McDonald's

While the adjacent Pizza Hut and Hardee's have since re-opened following the recent Tahrir clashes, McDonald's restaurant on Mohamed Mahmoud St. remains closed. As I passed it today, workers were giving the exterior a fresh coat of paint and getting rid of any traces of street art. While there were no murals on facade, there certainly was spray-paint.

Despite the prospect of new spray-paint and more shattered-windows, the restaurants and storefronts on and around Midan Tahrir consistently cleanup, and cover-up any traces of violence, as soon as it is safe to do so. In contrast when I visited the famed Cafe Leopold in Mumbai months after the 26/11 attacks of 2008, there were still bullet holes visible in the Cafe windows. And it turns out that they're still there.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/article2669147.ece

While shattered clash should certainly be swept away, what about bullet holes and graffiti? It is itself evidence, isn't it best to let it remain and serve as a reminder? I think it adds a sense of character and authenticity.

But I suppose McDonald's has never been concerned with that.

Eat This

This is a familiar piece of street art, the stencil can be found many places in Cairo. This particular rendition-- strategically placed across the street from a McDonald's-- has been spray-painted over. None of the other pieces of street art near it have been painted over, maybe McDonald's got tired of the bad publicity?

The stencil reads "SCAF Eat This" in black spray-paint. The two McDonald's arches become fighter jets.

It is worth noting that the stencil was painted over with red spray-paint. Most of the time, a piece of street art is painted over with white paint and completely erased.