Posted on 07/12/2014 10:21:32 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Last week, Burger King unveiled the greatest monument to ad decadence this year (so far): The Proud Whopper.
What, pray tell, is a Proud Whopper? It's a whopper with a rainbow-colored wrapper. Outside of that, it's identical to a normal whopper—and that's the point Burger King is trying to make. When the wrapper is opened, it states “we are all the same inside.” Just so, an asexual person or a gay person is the same on the inside as a straight person; we're all blood, guts, and bones with sinews holding it all together.
A Burger King PR rep will tell you it's a show of Burger King's solidarity with and love towards the LGBTQIA community. “We felt [the Proud Whopper] could bring to life a message of equality, self-expression, authenticity, and just being who you are,” a Burger King senior vice president of global branding told TIME.
However, to someone who's not a soulless marketing drone, the Proud Whopper is naught but pandering that doesn't help progress so much as it helps Burger King. You can just see old ad-men in Burger King HQ saying to himself, “Hmm, being gay is in now? How can we make money off this?”
But Burger King isn't the first brand to try and cash in on the zeitgeist's zeal towards social justice, diversity, and tolerance. The whole advertising world is going gay—from Target to Chevrolet. While this seems like a cause waving the rainbow flag in glee over, it's not. Advertising is a world of heartless cutthroats all with a predilection towards mendacity. Advertisers don't care about social causes, they care about how they can hijack social causes to further their own ends. Brands are not benevolent. As Salon's Daniel D'Addario noted:
“That's right—appealing to minority communities is what corporations should do in order to make sure they don't miss out on those sweet gay dollars. It's transparently what advertising has always been about, but in an era in which high-profile ad campaigns like the Cheerios spot featuring a multiracial family have been treated as a self-explanatory social good, the discerning gay consumer will hopefully not be too swayed by ads that are meant just to cash in on demographic identity."
An established brand pushing a social justice isn't activism, it's marketing—but even prestigious publications like The Wall Street Journal fall for the ploy. They considered Burger King's ridiculous Proud Whopper as a sign of the company “stepping up” for LGBT rights. They also noted that the video of people unveiling the Proud Whopper has more than 4.3 million views on YouTube.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
That's great, right? Well it's great if you're Burger King. Now 4.3 million people (and counting) are going to have a positive image of your brand. Burger King isn't only a fast food chain—they're an ally They care.
But where were Burger King and the other LGBT-friendly brands when the potential loss of tenure in San Fransisco threatened to put the jobs of many LGBT teachers in jeopardy? Are they on the front lines of the LGBT struggle in Ukraine? Are they trying to address the fact that LGBT employees feel less satisfied and less empowered at work? What about the very real, very disturbing hiring bias the LGBT community faces? LGBT discrimination is still here, and a shiny wrapper won't make it go anywhere.
The Proud Whopper didn't solve any problems. It didn't “support” the LGBT community. It supported Burger King's ad-ops division. It supported their whopper sales.
I'm sure you're thinking, “Oh, of course, it didn't; it's just a burger.”
True, it's just a burger. But that LGBT-friendly burger got media coverage at all the web's top sites. The day-to-day instances of discrimination people face (whether due to sexual orientation, skin color, or whatever other reason) can rarely boast this claim. Nine times out of 10 we only hear about the former.
“Look how progressive the world is becoming,” we say as we watch a gay couple open a Proud Whopper on YouTube. As we're transfixed by the feels, countless acts of prejudice are happening right around us, of which we remain blissfully unaware. Transgender people just received federal employment protection last month. It took that long to enact something that should've happened ages ago. But who gives a rat's derriere, society is saved because gay couples are in commercials and there's a gay-friendly whopper. Truly, we live in enlightened times.
And this isn't just a problem for LGBT issues. Remember Dove's “Real Beauty Sketches?” It became the most viral ad of all time thanks to its premise of teaching women to respect themselves—so long as “respecting themselves” meant buying Dove skin car products, natch. The new #LikeAGirl campaign from Always is equally farcical: Be sure to be strong and confident, ladies...but be sure you do that by purchasing Always products.
And, of course, the #LikeAGirl commercial features a conventionally attractive white woman as the star. Do you think #LikeAGirl will help dispel the circumstances that led to #YesAllWomen or stop any other problem women face?
