Everybody Is Going Out To McDonald's Except Mitt Romney
Happy Friday, everyone! Isn't it great when we as Americans are friends with gay people and immigrants and Saudi Arabia? We should throw a party and all hang out together! But shhh don't invite Mitt. He's too busy giving speeches in Michigan . Also, he's lame.
Obama's big announcements about gay marriage and immigration continually make Mitt Romney look bad. Hmm, is that because the Republican stance on social issues is incredibly narrow-minded and based on the idea that if it is someone's "preference" to deny civil rights or denigrate immigrants who came here as children? No, it must be Obama's charm and celebrity supporters. [ Slate ]
Do you feel safe knowing that the US and Saudi Arabia are friends? Muslims around the world certainly don't. They're all like, "Uh guys? They don't let the women do anything fun, like drive or play sports or vote." But it's okay, because oil. [ Salon ]
What do you think of Elizabeth Warren as a possible successor to President Obama? The Democrats seem excited about her, although we know how nitpicky they can be. [ The Atlantic ]
Finally, in an almost literal "this is how we make the sausage" move, McDonald's releases a video showing why a Quarter Pounder doesn't look like it does in the ads. It's really weird, because they use palette knives and special grills and Photoshop, but they're like "we HAVE to do this because of the box and how pictures are 2-D and sometimes the bun has holes and that isn't pretty," but...but they're using Photoshop! On food! Well, the best thing about this video is the marketing woman's Canadian accent. [ NPR ]
Fake food is a major form of advertising in Japan. The thing is, what you get usually resembles the replica pretty closely.
There's a steakhouse chain in California (and perhaps elsewhere) called "Cattlemen's". When I got out of the AF, I lived quite close to one in Petaluma for a few months, so I went there a number of times.
An interesting feature of their decor was that there were mid-sized (8 x 10, 18 x 24, like that) photos of cattle all over the walls, and on the endcaps of booths. Some individual shots, some small groups. They were like family snapshots.
I was 25 at the time, so it didn't bother me much. But I did wonder what effect it had on the little kids -- it was a popular family place. Also, I quickly learned that it wasn't a great place for a date.