Fast food giant McDonald’s encountered significant systems failures across multiple countries, resulting in the closure of some of its restaurants for several hours. However, the company has ruled out cybersecurity issues as the cause of the problem.
The United States-based chain disclosed that a “technology outage” on Friday disrupted operations at outlets worldwide, including those in Australia, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
McDonald’s Japan acknowledged the disruption, stating that “operations are temporarily out at many of our stores nationwide” and described the incident as a “system failure.”
Patrik Hjelte, owner of several McDonald’s restaurants in central Sweden, explained to local newspaper Nya Wermlands Tidningen that all of the chain’s “restaurants are connected to a global network, and that is what’s messed up.”
The extent of the global impact on the number of affected stores remains unclear.
An outage tracking website, recorded a surge in issues with the McDonald’s app. Media reports highlighted customer complaints ranging from Australia to the UK regarding difficulties with ordering.
With approximately 40,000 restaurants worldwide, including over 14,000 stores in the US, McDonald’s holds a substantial presence in the global fast-food market.
In February, the company reported its first quarterly sales target miss in nearly four years, citing factors such as Israel’s conflict in Gaza. The decline followed calls for a boycott of the chain by customers in Muslim-majority countries after its Israeli franchisee donated thousands of free meals to the Israeli military.
Earlier this month, Meta-owned Facebook and Instagram also experienced technical disruptions, leading to global service interruptions for hundreds of thousands of users lasting over two hours.