McDonald's... Racist? Read the fine print.

At first sight the new advertising campaign for McDonald's in Sweden gives you quite a shock.

It’s hard to believe one’s eyes, but there it stands, in bold print:

“We don’t hire Turks, Greeks, Poles, Indians, Ethiopians, Vietnamese, Chinese and Peruvians”.

Excuse me, are you serious?

In terms of creativity, boring and so old school... in fact 1968 called and it wants its ad back. This is like the "FREE SEX" in bold, only to reveal "now that we got your attention let's talk about your dry cleaning". Sad, this is just tired. Very tired.

But as usual, read the fine print... further down on the poster (surprise) is written:

Nor Swedes, South Koreans, or Norwegians. We hire individuals. We don’t care what your surname is. Because ambition and determination have nothing to do with your nationality. McDonald’s is one of the most integrated companies in Sweden, with as many as ninety-five nationalities working for us. Join us.

I can't understand how the campaign has sparked heated debates. Those who only read the beginning are of course shocked, whereas others are intrigued by it (and continue reading the rest of the message). Really, I was always of the opinion that Sweden was an innovative and creative capital, but this just doesn't play, not even in Stockholm.

I guess the ad fulfilled its primary objective, which was to make people talk about McDonald’s. But was that really the objective?