Companies may eventually realize isolation isn’t the best path for ending Russian attacks on Ukraine. The Soviet system was sclerotic by design, but societies find ways of evolving because powerful ideas don’t respect borders or central committees. Cultural diplomacy made Soviets question the system. Gorbachev understood that, sparking a series of reforms that he thought could keep the system afloat. Ultimately, he could not stave off the West—and ended up starring in that Pizza Hut commercial.
Yes, let’s go back to that one-minute ad once again. It’s an artifact of an era that saw Gorbachev as a symbol of the West’s victory over its Cold War menace. The ad never aired in Russia, but the symbolism was clear in an American pizza chain using the former Soviet leader as an emblem of a changing world. Gorbachev had recognized America’s inevitability, allowing McDonald’s to open its first store in Pushkin Square in 1990; opening day served 38,000 customers, the global fast food company’s biggest day to date. “I felt like I was eating America itself,” one man told VOA in 2020 on the 30th anniversary of the store opening.
And, in another symbol of the West’s relationship with Russia, that store will now close as part of the Western withdrawal. One has to wonder what a darkened pair of golden arches in Moscow says about America’s cultural dominance. It doesn’t stretch the imagination to see Putin grinning like Ronald McDonald.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member