McDonald's NZ 'made a mistake' in posting far-right meme to Facebook

McDonald's NZ has removed a far-right meme after it was posted to their official Facebook page yesterday.

The Pepe the Frog image, popularised by the far-right online, was posted by McDonald's in response to criticism of their use of another meme.

After users criticised the restaurant's use of the meme, McDonald's responded with a series of cheeky responses, including an animated GIF of Pepe.

The meme was removed after McDonald's were contacted by the Herald.

The post was removed minutes after the Herald contacted McDonald's, as other Facebook users also took notice of the image with one asking: "This is a white supremacy symbol...you sure about this?"

A McDonald's spokesperson told the Herald: "Community managers commonly use memes to respond to customers but they have made a mistake in this instance. When it was brought to our attention it was removed immediately."

Pepe the Frog is an online cartoon character that was created by Matt Furie in 2005, and subsequently became a meme, sometimes called the "sad frog meme" and shared in social media posts by the likes of pop star Katy Perry.

The McDonald's NZ Facebook page posted the meme in response to criticism. Photo / File

But in 2016 the US-based Anti-Defamation League (ADL) said Pepe the Frog was being used "by haters on social media to suggest racist, anti-Semitic or other bigoted notions, as a hate symbol".

Furie has said he was horrified to see his creation become an online mascot for white nationalists and has since tried to reclaim his creation through the courts, pursuing outlets using the image, including notorious US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

The meme hit the headlines during the 2017 NZ election after New Zealand First leader Winston Peters signed a poster featuring the character.

Peters responded saying: "Pepe started off as a pretty innocuous cartoon character and like most modern things they can be distorted and twisted and what have you."

This year has already seen some major social media fails from big corporates, with clothing company Forever 21 sending out diet bars with its online orders and Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola making the ill-advised decision to team up to send out napkins that urged those on Delta flights to engage in matchmaking with their fellow passengers.

The napkins did not go down well on social media. Photo / Luis De Jesus