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And yet another small victory for the LGBT community and their supporters! McDonald’s, a notoriously “family-friendly” franchise, has released a commercial in France depicting a father and son bonding over the oh-so-sumptuous and delectable, though high-calorie, food. The son, who is talking on his cell phone to an apparent significant other, says, “I miss you,” indicating the fact that the two on the phone share an intimate relationship. The boy continues to pore over his class photo, where his partner is assumed to be included, as his father returns with the food. The boy hastily gets off the phone as his father gazes adoringly at his son’s class photo, stating that when he was a boy, all of the girls fawned over him, and it was unfortunate that all of the teenagers in his son’s class photo were, in fact, boys.
The son gives his father a knowing, placating, little smirk and the commercial concludes with the saying, “Venez comme vous êtes,” which translates to, “Come as you are” in English.
While this video, with its fabulous music, touched a sensitive heartstring in me, others have been quick to judge McDonald’s for portraying a closeted individual, stating that the topic should be more out in the open and up for discussion. Nathalie Legarlantezec, the brand director of McDonald’s France, claims:
“We wanted to take a look at how French society is today. We’re very comfortable with the topic of homosexuality, there is obviously no problem with homosexuality in France today.” While the statement sounds a bit naive in a country where same sex couples cannot legally marry nor adopt, the idea was to give a positive image of the brand: “The point was not to show someone who is troubled, especially a teenager. We know it can be difficult for some people, but we wouldn’t have dared show someone who is struggling”.
In my opinion, it’s a small step forward, and as we all know, it’s “one small step for [McDonald's], [but] one giant leap for mankind.”
So, take it for what it’s worth (in my eyes, a lot) and enjoy it. It’s really a great piece of marketing.
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Did you see crazy Bill O’Reilly’s response? He and his guest are arrogant and obnoxious throughout the analysis–but Bill’O takes it to another level when, as the piece ends, he makes an allusion to Al’Qaeda. It’s lovely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SG9Sd5oNDl4
I watched that video, I can’t even explain how mad it made me… What an ignorant asshole!
Urgh. I wish I hadn’t watched that clip. What a condescending little twat.
I will skip it. Ignorant pricks make me mad to begin with, the fact that people pay him to spout this drivel makes me even more angry. It’s Wednesday, and Wednesdays are a day to be happy and not think about all the obtuse simpletons in the world.
i think this is fantastic! does anyone know what song is playing in the commercial?
“Road of My Own” by Mile Ends. I’ve never heard of them, myself, but it’s a fabulous song!
http://www.myspace.com/themileends
Being closeted is a stage that most gay kids go through, so I don’t see a problem with the choice to portray a closeted teenager.
Go McDonald’s though. I’m sure there are some homophobes who are upset about this mainstreaming of homosexuality or whatever spin they want to put on it, but I think they’re often the same people who get their panties in a twist over racial diversity or single mothers being portrayed on TV.
[...] McDonald’s Goes Gay For New Commercial – Zelda Lily [...]
I’m having a hard time understanding how one’s sexual activities relate to the selling of hamburger, but whatever McDonalds, I’ll still continue to not eat there.
I knew it! Hamburgers make you gay! (and milkshakes make you communist)
@Boringusername
I went to McDonald’s yesterday. No more milkshakes :-( I guess they’re trying to keep the communist population in my country really low.
Hold the pickle,I heard they can make you Presbyterian!
Oh boy, way to go McDonald’s! Are you kidding me?
I found this commercial silly and contrite. Who cares if gay people eat at McDonald’s? Who cares if STRAIGHT people eat at McDonald’s? All this commercial does is insinuate that accepting gay people is something special that McDonald’s does in comparison to other establishments, implying segregation against gays. It’s just a ploy to make more money because it warms the hearts of simpletons who believe that gays need to be coddled and reassured of their rights to be served like anyone else. They already have that right, let’s not act like it’s some big fucking deal that gay people get treated like everyone else. Christ…
And before i have someone go off on me for being homophobic or something, I am a proud bisexual woman who simply thinks that it’s embarrassing when people feel like they need to go out of their way to acknowledge that gays should be treated equally. What rubbish.
So, finally having a commercial for a mainstream company that has a gay teen in it is coddling gay people?
And it annoys you?
My cousin had a terrible time in high school being a gay boy. It’s nice to see more mainstream images of gay boys. Maybe it’ll become more normal, and images of gay teenagers won’t be so alarming in high school. And then kids like my cousin can have an easier time of it.
I don’t see anything wrong with that idea.
Bisexual girls rarely (if ever) face any type of shunning at all. I know, I was one. If anything, it made me more popular and interesting. So you declaring that this commercial is unnecessary rubbish based on your experience as a bisexual woman kind of falls flat on my ears.
It’s true, I am a straight man and in my opinion bisexual ladies are made out of cotton candy and rainbows. But gay men are usually a punch line or a punching bag (not that I am a basher but it is what it is).
Much as I find it offensive, for a majority of straight guys this is true. Bisexual girls = OMFG THREESOME MAYBE SHE’LL MAKE OUT WITH ANOTHER CHICK, and gay guys = weird, creepy homo.
The only reason I can think for for this (and I admit it’s not exactly logical) is that since straight guys are attracted to women, the idea that a woman (which they are attracted to) is attracted to another woman (which they are also attracted to) is like attractiveness squared. Or something.
You guys are completely right. There exists a double standard. Again, I don’t agree with it, but it is there. I don’t understand why also.
I never said that my experience as a bisexual influenced my view of the commercial, it was more of an aside so that my comments wouldn’t be skewed as homophobic. It doesn’t play into my argument at all, and I feel like it has caused you to miss my real point.
I believe that this commercial insinuates segregation against gay people, and that bothers me. Think of it this way: If this same commercial were to portray a black boy looking at his class picture, and then his father were to say “Yeah, it’s too bad all the girls in your class are white,” wouldn’t you be outraged?
I understand that many kids have a hard time growing up gay, but does it really make it better for a shitty fast food joint to put out a commercial who’s message is still “You’re different”? I don’t think it does.
Interesting take on this…need to think about this.
I think it almost always does marginalized people good to see representations of themselves in mainstream media.
I agree with you on that completely, just not when it’s that kind of message. If gay people, gay couples could be portrayed in commercials WITHOUT their homosexuality having to being addressed, as is the case with straight people and straight couples in the media, then we’d be somewhere. But commercials like this one that McDonald’s put out only perpetuates the belief that homosexuals are different from other people and need to be viewed as such.
This commercial reminds me of one I saw in a cinema a while back. I loved this one…I think its great!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdpjM3OeLSo
I love this ad! Though eating hamburgers at McDonalds has absolutely nothing to do with being closeted and gay, I still love it!! It portrays gays REALISTICALLY in today’s society, and not in a condescending homophobic way. Go Maccas!!!!! I’m eating there more often.
Oh yeah the father portrayed in this is an idiot. Reminds me of my mum, ew XP
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