Ronald Still Reigns
The weirdest thing happened today at work. I was looking into teen health videos on youtube, because it really seems like there aren't that many geared towards your typical teenager... What 15 year old wants to sit and listen to a weird conservative woman talk about health topics? BORING!
Anyhoo, I found something that sounded really promising, titled "A new and AWESOME Teen Health Series." I clicked on the link and found an awkward guy talking to a slightly less awkward guy about a project that wasn't even born yet and it fell flat and got all religious and weird in the end. But to the right-hand side where YouTube lists other videos, I saw Barney! "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy Part 3," so I watched it, partly to reminisce about how guilty I was to watch that show in my teens, but also to see what kind of material Barney would put out. Not bad. But still, no spice. I got distracted by Ronald McDonald's face out of the corner of my eye and clicked to see what the 11 minute video could possibly be about!
I didn't know Ronald had his own show, but I was curious. It was very Peewee Herman with a really creepy puppet dog, and I got about 3 and a half minutes in when I realized I was WATCHING MCDONALDS. I was thinking about hamburgers and their french fries, wondering if they were all going to eat them on their camping trip, even though I am a vegetarian and stopped eating at McDonalds thirteen years ago. On purpose.
Woah. Talk about subliminal marketing. Talk about sneaking up on ya. Talk about taking advantage of the youth. It looks like McDonalds still reigns the top of the food market. That'd be like sneaking in an "Adventures of Joe Camel" cigarette advertisement after looking up baby camels. It's just wrong. We have to teach our kids some serious media literacy! I read Fast Food Nation when I was about 15, two years after watching a cow get slaughtered on the highway and becoming vegetarian, and about a year before I stopped stealing my friend's fries from McDonalds.
I often want to bring up animal rights with the kids I work with but it's so controversial because I am so mindful of influence. Even when they bring it up, I find it hard to engage because I know I have a strong opinion on the topic and don't want their parents to freak out. "You told my 13 year old to watch The Cove?!?" (I did do that once, but luckily she'd already seen it. haha) :)
Alright, peace and love and no McDonalds,
Katie
Anyhoo, I found something that sounded really promising, titled "A new and AWESOME Teen Health Series." I clicked on the link and found an awkward guy talking to a slightly less awkward guy about a project that wasn't even born yet and it fell flat and got all religious and weird in the end. But to the right-hand side where YouTube lists other videos, I saw Barney! "Eat, Drink and Be Healthy Part 3," so I watched it, partly to reminisce about how guilty I was to watch that show in my teens, but also to see what kind of material Barney would put out. Not bad. But still, no spice. I got distracted by Ronald McDonald's face out of the corner of my eye and clicked to see what the 11 minute video could possibly be about!
I didn't know Ronald had his own show, but I was curious. It was very Peewee Herman with a really creepy puppet dog, and I got about 3 and a half minutes in when I realized I was WATCHING MCDONALDS. I was thinking about hamburgers and their french fries, wondering if they were all going to eat them on their camping trip, even though I am a vegetarian and stopped eating at McDonalds thirteen years ago. On purpose.
Woah. Talk about subliminal marketing. Talk about sneaking up on ya. Talk about taking advantage of the youth. It looks like McDonalds still reigns the top of the food market. That'd be like sneaking in an "Adventures of Joe Camel" cigarette advertisement after looking up baby camels. It's just wrong. We have to teach our kids some serious media literacy! I read Fast Food Nation when I was about 15, two years after watching a cow get slaughtered on the highway and becoming vegetarian, and about a year before I stopped stealing my friend's fries from McDonalds.
I often want to bring up animal rights with the kids I work with but it's so controversial because I am so mindful of influence. Even when they bring it up, I find it hard to engage because I know I have a strong opinion on the topic and don't want their parents to freak out. "You told my 13 year old to watch The Cove?!?" (I did do that once, but luckily she'd already seen it. haha) :)
Alright, peace and love and no McDonalds,
Katie
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