McDonald's Upside-Down Flag Creates Controversy
In what is turning into a mini post-election controversy, a McDonald's has been the subject of scrutiny after it became known that the fast food establishment flew the flag upside down and at half-mast.
The McDonalds franchise is located in Brooke County, West Virginia, in the town of Follansbee, and was noticed by passing motorists early Wednesday morning.
When a flag is flown upside down it represents distress, and an American flag flown at half-mast represents a state of mourning or grief. Some thought it was a disrespectful act in protest of the outcome of the election, and after several complaints and inquiries concerning the flag, it was removed later Wednesday morning.
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"I think that's a stab at us. It doesn't make sense why anyone would want to do that. That's a distress signal, and maybe they didn't know that, but we know that," Lou Headman, a veteran, told WPIX.
A manager of the store took to social media to explain that while they flew the flag at half-mast intentionally; having the flag also fly upside down was just an accident.
"I just want to say: I am a manager at that McDonald's. The flag was to be flown at half-staff as per McDonald's Corporation. As for it being flown upside down--it was a complete and total accident. NO ONE at our store would PURPOSELY fly the flag upside down. Our flag pole is actually broken, and we are unable to move the flag," the manager wrote on WTOV's Facebook page.
After attention to the flag grew, the owner of the McDonalds franchise revealed that the reason the flag was upside down was due to broken flag pole cables.
"Unfortunately, a flag cable broke and during the process of trying the fix the flag, it was inadvertently turned upside down. It wasn't noticed that the flag was upside down until a customer inquired about it," Karen Mezan, the McDonald's franchisee owner, said in a statement.
