Soon after McDonald's announced the temporary closure of over 800 outlets in Russia last week, people rushed to have one last bite of a burger.
Some Russians saw an opportunity to make money — stocked up their refrigerators with McDonald's products and sold them at hefty prices.
A picture posted on a Reddit forum showed a person stockpiling McDonald's burgers in the fridge and leaving little space for other groceries. The caption said, "McDonald's is permanently closing in Russia, here is my friend's stash."
Another user commented, "If it is not for personal consumption, it sure is a good business opportunity to sell stale burgers at a jacked price."
Various listings on Avito, a Russian classified advertisement platform, were products including Big Macs and McMuffins. A person advertised a Big Mac burger for sale at ₹2,300. A Big Mac meal was being sold approximately for ₹24,942.
McDonald's glass was being sold for ₹5,750 approximately.
Reportedly, it is unclear whether the advertisers successfully sold these products.
McDonald’s CEO Chris Kempczinski wrote a memo to the employees on March 8 that it is uncertain to predict when the company would reopen restaurants in Russia. However, the company is closely monitoring the humanitarian situation.