as a breeding ground for disease, saying: “This location has rats in the kitchen that will make you sick and your insurance isn’t going to cover it.” While these over-the-top complaints had nothing to do with the actual quality of the restaurant’s service, it was clear that the negative sentiment was largely directed at the employee who tipped off authorities.
The rising phenomenon of “review bombing”
The incident is a classic case of what is known as “review bombing,” a tactic where people flood a business with negative reviews to express disapproval of an unrelated event or political stance. In this case, the criticism was rooted in Mangione’s capture, and McDonald’s was dragged into the fire for a heroic act that, to some, seemed like betrayal. As the reviews mounted, Google stepped in to remove derogatory comments, explaining that reviews should reflect genuine customer experiences.
“These reviews violate our policies and have been removed,” a Google spokesperson told The Associated Press. “Content that has been posted from multiple accounts to manipulate a place’s rating will be removed.”
However, the damage was already done—McDonald’s locations in the Altoona area had been bombarded with angry customers. “Out of solidarity, I will be boycotting all McDonald’s in the area,” one Reddit user wrote in an attempt to rally others to join the protest against the fast-food giant.
The violent backlash and memes
In addition to threatening the McDonald’s worker, some online users also began to make light of the situation, inserting the company into a stream of sarcastic memes and jokes. “Bro, the McRib is back, that’s what took him down. No one can resist the return of the McRib,” one person quipped on Mangione’s now-banned Reddit page. Meanwhile, others went so far as to call for a full boycott of all McDonald’s in the region.
The situation was further fueled by Mangione’s controversial reputation. The suspect, a self-proclaimed anti-capitalist, was under suspicion for the shooting of Thompson, who was gunned down in New York City. The McDonald’s tipster, meanwhile, has been vilified online, with people calling them a “rat” and a “traitor,” even threatening the unnamed employee who had simply done their civic duty by alerting the police.
What’s next for McDonald’s?
As authorities continue to investigate the case, McDonald’s may continue to face online backlash, but it’s clear that the fast-food chain is not at fault in this instance.
In a statement, the fast-food giant has distanced itself from the situation, explaining that the employee acted in good faith to aid law enforcement and was not responsible for the actions of the fugitive. The tipster, despite the vitriol, remains unnamed and uncharged.
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