In response to a surge of contentious reviews, Yelp has temporarily disabled comments for a Pennsylvania McDonald’s that former President Donald Trump visited on Sunday. The influx of reviews, many of which were deemed inauthentic, criticized both the restaurant and Trump.
Controversial Reviews
After Trump’s visit to a Feasterville-Trevose McDonald’s, Yelp became inundated with reviews targeting the former president and the franchise. One user commented:
“Convicted felon sh*t-talking customers, especially women, did not wear gloves while preparing french fries, and only worked five minutes at a time before having to sit down or take a nap.”
Another review took a more humorous jab, stating:
“The fries were too salty as if someone who lost a major election had been crying over them for an hour.”
Some reviewers expressed their dissatisfaction with the franchise’s decision to host a Trump event, saying:
“If you make managerial decisions this bad I certainly am never going to eat anything you make.”
However, not all reviews were negative. One five-star review noted:
“I’ve been to this McDonald’s long before Trump came by and I’ll keep coming by long afterwards.”
McDonald’s Political Spotlight
Trump served fries at the McDonald’s location, bringing the franchise into the political spotlight, even as the company attempted to distance itself from the event. Vice President Kamala Harris mentioned that she had briefly worked at a McDonald’s during the summer of 1983, a claim that Trump disputed without evidence.
Yelp responded to the heightened attention by flagging the McDonald’s page. In 2023, Yelp reported placing 986 alerts on business pages due to increased public interest and has removed nearly 50,000 reviews as a result.
A notice on the McDonald’s Yelp page stated:
“While we don’t take a stand one way or the other when it comes to this incident, we’ve temporarily disabled the posting of content to this page as we work to investigate whether the content you see here reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events.”
Yelp’s Approach to Reviews
Yelp clarified that the disabling of reviews is temporary, stating that once the activity subsides, moderators would clean up the page to ensure only genuine consumer experiences are represented. Noorie Malik, Yelp’s VP of User Operations, noted:
“When we see the activity dramatically decrease or stop, our moderators will clean up the page so reviews describing only firsthand consumer experiences are reflected.”
McDonald’s Stance
Most McDonald’s locations operate as independently owned franchises, meaning franchise owners can decide whom to host. Following Trump’s visit, McDonald’s issued an internal memo asserting that they did not invite him. The memo stated:
“As we’ve seen, our brand has been a fixture of conversation this election cycle. While we’ve not sought this, it’s a testament to how much McDonald’s resonates with so many Americans.”
The memo also explained that Derek Giacomantonio, the franchise owner, was approached by local law enforcement regarding Trump’s visit, which he accepted. The company emphasized its core value of inclusivity, saying:
“We open our doors to everyone.”
Conclusion
Yelp’s action to disable reviews underscores the intersection of fast food and politics, especially during an election cycle. As the situation evolves, it remains to be seen how the reviews will be handled once the dust settles from this politically charged event.