Someone has marked a Wanaka business in Reece Cres as a potential site for a McDonald's restaurant on internet mapping service Google Maps.
It appears whoever made the mark did it in an unofficial capacity.
The building marked on the map is occupied by Central Wholesale. Its manager says it has no plans to move out of the building.
McDonald's New Zealand spokesman Simon Kenny said the company had no plans to open in Wanaka and had not identified anywhere as a potential site.
Wanaka was acknowledged as a town sensitive to the arrival of a McDonald's restaurant, Mr Kenny said.
Eagle-eyed locals who have found the mark on the map gave the fake potential restaurant a one-out-of-five review.
Comments left on the review make it clear some people do not see a future for the franchise in Wanaka.
One comment simply says ''no''.
Wanaka has a history of trying to stop fast-food franchises setting up in town.
Part of the Wanaka 2020 document which was developed by the community in 2002, includes a section about not allowing international fast-food franchises to set up in town.
Last year the group Ban International Fast Food Franchises from Wanaka started a petition asking for international fast-food franchises to be banned from the town.
Central Wholesale manager Shane Mackenzie said the first he heard about the mark on Google Maps was when he was contacted by the Otago Daily Times.
Mr Mackenzie said the company specialised in high-quality hospitality and cleaning supplies, not burgers and french fries.
A Google spokesman said to provide up-to-date. comprehensive information Google Maps used a wide range of sources which meant occasionally inaccuracies could arise.
Users who found inaccurate information were able report the issue to Google using the ''report a problem'' tool found on the map itself.
If a McDonald's restaurant was to open, it would not be the only international fast-food franchise in town.
There is already a Subway store in Wanaka and pizza giant Domino's Pizza has indicated it will open a store in the town before winter.
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Comments
It always amuses me how towns such as Wanaka scream and snivel about multi national chains, but when those companies do get around to opening they don't go broke.
If the noisy ones of Wanaka really wanted to put McDonalds (or others) off Wanaka, they should encourage McDonalds to open a store there and then no one buy the product. The place would go broke in a few months and McDonalds wouldn't come back. But we all know the anti brigade in no way represent the silent majority, so this would never happen.