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Because when anyone sees a bloodthirsty clown who lives in the sewers and preys on children, they suddenly feel a pang for Big Macs and McNuggets

When you envision the scariest, creepiest or simply most iconic clowns in popular culture, a few characters quickly come to mind: Stephen King’s It/Pennywise, Ronald McDonald, Jigsaw, The Joker, etc.

They all share a handful of traits: a big red mouth, a very poor haircut and a hunger to torture and murder (though in Ronald’s case, it’s really just hunger — unless you’re vegetarian).

But, according to Burger King Russia, Pennywise and Ronald in particular just look far too much alike. And with the recent film adaptation of King’s It currently in theatres, complete with the big hair and red lips (and sharp teeth), Pennywise is pretty much everywhere.

According to BK, due to his (questionable) similarity to Ronald, It could essentially be considered an advertisement for McDonald’s and, therefore, very bad for BK business. Because when anyone sees a bloodthirsty clown who lives in the sewers and preys on children, they suddenly feel a pang for Big Macs and McNuggets. Sure.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the chain is now petitioning the Russian government’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service to try and ban It from showing in theatres in an effort to stop the madness.

But one imagines McDonald’s would not be keen to have Pennywise associated in any shape or form with its franchise anyway. Nevertheless, if Burger King Russia is accomplishing anything with its current efforts to bring down the clown, it’s giving McDonald’s a whole lot of free promo. Oops.

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