Burger King and the Corruption of the Innocents

Mood: Upbeat
Listening to: My kids being monkeys

So. Burger King has a new ad campaign out. In case you have your head in a hole in the sand (like New Orleans does about having a serious gang problem), Burger king is going around to the few uncharted, pristine places on earth and giving the natives Burger King burgers in a farcical attempt at a taste test as a marketing campaign.

I know that there are some (hello Pointlessbanter.com!) who are saying that the BK execs are laughing all the way to the bank hearing the moral outrage of people that brings more publicity to them, but hear me out. Pointless banter, I love ya, but I disagree. Not about them bankrolling, they are, but about how it’s unsavory even if not true. It’s like making a commercial about using a certain brand of condom because your sister prefers it. Eww. I’m not usually one to get up on my soapbox and preach over a moral cause involving fine dining of the fast food variety, but I deem this cause worthy. Now I’m pretty sure BK isn’t actually going out and finding indigenous people to run marketing exercises on. They’re pretty hard to find because they’re so isolated. That and the fact that they’d probably catch you and eat you, but I digress.

What I find so completely offensive about this ad is the fact that BK is presenting the point of view that they aren’t happy ruining the health of the connected world. They have to ruin the health of absolutely everyone. I’d say BK is getting a bit hegemonous for my taste. I mean seriously. Apparently Burger King isn’t satisfied with making the known world fat. They are out to make the entire planet fat. Because introducing burgers loaded with saturated fat would really be the best thing for people who subsist on a healthy diet of fruit and insects. All for the cause of marketing.

Another thing that gets me is that BK seems to be telling us that we can’t trust the taste buds of the everyday man. We could not possibly choose a Whopper over a Big Mac. Are we all really on board for eating burgers chosen by people thing who have never had a burger before? I’d say that if you really gave a person a burger who’s never had one before (especially a fast food nightmare like a Whopper), they wouldn’t eat it. They aren’t programmed to crave fat like the western world is. People who have never eaten bread and may eat fire cooked meat once a month most likely aren’t going to go for ground grey meat on a squishy roll. As I said, it’s a nice marketing idea to raise discussion, but it’s a little morally corrupt. I’m not a major burger queen anyhow, but it did make me want to go to BK less, rather than more. I can pick my own burger thanks, I don’t need a Maori tribesman to do it for me.

Becky

The "F" Word

Listening to: Random Hindi on the Ipod.
Mood: Ready to get back into a schedule

Thanksgiving weekend is coming to a close at our house. It’s Sunday and the kids are already in bed. Hubby will stay home for 1 more day just to use up some vacation. I am SO ready to get back into our daily schedule. For some reason or other, it’s impossibly hard for me to get into my schedule when my husband or eldest daughter are home. They just seem to move at a different rate and direction than yours truly. Fine for a few days, but then I need to have some space to do the usual things required to run a 4 person household.

For some reason (besides having always sworn like a sailor) I have had the “f” word on my mind a lot lately, and I don’t mean fuchsia. I am a huge fan. I love love love it. It just carries a poignancy that you can’t replace with milder words without losing the passion or looking retarded. I think George Carlin is my hero when it comes to the word. He just lays it all out there and wonders what in the heck is the big deal? I agree. How did we manage to capture such an offensive sentiment into one word, and why f? I can think of plenty of words that are far more offensive than the “f” word. Words, for all my propensity for swearing, never ever use. Perhaps it’s just the lure of the forbidden. Perhaps if everybody walked around yelling “Fark!!” every time they ran into a telephone pole, it wouldn’t be so attractive. Whatever. I’m still going to be using every time I mentally rip someone a new one for pulling in front of me in traffic. After all, can’t have my 5 year old developing this propensity so young.

Becky