YOURSAY | Group sparked boycott fire leading to lawsuit

YOURSAY | 'If court finds McDonald's Malaysia has a case, BDS has to file its defence.'

Boycott group says McDonald's suit has 'no grounds'

Delay No More: It is the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) group’s right to call a boycott. The right of the public to ignore. Did anyone block customers from entering McDonald’s?

McDonald’s could have done a whole lot better to counter the allegations with their deep pockets.

Their highly paid executives with the might of their international organisation lost a PR war.

Is BDS a formal organisation registered with the Registrar of Societies or a hotchpotch of individuals? What are the defamatory statements?

This lawsuit by McDonald’s is going to backfire on the fast food chain with more people boycotting.

Right or wrong nobody likes a big American cultural icon seemingly ‘bullying’ some local randos.

Better to engage with their current and potential customers with store visits, more good works and a brilliant advertising campaign to win the hearts of Malaysians featuring their hard-working delivery riders and drivers, a tasty new unity burger, and their dedicated staff who put in a shift to earn some extra bucks to support their families and brighten their customers day.

Falcon: BDS Malaysia chairperson Mohd Nazari Ismail should have said "See you in court!" instead of McDonald’s Malaysia has no grounds to file a suit against them.

This has national and international repercussions when one zealously and selectively targets a brand whose locals have absolutely nothing to do with either policy or the behaviour of international actors!

Why? All for domestic politics! I wonder why those Arab states neighbouring Gaza didn't do this.

Do they know something our political adventurers don't know or don't want to acknowledge?

The fundamental question is who did you hurt in this campaign? The answer: Malaysians and Malaysia!

Oct: There's no point in claiming that Gerbang Alaf Restaurants Sdn Bhd (GAR), the franchise owner of McDonald’s in Malaysia, has no grounds to sue BDS.

GAR is seeking damages in court. It’s not up to you to decide whether GAR has the facts to back it up, it’s the court. If the court finds GAR has a case, BDS has to file Its defence.

BDS should start some crowdfunding in case they need to file for defence.

The rakyat may suggest a boycott, but BDS seems to be the initiator. BDS started the fire. Let's see how it puts it out.

Coward: @Oct, starting or even showing support is still not the issue.

The issue is whether there is any untrue statement.

As reported elsewhere, it may boil down to whether the McDonald’s referred to in BDS statements can be said to be about McDonald's Malaysia, and whether it is wrong to associate McDonald’s Malaysia with it.

For the former, given the long time-lapse before GAR filed the suit, I think they are also banging on the fact that BDS, after knowing that McDonald's Malaysia is a separate entity, continued on its line of attack.

For the latter, the court has to agree that McDonald's Malaysia is a different entity. Because of that, I am not sure.

Despite my disagreement with BDS' action, I also disagree that McDonald's Malaysia can bask in the limelight when it suits them and use it to sell burgers but draw the line when things go sideways.

The public is right to say whatever McDonald’s brand does anywhere in the world has a connection with the local franchise because it is under the same umbrella.

Grizzled Warrior: Hmmm... one wonders, apart from the tort of defamation, whether counsel for GAR has considered mounting a suit against BDS under the economic tort.

The tort of injurious falsehood (also known as trade libel) consists of the malicious publication of falsehood concerning the plaintiff that leads other persons to act in a manner that causes actual loss, damage, or expense to the plaintiff. Injury to reputation is not a necessary element to this tort.

The fact that it is the public (and not BDS itself) who executed the boycott at your instigation is irrelevant. I'm getting my popcorn.

Ringside seats anyone? This would likely make for interesting reading.

Mazhilamani: How could the boycott reach so many if not mooted by BDS? Didn't BDS feel elated about its reach with Malay consumers until McDonald’s decided to seek compensation?

What has BDS to say about McDonald's staff being terminated, expiry of food and loss of business? Would all this have happened had BDS not called for a boycott?

Now that BDS is being sued, it wants to backtrack. Is it not a bit too late?

Man on the Silver Mountain: If you were brave enough to initiate the action, you should be brave enough to face the consequences.

Your response should be, “Bring it on. See you in court.” If you thought you did what was right, why deny it now?

Did you not see the consequence of your action that could incur losses and cause employees to be out of their jobs?

Anonymous 50493: Advocate to help people in far-off lands but punish our local wage earners. What sort of charity is this?

Can’t Nazari understand that the world economy is so highly interdependent and intertwined now that punishing one country will not have an effect just on that country alone but will negatively affect many countries not complicit in wrongdoings?

Rajawan: As a registered organisation, BDS should not simply endorse a boycott of McDonald’s Malaysia employing thousands of Malaysians and paying millions of ringgit to zakat.

There is no evidence that McDonald’s Malaysia's earnings go to Israel's government.

BDS deserves to get sued.

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