She approached customers who were heard laughing at her emotional rant.
She is then asked to leave by a McDonald's staff member who threatened to call the police.
The woman and her friend were then lead out of the store by staff.
The woman was protesting about livestock ships transporting cows to China, The Daily Mail reports.
The woman was filmed shouting at McDonald's Hawera customers. Photo / TikTok
Users on social media criticised the woman for her actions.
"This lot don't help anyone," one user commented.
"People like this young woman do more harm than good because they polarise the argument."
Another agreed that the woman's actions went too far.
"When will they understand this is the wrong way to change people's minds…all they are doing is making people want to eat more meat out of spite rather than berating," a Reddit user said.
Another stood up for the women's actions: "As a vegan I completely sympathise with how she's feeling. It's kind of maddening living in a society that pretends to be civilised by condones such cruelty."
A spokesperson from McDonalds NZ confirmed to the Daily Mail Australia a person was acting in an aggressive manner at the Hawera and says staff intervened effectively to diffuse situation.
The woman's heated protest comes after McDonalds NZ released a McVeggie burger, and released a disclaimer stating the burger isn't actually vegetarian, because it is cooked with the same equipment used to cook chicken.
