Yes, that McDonald's ad is back in the news, yes, that ad, the French, you know the 'alluded' gay one, with the father and closeted son one, you got it, the one that's raising eyebrows over there in America and a fair bit of publicity in these parts, and by these parts I mean the greater area that is know as Europe!
The golden arches number two, Don Thompson has been having a word on the blower (that's English slang for telephone by the way!) with the Chicago Tribune. He's been talking about the Stella recovery McD's has made so far this decade, he also spoke briefly about that 'gay' ad, which is not going to be shown in America!
Here's a little extract from the interview in the Tribune.
Tribune: A French TV ad featuring a gay teen and his father has stirred some controversy — not there, but here. Can you talk about that?
Thompson: It is an example that markets, cultures are very different around the world. (For instance), I've never shied away from the fact that I'm a Christian. I have my own personal beliefs and I don't impose those on anybody else. I've been in countries where the majority of the people in the country don't believe in a deity or they may be atheist. Or the majority of the country is Muslim. Or it may be the majority is much younger skewed. So when you look at all these differences, it's not that I'm to be the judge or the jury relative to right or wrong. Having said that, at McDonald's, there are core values we stand for and the world is getting much closer. So we have a lot of conversations. We're going to make some mistakes at times. (We talk) about things that may have an implication in one part of the world and may be the cultural norm in another part of the world. And those are things that, yes, we're going to learn from. But, you're right, that commercial won't show in the United States.
Tribune: How has it done in France?
Thompson: Interestingly enough, there have been no negatives coming out of France. The brand is a local brand and different things will occur in different parts of the world. We just have to make sure that we understand the impact one action may make on another part of the world.
So, now you know, the ad is not gonna show in America, or other parts of Europe I've been lead to believe and what do we make of that? Are we to understand that Thompson's only goal is to sell way more burgers and that's it, they say they'll target each market separately - but a BigMac is a BigMac no matter which country you're in! Plus what are these core values he talks of? Christian core family values? Reading between the lines, it could seem a little dismissive to those Europeans, as he says we'll follow your culture to flog our burgers, but we retain the moral high ground. Is he saying that America isn't ready for a 'supposed' gay ad? That one of the worlds most well known purveyor of of dead cow in a bun would loose sales if it put on air an commercial of a closeted kid, forced to keep quiet, hiding his sexuality, in order to share a bite to eat with his father? I mean, don't shoot me here or anything, but to me that ad is hardly all that gay, so the kid takes out a photo, tells his 'friend' on the phone that he was thinking about him and misses him, but that's it, there is no, I love you or any other term of or indication of affection, the young lad says nothing more. There's no big pink signs on the wall, no rainbow flags flying, no drag queens singing in the corner, nope, so yes it's subtle, which is my point, it's hardly gonna scare the horses, is it? Yet, it's too scary for them to screen it anywhere other than France - yeah right!
I may be wrong here, but, I can see this starting to snowball and back firing on McD's. Instead of targeting the gay burger eating public, it'll drive us away in large numbers. Indeed there is a growing boycott of the fast food chain from within the gay community, both in America and elsewhere, I wonder how far it will go, are you still gonna munch those sandwiches?
Oh and by the way, just for the record, I'd rather stick my head up a dead bears ass that ea at McDonalds!
Jason Shaw
GayAgenda.com's UK Correspondent
Jason's daily blog, The Seafront Diariess is a personal journey into the mind of a 40 year old shopaholic and cheesecake fanatic.
Here's a little extract from the interview in the Tribune.
Tribune: A French TV ad featuring a gay teen and his father has stirred some controversy — not there, but here. Can you talk about that?
Thompson: It is an example that markets, cultures are very different around the world. (For instance), I've never shied away from the fact that I'm a Christian. I have my own personal beliefs and I don't impose those on anybody else. I've been in countries where the majority of the people in the country don't believe in a deity or they may be atheist. Or the majority of the country is Muslim. Or it may be the majority is much younger skewed. So when you look at all these differences, it's not that I'm to be the judge or the jury relative to right or wrong. Having said that, at McDonald's, there are core values we stand for and the world is getting much closer. So we have a lot of conversations. We're going to make some mistakes at times. (We talk) about things that may have an implication in one part of the world and may be the cultural norm in another part of the world. And those are things that, yes, we're going to learn from. But, you're right, that commercial won't show in the United States.
Tribune: How has it done in France?
Thompson: Interestingly enough, there have been no negatives coming out of France. The brand is a local brand and different things will occur in different parts of the world. We just have to make sure that we understand the impact one action may make on another part of the world.
So, now you know, the ad is not gonna show in America, or other parts of Europe I've been lead to believe and what do we make of that? Are we to understand that Thompson's only goal is to sell way more burgers and that's it, they say they'll target each market separately - but a BigMac is a BigMac no matter which country you're in! Plus what are these core values he talks of? Christian core family values? Reading between the lines, it could seem a little dismissive to those Europeans, as he says we'll follow your culture to flog our burgers, but we retain the moral high ground. Is he saying that America isn't ready for a 'supposed' gay ad? That one of the worlds most well known purveyor of of dead cow in a bun would loose sales if it put on air an commercial of a closeted kid, forced to keep quiet, hiding his sexuality, in order to share a bite to eat with his father? I mean, don't shoot me here or anything, but to me that ad is hardly all that gay, so the kid takes out a photo, tells his 'friend' on the phone that he was thinking about him and misses him, but that's it, there is no, I love you or any other term of or indication of affection, the young lad says nothing more. There's no big pink signs on the wall, no rainbow flags flying, no drag queens singing in the corner, nope, so yes it's subtle, which is my point, it's hardly gonna scare the horses, is it? Yet, it's too scary for them to screen it anywhere other than France - yeah right!
I may be wrong here, but, I can see this starting to snowball and back firing on McD's. Instead of targeting the gay burger eating public, it'll drive us away in large numbers. Indeed there is a growing boycott of the fast food chain from within the gay community, both in America and elsewhere, I wonder how far it will go, are you still gonna munch those sandwiches?
Oh and by the way, just for the record, I'd rather stick my head up a dead bears ass that ea at McDonalds!
Jason Shaw
GayAgenda.com's UK Correspondent
Jason's daily blog, The Seafront Diariess is a personal journey into the mind of a 40 year old shopaholic and cheesecake fanatic.
© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw
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