McDonald's tried to say the McBurrito would replace Mexico's national dish and chaos ensued

McDonald's has alienated customers in Mexico by suggesting that the McBurrito would replace tamales.

"Tamales are a thing of the past," McDonald's said in an advertisement posted on its Mexican Facebook page.

Customers were infuriated by the statement, reports Rafa Fernandez De Castro at Fusion.

"Tamales are a traditional masa-based, leaf-wrapped food. It's Mexicans go-to comfort food," he writes. "So when the gringo burger joint took a swing at the tamale, Mexican nationalism came out in full force on social media to denounce McDonald's culinary blasphemy."

"I'd rather eat tamales than your horrible rotten products," one customer wrote on Facebook.

Other posts called McDonald's "idiotic" and asserted that its products were made from rat meat.

Public figures such as TV news anchor Joaquín López-Dóriga also spoke out against the company.

McDonald's eventually removed the campaign.

The fast food giant is losing market share in the US.

McDonald's hasn't done enough to appeal to the growing Hispanic population, Columbia Business School professor Michelle Greenwald told Business Insider.

"They aren't doing enough to attract the fastest-growing demographic," Greenwald said. "Perhaps if they innovated it would help their business.