Minsk Belarus
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

Sunday Morning Photograph November 13 2022: Fast Food Restaurants Invade Minsk.

A Whopper of a development — or a fowl occurrence?

Belarus has endured more than its fair share of adversity during a difficult history over the centuries — including being a part of the Soviet Union until its independence was declared on Sunday, August 25, 1991, when it became a highly centralized authoritarian government under its first and only president who has publicly declared himself as its dictator — but the country has been slowly transforming as it continues to develop…

Sunday Morning Photograph November 13 2022: Fast Food Restaurants Invade Minsk.

Minsk Belarus
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

…and one of the signs of a vestige of a free market economy is the ubiquitousness of fast food restaurants that have popped up in the capital city of Minsk, which is also the largest city in Belarus. For example, an advertisement for McDonald’s is brazenly — and strategically — placed opposite a Burger King restaurant.

Minsk Belarus
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

Interestingly, the logotype for McDonald’s in Minsk uses Roman letters — unlike in Sofia in Bulgaria, in which the Cyrillic characters of макдональдс are used instead for the logotype.

Minsk Belarus
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

The logo for Texas Chicken on an advertisement which was publicly displayed under a street sign looked vaguely familiar to me — until I realized that it was the same logo as for Church’s Chicken in the United States, whose own logo was changed yet again earlier in 2022 in the 70 years of existence of the fast food chicken restaurant chain.

Although technically not a fast food restaurant, TGI Fridays is also represented in Minsk.

Minsk Belarus
Photograph ©2017 by Brian Cohen.

Final Boarding Call

More articles at The Gate about my experiences in Belarus include:

Please click here for a complete list of the Sunday Morning Photograph series of articles at The Gate, which include photographs taken of nature and sights of interest in many countries and territories around the world — including but not limited to:

  • Andorra
  • Argentina
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Belarus
  • Brazil
  • Bulgaria
  • Canada
  • China
  • Colombia
  • Czechia or Czech Republic
  • Dominican Republic
  • England in Great Britain in the United Kingdom
  • Estonia
  • Finland
  • Germany
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Kenya
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Mozambique
  • Oman
  • Panama
  • Poland
  • Romania
  • Singapore
  • Slovenia
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Swaziland or Eswatini
  • Sweden
  • Thailand
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United States
  • Uruguay

All photographs ©2015 by Brian Cohen.

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