First, I thought this would be an April 1 joke, but:
Lost Your Passport? For Americans in Austria, Any McDonald’s Can HelpMay 16, 2019
For American tourists who find themselves in a bind in Austria and don’t know the German words for police (“polizei”), “help!” (“hilfe!”) or the European equivalent of 911 (112), any McDonald’s will do.
Under a new partnership announced by the United States Embassy in Vienna, beginning on Wednesday, American citizens need only locate the golden arches of the fast-food chain restaurant to seek help to contact a consular office.
Lost your passport or cellphone abroad? Just stroll through the doors of one of any of the 194 McDonald’s in Austria, and staff members will provide a 24/7 hotline number for the United States Embassy and a phone to call there if needed, according to the partnership announced on Facebook last week.
A spokesman for McDonald’s Austria, Willi Baldia, said on Thursday that he was not aware of any other country with such an arrangement.
In the post, the United States ambassador to Austria, Trevor D. Traina, a former technology entrepreneur who founded and sold start-ups to companies including Microsoft, is shown smiling and shaking hands with Isabelle Kuster, the managing director of McDonald’s Austria, after signing a “memorandum of agreement.” A branded coffee cup is placed strategically on the table.
Mr. Baldia said the company was not being paid for the new service.
The United States government did not provide any particular reason for choosing McDonald’s or Austria, but Mr. Baldia said the embassy had approached the chain with the idea. In an email on Thursday, a State Department official wrote, “We work from time to time with private-sector entities and other nongovernment around the world as part of our commitment to assisting U.S. citizens in need overseas.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/16/world/europe/austria-mcdonalds-passport.htmlhttps://diepresse.com/home/panorama/oesterreich/5627475/USAmerikaner-in-Not-koennen-sich-bei-McDonalds-melden
