Burger King Demands ‘IT’ Be Banned for Similarities to Ronald McDonald

Burger King’s Russian division is demanding that the movie IT be banned in the country.

The fast-food chain filed a complaint with the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) claiming that the movie’s clown character, Pennywise, looks too much like Ronald McDonald. Burger King claims that the film is working as an advertisement for rival restaurant brand, McDonald’s.

The complaint was filed last week and was obtained by Russian financial publication, Vedomosti. Burger King claims that the “protagonist of the movie,” Pennywise, “is an exact copy” of Ronald McDonald.

Burger King says Ronald McDonald and Pennywise are similar in respect to “the color range and the [balloons] with which the clown lures children.”

“We can’t be concerned with the content of the film because the writer and director have their own creative understanding of any character,” a Burger King spokeswoman told The Hollywood Reporter.

A spokesperson for the FAS said on Monday that the board will need to examine IT in order to determine whether or not there was undue product placement or advertising for McDonald’s.

One issue that Burger King will likely run into with the complaint is that the film, which was directed by Andy Muschietti and stars Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, has been in theaters across Russia since September 7.

On opening weekend, the film grossed more than $7.2 million in Russia, Newsweek reports. In the United States, IT broke box office records in its first weekend with a $123 million haul. With its $475 million global debut, the movie has gone on to become the highest-grossing horror flick of all time.