As one of the biggest names in the fast-food industry, McDonald’s seems like it should be safe from confusion over brand recognition — but Mickey D’s customers in China are dealing with a complicated situation.
McDonalds Corp. changed its name in China to one that reflects the chain’s main logo: “Golden Arches (China) Co Ltd,” Reuters reports.
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But while “Golden Arches (China) Co Ltd” will be the company’s new business name in China, its brand (read: restaurant) name will remain McDonald’s, meaning the change will only take place on paper.
“Our restaurant name will remain the same, the change is only at business license level,” a spokesperson told Reuters.
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The decision to change the business name came after McDonald’s sold parts of its China business to a new company that plans to expand to about 4,500 Chinese locations (there are currently around 2,500).
“It will still be clearly ‘McDonald’s’ when diners come to our stores,” the chain said on its official China microblog.
But while nothing will change in the actual fast-food restaurants, Chinese customers have still reacted with confusion on social media.
One person on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, wrote that Golden Arches “sounds like a furniture store. Are you sure the food is edible?”
Another Weibo user said the new name made it sound like one of the stuffy state-run companies and that it was “not fitting for a foreign brand.” Others said it was “rustic” or “backwards.”
Other Chinese fans of the fast-food restaurant drew parallels to the newly released biopic of McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, “The Founder,” saying that he placed symbolic significance in the golden arches.
More: Here Are the McDonald’s Secret Menu Items You Never Knew About
The Golden Arches news comes the same week as the company announced it would finally be replacing its dollar menu, which it got rid of in 2014 and focused instead on deals like the McPick 2 for $5.
The discount menu will include $1, $2 and $3 items and is due to make its long-awaited return in 2018.
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