North Andover McDonald’s apologizes for offensive Halloween decorations
One of the decorations depicted a person being hanged from a tree.
A McDonald’s in North Andover apologized this week for putting up Halloween decorations depicting a person being hanged from a tree.
“More like a lynching, but you could have taken it either way,” customer Erik Pocock told WCVB-5.
The small image, which was plastered to the front counter, appeared next to more traditional seasonal decor such as jack-o-lanterns, spooky trees, and bats.
Just one station … takes you inside a popular restaurant with #Halloween decorations that scared and hurt some of their customers. The story on #7news at 6pm pic.twitter.com/Z77gYKx7ao
— Kimberly Bookman (@KimberlyBookman) October 23, 2019
“It looked like a typical Halloween decoration. It said ‘Happy Halloween.’ It had some spiderwebs and some spiders and, like, a haunted tree and I was like: ‘Oh, that’s cute,’” Pocock told the station. “Then, you look closer and that’s not cute. That’s not right.”
The owner and operator of the McDonald’s, Chuck Lietz, released a statement saying that he and his team took down the decorations and regret that they were ever up.
“Creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive to all our guests and employees is critically important to us, and we apologize for any unintended offense they may have had on our community,” the statement read.
A similar situation happened in Brooklyn this week when the co-founder of a nonprofit Brooklyn art studio owner put up a window display featuring brown paper dolls hanging by their necks from strings.
The co-owner took down the decorations, which she said were meant to be based on the horror film “Annabelle,” after the backlash and posted multiple lengthy apologies on Facebook.
“I made a tremendous mistake,” one read. “I now realize the harm and hurt caused by the unacceptable imagery I used in my Halloween decorations at my home and understand how it connects to the centuries of historical trauma in this country.”
https://www.facebook.com/artshackbrooklyn/posts/2545791322181991?__xts__[0]=68.ARABrVecF6o4Xg72t1ugZRUUI9N3w8IZwOn7ExQuI2rR-qk3s55pB-e7QcJoQ3VyvgdqZMBC-cc2XN5ma8axjGsfVTQ46MIMjpGNoWT9CvlBGokoFEnD_N1PyFw0NBYNB13PjuD9mCRL3hADQkOF8f4vEVmB337ZgVek7zI_ek61l5piPwLQkqdGii-Fs8_tPF4aAnJS_579m3eqKuIRoq61cBkpA6BbrV2_FEze3eeRlxY812MV6SIgknQXk17Q8KunhSCZQ7NZuvBoNPiAjJJOAe_pZcCA8DtxvsqRLxRvL2EeALo5BE15KGyTkqOJfh_ipHxd6IfKsBXrQx6now&__tn__=-R
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com