New Mc D's Gay Commercial

Tue, Jun 1, 2010 by Andrew

McDonald’s decided it would go for the pink Franc this week, when it debuted a gay-themed commercial in France. The fast food joint sells mainly beef, yes, but there’s something fishy about this ploy.

The commercial in question, seen below, shows a teenager speaking with a classmate, cooing, “I was thinking about you, too.” His proud papa comes ambling over and laments the fact that his son goes to an all boys’ school; otherwise he would be neck high in ladies. The commercial ends with the invitation, “Come as You Are.” There are a lot of problems here.

Journo Todd Heywood wonders whether this commercial in fact endorses the closet. “If McDonald’s is ‘come as you are,’ why doesn’t the young man’s father know his son is gay? Why is it the son doesn’t tell him at that moment? Are you really who you are if you have to put up with heterosexual assumptions about you, and don’t feel you can challenge them?” That’s a valid point, definitely. Heywood, as much as I respect him, doesn’t hit all the marks.

When I first saw this commercial, I thought, “McDonald’s would never air such a thing in America.” And it’s true. The company came under fire from the American Family Association and likeminded groups back in 2008, when it was revealed the company had joined the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and had installed an employee on the organization’s executive board.

Social conservatives, being social conservatives, went bonkers, and launched a boycott. Peter LaBarbera from the anti-gay group Americans for “Truth,” insisted, “If McDonald’s restaurants and franchises … follow the small business advice of the company’s new homosexual partner – the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), which received a $20,000 grant from McDonald’s – there would be chaos.” McDonald’s at the time claimed, “Hatred has no place in our culture. That includes McDonald’s, and we stand by and support our people to live and work in a society free of discrimination and harassment.” The posturing soon faded, McDonald’s folded to conservative forces and the NGLCC lost a powerful ally.

McDonald’s chose to air this commercial in France because, quite simply, they knew a gay-inclusive advert wouldn’t fly in America. So, rather than going for Yank Doodle’s gay dough, they’re looking elsewhere.

Now, I know advertising’s an ugly business: you’re seducing people to buy your product; there’s a certain amount of Siren song that goes along with such things. To back down to anti-gay forces in America and then go for gay money in France, however, reeks of disingenuity. And, honestly, it sickens me more than the idea of what’s in McDonald’s chicken nuggets, which, as delicious as they are, I won’t be having any time soon. Hey, maybe my personal boycott will make them change their minds, grow some balls and embrace American homos, rather than preying on those who may not be aware of its checkered gay past