McDonald's, Coca-Cola, other brands facing boycotts for continuous operations in Russia

McDonald's and Coca-Cola are some of the major brands that are facing boycotts as they are still running their businesses in Russia. They are now under pressure to close down as most companies are shutting and cutting ties with the country due to its invasion of Ukraine, which has already claimed thousands of lives and properties left in ruins.

According to Reuters, some other big brands that have yet to halt operations in Russia are PepsiCo Inc., Mondelez, Kimberly-Clark Corp., and Estee Lauder. It was reported that the New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli sent out letters last Friday, March 4, to some of the companies asking them to consider suspending their operations.

He asked them to examine if doing business in Russia is worth the risk in the current situation. Aside from McDonald's, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and all the other brands mentioned, Fortinet Inc., Bunge Ltd, Coty Inc., Trimble Inc., and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. have also received the letter from the NY state's pension fund chief.

In the letter, DiNapoli is urging the firms to review their businesses in Russia as they are facing "significant and growing legal, compliance, operational, human rights and personnel, and reputational risks." The official is said to be the one who supervises the state's around $280 billion pension fund that owns shares of the listed companies.

He further explained in the letter that the suspension or shutting of operations in the Vladimir Putin-led country "would address various investment risks associated with the Russian market and play an important role in condemning Russia's role in fundamentally undermining the international order that is vital to a strong and healthy global economy."

Nottinghamshire Live reported that McDonald's, which operates more than 850 restaurants in Russia, has also been called out by the public through social media. Some people were urging others to boycott the brand's restaurants, and there was even a warning to "leave Russia or lose loyal customers."

Finally, there are also calls from the public to boycott Coca-Cola for its seeming unwillingness to withdraw from the Russian market. People on social media are trying to persuade others to shift to other brands, as per Salon24. Currently, there are reports that say the beverage brand finally decided to halt its operations, but this could not be confirmed yet as the post about it has been allegedly deleted.