MCDONALD’S has been slammed for their “insulting” advert that bragged about hourly pay with 12 dollar bills.
The advert, which boasted about their $12 hourly starting wage, began circulating on social media on Thanksgiving.
“I actually find this more insulting than anything,” one social media user wrote, alongside a photograph of the advert.
Others rapidly started to mock the company, with one person quipping: “gee golly twelve WHOLE dollars, mr manager sir?”
Some creative people also began to photoshop the advert and make their own.
One showed a pile of chicken nuggets, with the same “now starting at” and “an hour” above and below the food.
Another made an expletive version of the advert, with dollar bills spelling out “f**k you.”
The caption read: “Hey look I changed it to what they really mean WITH the amount they should be paying their employees!”
The debut designer user 23 dollar bills to spell out the profanity.
The Sun contacted McDonald’s for comment, however they did not immediately respond.
Back in May, McDonald’s announced it was raising pay at 650 company-owned stores in the US as part of its push to hire thousands of new workers in a tight labor market.
The fast-food giant was also encouraging its franchisees – which make up 95 percent of its restaurant base – to boost pay.
It followed other chains including Chipotle, which said Monday that it will raise workers’ pay to an average of $15 per hour by the end of June.
Wages and benefits for U.S. workers have been rising quickly as vaccinations increase and employers try to meet growing demand at restaurants and other businesses. U.S. workers’ total compensation rose 0.9% in the first three months of this year, the largest gain in more than 13 years, according to the Labor Department.
McDonald’s, based in Chicago, said earlier this year that its hourly wages would increase an average of 10 percent over the next few months to $13 per hour, rising to $15 per hour by 2024.
Entry-level workers would make at least $11 per hour; shift managers would make at least $15 per hour.
Fight for $15 and a Union, a labor group which is trying to unionize fast food workers, said the increases aren’t enough and it will continue to demand a starting wage of $15 per hour for all McDonald’s workers.
“Clearly, McDonald’s understands that in order to hire and retain talented workers, something needs to change,” union organizer and McDonald’s employee and union organizer Doneshia Babbitt said in a statement at the time.
“Now, they’re raising pay for some of us and using fancy math tricks to gloss over the fact that they’re selling most of us short.”
The vast majority of McDonald’s nearly 14,000 US stores are owned by franchisees who set pay in their own restaurants.
McDonald’s said it didn’t have data on wages at franchised restaurants but said that it’s asking them to follow suit.
“We encourage all our owner/operators to make this same commitment to their restaurant teams in ways that make the most sense for their community, their people and their long-term growth,” McDonald’s U.S. President Joe Erlinger wrote in a letter to employees.
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