McDonald’s franchise apologizes for decorations showing a figure hanging from tree

A McDonald’s franchise in Massachusetts apologized after displaying decorations showing a figure hanging from a tree.

The Halloween stickers displayed on the front counter of a North Andover location featured Jack-O-Lanterns, black bats and a tree that had a dead figure hanging from it, which some customers said demonstrated a lynching, the TODAY show reported.

{mosads}Customer and North Andover resident Erik Pocock saw and documented the decorations while ordering. He originally posted his video on Twitter while tagging McDonald’s asking the company to “explain this,” according to Patch. His tweet is now unavailable. 

“My friends and I were completely shocked that a large establishment like McDonald’s would put decorations like these up for all to see. It’s disgusting, insensitive and I can’t believe someone thought this was a good idea,” he told TODAY Food.

.@McDonalds is apologizing after these Halloween decorations were put up in their North Andover restaurant. Customers we spoke with tonight are split about whether the image is offensive #WCVB pic.twitter.com/wnRfhmV8zP

— Matt Reed (@MattReedNews) October 24, 2019

Chuck Lietz, the owner and operator of the North Andover McDonald’s franchise located across the street from a high school, said in a statement obtained by TODAY that the restaurant took down the decorations immediately. 

“We deeply regret that these decorations were on display, and as soon as we identified the inappropriate content, we immediately removed the decorations display,” Lietz said in the statement. “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.”