Even the McDonald’s logo is practising social distancing

COVID-19 has severly impacted several regions, with a confirmed number of 242,830 cases of infection across 170 countries—and the public have been advised by multiple sources to practise good hygiene habits in a bid to reduce the spread. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has also issued a guide that advises people to maintain a distance of 1m from anyone who is coughing or sneezing.

And in an apparent bid to encourage this, McDonald’s has changed the profile photo of its Facebook page—and the new logo looks a tad different. Now, the two arches of the M logo don’t touch anymore; it looks a lot closer to two Ns, actually. Still, it’s a good reminder, and a nice touch in a time of crisis.

The logo change was only done with McDonald’s Brazilian Facebook page, although this isn’t the first (or second) time that McDonald’s has changed its logo/name. McDonald’s in Bukit Bintang renamed was renamed as “Mekdi” once, and there is the famous case of “Macca’s” in Australia. In fact, a designer based in Slovenia created mock-ups of 12 different iconic brands, redesigned to suit the current situation.

There’s no caption on the new McDonald’s logo, but if you look through the comments, you’ll see that the message is: practise social distancing. There’s also a comment from McDonald’s in reply to a user, with the following translated to English with Google Translate:

“We always prioritise the safety and well-being of the the team and that’s why we make this difficult decision to close our salons, to avoid a great movement of people at this time. For Drive-through and delivery, we take all prevention and protection measures, including strengthening our hygiene and cleaning protocols. Separated for a moment to always be together.”

On the local side of things, McDonald’s restaurants are still open from 8am everyday, with Drive-Thru and Takeaway options available. In Malaysia, 900 cases have been confirmed as of this morning (9am, 20 March), with 2 deaths confirmed.