McDonald's in the United Kingdom chose a tartan design for new host and hostess uniforms in all of its 764 U.K. restaurants. By most accounts, the ties, scarves, and waistcoats in the tartan fabric were considered to be attractive. However, soon after the uniforms began to appear in teh restaurants, it became apparent that McDonald's had breached British etiquette.
What went wrong?
Different Scottish tartans historically belong to individual clans, or families, whose members in days gone by were typically fiercely competetive with each other, sometimes to the point of bloodshed. Where McDonald;s tripped up was in choosing the tartan belonging to Clan Lindsay, rivals of the Donalds. An enraged Godfrey Lord MacDonald, chief of Clan Donald (who allegedly commands the allegiance of every Donald, MacDonald, and McDonald worldwide), complained of a complete lack of understanding of the name. He says there are nineteen MacDonald tartans the company could have chosen from.
Design copyright Scars Publications and Design. Copyright of individual pieces remain with the author. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.
