Ksenia Ovchinnikova, a Russian woman, is suing McDonald's because an advertisement showing their cheeseburgers allegedly caused her to break her Lent fast.
She claimed that she tried to abstain from eating meat and other animal products during Lent in 2019, but that viewing McDonald's ads led her to break her fast.
She claims she hadn't eaten meat in a month when McDonald's ads for burgers and nuggets forced Ovchinnikova to break her fast in April 2019.
Ovchinnikova is now accusing McDonald's of violating consumer protection laws as well as insulting her religious beliefs. She accuses the company of advertising meat and animal goods at a time when Christians are abstaining from them, and she is seeking compensation of 1,000 rubles ($14) for moral damage suffered.
Despite having fasted for 16 years, Ovchinnikova was unable to resist the advert and ended up ordering a burger at the local McDonald's.
Ksenia Ovchinnikova wrote in her statement, "By this point, I had already been fasting for a month, but when I saw an advertising banner, I couldn't help myself and went to McDonald's and bought a cheeseburger."
“I detect a violation of the consumer protection right in McDonald's behavior. I request that the court investigate and, if a breach has occurred, order McDonald's LLC to compensate me for moral harm in the amount of 1,000 rubles.”
According to Oddity Central, court sources told Zamoskvoretsky news service that the preliminary hearing on Ovchinnikova's claim has yet to be established.