Kevin Marshall's America
The ceramic shrine to red meat that adorns the parking lot of the Amsterdam Ponderosa got me to thinking about how morbid food marketing used to be.
Take, for instance, Big Daddy. Ideally we’re supposed to look at this bull and laugh, but I couldn’t escape the notion that this creature was doomed to be consumed by man. It seems morbid to me, though I’m sure some Animal Rights folks would go further.
The McNugget Buddies celebrate and encourage their own murder.
The worst, though, was the McNugget Buddies.
Created by McDonalds to sell their Chicken McNuggets to kids, the McNugget Buddies were actual McNuggets themselves. They would gleefully sing and shout their joy at their impending doom, even going so far as to jump into tiny containers of barbecue sauce.
To call them self-destructive would be an understatement, and a bit of a misnomer. Someone who’s self-destructive will engage in behaviors that are detrimental to their health. The McNugget Buddies went far beyond that, and actually encouraged their consumption.
“Murder me,” they’d say. “Murder me, and eat me. Then laugh.”
The McNuggets, along with other McDonalds Land “delights,” were retired in the 21st Century in favor of images of real people eating inside the restaurant. Comparatively speaking, it’s painfully dull and colorless. Sure, the McNugget Buddies and their ilk were awkward and morbid avatars of greasy gluttony, but at least they weren’t boring.
Also of note: Grimace, the lovable creature whose nature was a mystery to us all, originally started out as a shake-stealing villain with four arms. Frightening.
Before anyone asks: no, there won’t be any nostalgic trips to McDonalds. I gave that stuff up years ago and I’m all the better for it.
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4 Responses to The McNugget Buddies: Happily encouraging their oblivion
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STALK ME
You’ll like this: an entire blog featuring animals in adverting and marketing who are just begging to be eaten.
http://suicidefood.blogspot.com/
marketing gimics that didn’t quite make it:
Wendy’s: when you want to eat out…Eat Wendy’s
McDonald’s: even our salad tastes like beef
Burger King: the dictator of fast food
Chinese Buffet: it may be chicken
I love NY Pizza: Best f’ing pizza this side of the Bronx
Great post!!!
How about those chocolate cookie ads when they are driving in a car and singing ‘don’t you want me baby” and slowly get snatched up by a giant hand from the sky.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz4u8XXUgxA
Then there’s the M&M running on the checkout conveyor to try and stay out of the bag. After that the not so bright M&M is looking at the ‘guest list’ for the party when the other M&M points out that it is actually the menu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBIxxFYn4gM
Funny stuff!
Seeing that vintage McDonald’s commercial reminded me of something. Back in the 1960’s, one of the most popular Saturday morning kids’ shows was H.R. Pufnstuf. The McDonald’s advertising department tried to get Sid and Marty Krofft to license HR Pufnstuf to McDonald’s, but neither side could agree on a proper price. A few months later, up pops these “McDonaldland” commercials that look suspiciously similar to the world of Living Island, where H.R. Pufnstuf is said to take place. Sid and Marty Krofft sued McDonald’s for copyright infringement – and won, creating a landmark case in copyright protection that’s still being used in courts today.