Ok, so the beef is claimed to be 100% USDA- inspected. Well, might that be because the FDA does not require preservatives, antibiotics, or other genetic modifications to appear on the labels? Making JC Gonzalez , McDonald's' puppet, not a liar, but just that, a puppet. The truth cannot be molded, but fallacies are quite palpable. An article that appeared in the Temple News out of Temple University entitled, “Fatty Food? Nope. Frankenfood? Maybe.” reports on a pair of teenagers that sued McDonald's for making them fat. Judge Robert Sweet dismissed the case, citing that the boy's new full well that the fare served at McDonald's was fattening and unhealthful. He did however label the food “Frankenfood - that is foods that were modified so many times that they became something entirely unknown in the history of nature.” And what about the mystery preservative TBHQ? I can only imagine what this tastes like alone. This, an ingredient contained in some of the menu items at McDonald's that you and I, the layman, have probably not heard of before. Turns out, TBHQ is a form of butane that is either sprayed directly on the nugget, or the box it's sold in. Nuggets are prepared with no more than .02% of this antioxidant, which is derived from petroleum. But hey, as long as the USDA certifies and regulates the use of these types of preservatives, we should be safe right? I'm not so sure.
USSR and the Golden Arches
McDonald's presence is felt throughout the world. You can have a big Mac pretty much anywhere these days, even communist Russia. Global menus are reflecting American tastes buds and some would even go so far as to say their economic ideals. McDonald's represents the idea of capitalism and the inherent freedom it provides to the “haves”, and how it uses the “have-nots' to grow ever larger. George Cohen, Senior Chairman of McDonald's Russia and Senior Chairman of the Executive Committee of McDonald's Restaurants of Canada, endeavored to bring the golden arches to Russia, and succeeded. Mikhail Gorbachev, in his forward to Cohen's book, To Russia with Fries, writes “ At the height of the period of stagnation, when the free spirit of the market was totally non-existent, George enthusiastically pursued the idea of starting a business here, and he succeeded, despite having to fight his way through a bureaucratic jungle.” Cohen opened the first McDonald's in Russia in 1990 and thus brought popular American fare to its people. Gorbachev goes on to say, “The merry clowns, the Big Mac signs, the colourful, unique decorations and ideal cleanliness in and around the restaurant, the welcome smiles and helpful service- all of this compliments the hamburgers whose great popularity is well deserved.” As a country that stands for the very antithesis of what has made McDonald's so wildly successful, the president, Gorbachev himself, seems like a commercial spokesperson in some sort of commercial. This great American dream, which McDonald's has served to the poor and destitute, has made Russia one of their fastest growing markets, with inexpensive land being one of the main contributing factors. If a Canadian businessman like George Cohen can seek and succeed to open this kind of restaurant, the very symbol known worldwide to be associated with capitalism, and prove profitable, what does this say for the future of McDonald's? The world may be going green to save all of our you-know-what's, but it is McDonald's that is truly seeing the green.
And the Jury Say's?
I think when the curtain comes up at the end of the show, McDonald's should not receive top billing in this drama. There are a plethora of characters responsible for our current state of discontent. I've never eaten a large fry and a Big Mac and felt very good about it afterwards. The popular influence that has made McDonald's and labels like “gigantic” and “unhealthful” synonymous, is part marketing genius, and equal parts public acceptance. No one has arranged my burger to look like an eggplant sandwich. There have been no doctors parading around as a large order of fries, trying to persuade my dollar into McDonald's' registers. We have bought what McDonald's is selling for decades. There is a point when individual choice of the products and services we consume, can and will offset what profits these larger-than-life companies will see. When we come together collectively to show these corporations that we do not want to be associated with poor health and gluttony as a culture, we are essentially putting them out of business. Putting them out of the reach of the popular culture.
The problem with McDonald's isn't that they have forced us to do anything. The problem is, some would argue they have underhandedly made bazillions on our bad decisions. I believe the more poignant question here is, when you know the milk has gone bad, do you then serve it to your guests anyway? McDonald's, unlike you and I, know what preservatives they are labeling as food, but continue to pocket the grand profits anyway. Our weaknesses, have made them rich, all the while knowing full well they are selling us low quality, unhealthful food. Our taste for high fat, low fiber fare has parlayed itself into profits made by McDonald's, which you and I couldn't begin to fathom. The billions spent on marketing directly to our children, and the mistreatment and degradation of animals on the fast track to the drive through window, are all cause for alarm. These elements are all part of McDonald's strategic mission to impregnate our minds with visions of milkshakes and hamburgers. And until their millions of patrons around the globe, organize a concerted effort to say no to these super-sized values and bargain-priced sustenance, McDonald's will continue to serve billions in the most far reaching places on earth. What makes someone or something popular, is decided by the masses. The popular culture of this global economy has said yes to convenience, but no to the effects we see as a result. Something is wrong here. If McDonald's is “Miss Popularity”, it's because “Billions Served” have crowned it as such.
