McDonald’s said on Friday it had halted operations at many of its stores in Japan due to a system disruption and was facing technical outages at some other outlets worldwide, including Australia.
Many McDonald’s stores in Japan stopped taking in-person and mobile customer orders because of the system disruption, a spokesperson at McDonald’s Holdings Company Japan said, adding that the company was working to restore operations soon.
A McDonald’s Australia spokesperson said they were also aware of a technology outage impacting its restaurants nationwide and were working to resolve this issue.
The company operates nearly 3,000 stores across Japan and roughly 1,000 in Australia, its websites for the regions show.
The New York Times said McDonald’s Hong Kong was also experiencing a “computer system failure”, stating that the mobile ordering and self-ordering kiosks were not functioning.
The fast food chain had about 245 outlets in Hong Kong, according to its website.
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Some of the more than 160 stores in New Zealand also reported outages. A company spokesperson told the New Zealand Herald newspaper: “Restaurants are experiencing an IT issue that’s impacting their ability to process orders.”
McDonald’s Hong Kong and New Zealand did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the outages. McDonald’s Corp also did not immediately respond to a request for a comment about the cause of the outages suffered worldwide.
Many people around the world started boycotting McDonald’s last year after the food chain’s branch in Israel announced on social media that it had handed out thousands of free meals to the Israeli military amid its fight with Hamas.
They slammed the outlet for not supporting the army and allegedly ignoring the vulnerable Palestinians.
A global boycott campaign reportedly hit the fast food giant’s business after it was revealed that it was supporting Israeli forces by providing free meals.
McDonald’s Pakistan clarified in October 2023, saying that it is not affiliated with the operations in Israel.
The statement issued in English and Urdu added that it does not engage in any form of political movement. A month later, the burger chain slashed the prices of a number of its menu items by nearly 60% to counter the trend.
