Update: It appears McDonalds needed Twitter to tell Robert Gibbs and the company's Corporate relations team that their account had been "compromised."

Twitter notified us that our account was compromised. We deleted the tweet, secured our account and are now investigating this. — McDonald's (@McDonaldsCorp) March 16, 2017

And so, as MCD has washed its hands of the rogue tweet and blamed "compromising" actors, the company has generated substantial media buzz... the only question is whether the buzz will lead to more or less sales.

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One day after Twitter stock tumbled after a pervasive hack showed just how vulnerable the underperforming social network (where 15% of total users appear to be bots) remains, moments ago McDonalds tweeted to president Trump, in what appears to be the latest hack of a prominent account, that "You are actually a disgusting excuse of a President and we would love to have @BarackObama back, also you have tiny hands."

The confrontational tweet was even pinned for a moment:

We assume, of course, that this is a hack. If not, the media is about to have a field day with the latest member of the "resistance."

Of course, it could have been just a rogue employee who is about to join the "unemployed resistance."

It is worth noting that Trump was once in a commercial for the fast food giant, and has posted images eating McDonald's food on his social media accounts during his campaign.

Of course, it may not have been a "rogue employee" at all: former Obama press secretary Robert Gibbs is now the executive vice president and global chief communications officer at McDonald's. To wit:

June 09, 2015 McDonald’s Corporation today announced the appointments of Robert Gibbs as Executive Vice President, Global Chief Communications Officer and Silvia Lagnado as Executive Vice President, Global Chief Marketing Officer. Both will report to McDonald’s President and CEO Steve Easterbrook. In his new role, Gibbs will lead McDonald’s corporate relations group, which manages internal and external communications and government and public affairs. He will lead McDonald’s in communicating clear, coordinated messages to internal and external constituencies, enhancing the brand and supporting corporate strategies. Gibbs joins McDonald’s from The Incite Agency, a strategic communications advisory firm he co-founded in 2013. Prior to that he held several senior advisory roles in the White House, serving as President Barack Obama’s press secretary during his first term, then as senior campaign advisor during his re-election campaign.

Which means he also has access to the company's twitter account...



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Update: the tweet has since been deleted although it does not appear that McDonalds was actually hacked as the account continues its back and forth with other customers in a far more calm and collected manner.