A good amount of my $30k/year undergraduate education went towards instilling in me an uncanny knack for critiquing culture. I have, for the most part, steered clear of such ramblings on this blog. But, I just can't ignore the latest McDonald's commercials that are playing out here. You know the one - the 2 black guys, the ambiguous brown/Latino? guy, and the Asian guy on the couch playing video games? Yeah, and the one black guy is eating the new McDonald's "Snack Wrap" which somehow prevents him from being a total wuss like the other guys? I just can't let this one go. Why? Because it's so clear that McD's was really trying to zone in on a particular target audience here: hetero male minorities. First, we've got the actual snack - you can almost hear the marketing/food "creators" at McD's sitting around the boardroom table -
"hey guys, but how can we get our African American AND Latino customers in one fell swoop?"
"oh - I know, Bob, how about, fried chicken, wrapped - WAIT FOR IT - in a tortilla!"
"brilliant!"
"and how about some ranch dressing on that!"
"i'm lovin' it!"
Wha? Fried chicken, smothered in cheddar jack (what the hell is cheddar jack anyway?) cheese and ranch dressing with iceburg lettuce shreds wrapped in a tortilla? Um...ok.
Furthermore, I like how they throw the Asian kid playing the video game in the commercial. "But how do we reach our Asian market?"
Watch for the upcoming raw fish hash brown roll that will attempt to get the Japanese and Jewish markets at once.
