Author: Leow Si Wan & Chuang Bing Han
Publication: The Straits Times
Date: January 9, 2010
URL: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_475296.html
Its move in omitting pig character from zodiac
animal set irks Chinese
FAST-FOOD giant McDonald's has stirred up
a controversy by omitting pig characters from its latest toy promotions.
The pig soft toy was expected to have been
part of a 12-character Doraemon set depicting the animals of the Chinese zodiac
calendar. Customers wanting the toy would have to pay $2 on top of making
a food purchase.
But McDonald's decided not to include the
pig toy to avoid offending Muslim customers, and had a Doraemon Cupid toy
in its place instead.
The move has upset Chinese customers keen
on collecting all 12 toys in the series. One of them, staff nurse Daphne Koh,
26, said: 'I was born in the Year of the Pig and would have collected the
whole set. But without the pig, it makes no sense for me to do so.'
Retiree May Liaw, 55, who had wanted to buy
a set to decorate her home for Chinese New Year, said: 'It is strange to have
Cupid in place of the pig. The set is incomplete and I am not interested in
individual pieces.'
Various online forums are also abuzz with
discussions on whether the fast-food chain has overreacted.