Social justice-conscious advertising mimics the symptoms of progress. It creates illusions of progress that allow us to think society is more progressive than it truly is. When we see commercials touting trendy activist topics, it tricks us into believing the world is moving on from prejudice and doubt. In reality, however, the commercials are a form of prejudice in and of themselves. “Gay's are safe enough to advertise to,” “Women lack confidence and we can exploit that,” etc.
Advertisers are friends to no one. We would all do well to remember that.
*****
Matt Saccaro has contrbuted to Salon, Thought Catalog, Medium, and BuzzFeed. He’s the author of the eBook, Sex, Lies, and Scantrons, as well as an eBook about U.S. diplomatic history.
“Transgendered: Crazy person. If they claimed they where a plant would we be unsympathetic to not water them and feed them plant food? Come on their nuts!”
Egad, man! I’m not normally given to playing editor, but..!
“I do not think that means what you think it means.”
He didn’t leave a sign after blowing up Sodom and Gomorrah, so watch for incoming.
Burglar King, and the person who wrote this article can both take a gigantic leap into the septic tank.
In other words, fags aren't born that way - they make a decision to be fags. No gay gene, just perversion.
My wife and I have went to Burger King for years. We boycott any store that jumps on the sodomite bandwagon. Thanks for posting this. Burger King has gotten their last dollar from me.
Would Burger King Make A Wrapper Celebrating Husbands and Wives?
http://townhall.com/talkradio/weekendjournal
Most dykes, not all but most of them, are lifelong fat women that couldn’t find a man in their youth and ended up with another woman. 90% of them, even when they reach maturity, will leave the other dyke for a man if he comes along and likes a fat woman. They are no more born queer than the man in the moon. It’s an acquired trait. It’s all about sex and nothing else. Now these sexual deviants are gloried and worshipped, thanks to the queer president.
Very good comment. I also like your tag line. It’s sad
but true - and as these hard times continue - we need
to be reminded to stand strong...
I rather have a Subway than a burger king. I love Subway.
worked well for JC Penney . . .
“don’t buy anything from burger king.”
There is no level of hunger that I have experienced (so far) that would make me even entertain the thought for 1/2 of a second to eat at ‘Bugger’ King.
Boycott them until they go bankrupt. The fag customers won’t be enough to keep them afloat.
It's worse. More like painting over the lines around the curve and painting on lines which make the road look like it is straight.
>>Can’t .... mention .... Islam ....<<
Like hell I can’t -
SLAM IS A PERVERTED CULTURE FOR PEDOPHILE WORSHIPPERS.
Look at the old pics of Bill and Hillary. She fairly reeks of hippychick, although the ambition there would prevent disqualifying records of any such behaviour. Ayres, the mentor of Duh-1, was one such radical, who espoused 'eliminating' those who could not be brought around. These people are tyrannical, totalitarian people who want the world and humanity molded forcefully into the image that suits their short-term goals, be those power, wealth, or the adulation of the masses, and they are willing to do whatever it takes, impose any restriction, perform any act to make that come about, without anything but the thinnest of lip-service to morality and their twisted sense of "justice".
They serve a different master, one who glories in the destruction of humanity because it was created in the image of its creator.
Those behaviours destructive to humans had been laid out in scripture, and were to be avoided. Social guidelines were in place which, if followed, permitted continuity, and while with the New Covenant those restrictions were somewhat eased, fundamental mores were reinforced.
Abandoning them only leads to the bondage of sin, a lessening of freedom for the individual.
Burger King will do without my business, as will other businesses who offend by pushing the agenda of perversion.
We're probably better off not knowing.
Do you have Jimmy John’s where you are? If so, give them a try?
Yes.. across the street from my office. Love Jimmy John’s.
It’s called auto correct. Sometimes it is worse than misspelling, some times it is not. Punch in they’re and you are OK miss the ‘ and it can correct to there. If you are tired and the time is late, the drop box for spell checker can cause similar issues.
All in all in a long post, I find it both fascinating and somewhat silly that the only response one would have is to correct a grammatical error.
Regardless, my point remains the same. Transgendered people are crazy. No less psychotic than the person who claims he is Napoleon and rails about his missteps in Russia.
I do not believe that indulging in the fantasies of the psychotic is ultimately good for them , yourself or for the greater society. Those doctors that are involved in transgendered surgeries and hormone therapies are involved in mutilation & malpractice. They are doing nobody any favors.
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