Dear Larry: Have you seen the newest McDonald's commercial? If you haven't seen it, it goes like this: There is a black family, a mom and two kids, at McDonald's. The two kids can't be more than 5 and 8.
The older child asks the worker whether they are hiring. The worker tells the child that they are. The child goes into this spiel about how great it would be to work at McDonald's. He adds that he has this great master plan about someday working there.
The child is all excited, as if it's the best thing ever, and his little brother agrees. The mother is just standing there smiling, as if to say: "Yeah, aren't my kids great? They are going to work at McDonald's someday!"
I actually find this commercial to be a little offensive. Don't you feel the media/society/big companies should be encouraging young black kids to aspire to something better for themselves than working at McDonald's? Not that there's anything wrong with it; it's better than no job or doing drugs or committing crimes.
I just don't think a real career goal should be a job at McDonald's. And the fact that it is black kids makes it seem as if they are trying to say black people are only good enough to work at fast-food places.
What do you think? — Jen
Dear Jen: I did an unofficial survey of 10 black people. I asked them to read your letter and give me their opinions. Only one person agreed with your opinion.
It's interesting how most of the people I surveyed think the little boy is on the right track because they know people with McDonald's franchises, and the fast-food owners are all millionaires.
I see your point, but I think you are being too sensitive.
Dear Larry: I must respond to Lacy, who had friends who poked fun at her boyfriend because of his poor table manners.
Lacy's boyfriend's family sounds a lot like my family.
I come from a large Jewish-American family, and meals together are loud.
I don't know which is louder, the yelling or the munching. We reach across the table, eat with our hands, take huge bites, and tear parts off turkeys instead of cutting them.
At restaurants, we're a bit more refined, but we only go to deli restaurants where you can wear what you like. If the meal is not a jacket-and-tie affair, it's a free-for-all feeding frenzy!
Some of us like to enjoy ourselves when we eat. Why put on airs? As long as you're not having a food fight or making sexist comments, who cares if you resemble the Mongol hordes when you eat?
Refinement? Leave that to the Kennedys or the British royal family.
If she doesn't have a problem with his family's eating habits, what's the fuss? She can meet her friends WITHOUT him and make it a girls' night out!
If God wanted us to use forks, why did he invent fried chicken? — Enjoyable Eating
Dear Enjoyable: It sounds as if your family knows how to have a good time. Bon appétit.
To find out more about Larry G. Meeks and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.
COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.
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5 Comments | Post Comment
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I haven't seen the McDonald's commercial and there might be subtle undertones that are racist, but it sounds great to me. We all know about people who have large numbers of franchise restaurants and they are doing quite well. In fact, Steak and Shake restaurants in our area are doing well only at the ones owned by certain franchisees.
I admire kids who have big business plans. You see them now and again on Donny Deutch's TV show, Big Ideas . They are already millionaires. When I was trying to remember the name of the show, I found quite a few books listed on how to make you kid a millionaire. Maybe I should have read something like that instead of the Blue Fairy book when I was a kid.
Comment: #1
Posted by: BB
Sat Oct 4, 2008 2:13 PM
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I have not seen the commercial.
However, from reading its description, it seems very wrong, and I don't think the writer is too sensitive. The writer is being as sensitive as should be expected of all Americans. Commercials use a lot of psychology to get people to buy their products. Human emotion is the best one to exploit.
Whether the family in the commercial is black, or not, however, it's still wrong to act as though wanting to work at a fast-food chain is the end goal in life. Too many high school students think that's good enough, and wind up working there well past high school, and forgo college or other means of getting good jobs and careers. This is no exaggeration. Perhaps the commercial should have the kid saying "I want to work at McDonald's so I can save money for college!"
Now that would be a win-win situation.
Comment: #2
Posted by: Kitty
Mon Oct 6, 2008 10:00 AM
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The kid in the commercial could do a lot worse. If he keeps his work ethic and initiative, he may well go far.
According to the tell-all book "Fast Food Nation" by Eroc Schlosser, which is very unfriendly to the fast food industry, McDonald's and other fast food companies tend to promote from within, and many executives start out as line cooks or cashiers. This sentiment is echoed by the McDonald's corporate fact sheet, which states that "12 of 50" of the top management started out in the restaurants... and that number includes the CEO. No matter how hard Schlosser tried to dig up the dirt, he couldn't find anything negative to say about the amazing potential for upward mobility.
According to Time Magazine, there are over 31,000 McDonald's locations. Of these, according to the McDonald's fact sheet 1,200 (3.87%) are owned by people who start out working in the restaurant. You need to have some serious green to do that (a 25% down payment of $300k of non-borrowed money according to McDonald's franchising Web page). Putting that amount of money together is not easy on a restaurant manager's pay. It usually requires a family or a husband and wife team, with everyone working for many years, saving and sacrificing for twenty or thirty years, and buying the restaurant at a mature age. It takes a phenomenal amount of hard work and discipline to pull it off, but over a thousand people have achieved just that. With an average annual revenue per property of $8M according to Nations Restaurant News, and a 6% to 8% profit margin in addition to the salaries franchisees may elect to pay themselves, the money isn't bad. A medium 7% of $8M is $560k, which will pay off the first restaurant pretty quickly. Many McDonald's franchisees therefore own more than one restaurant. So knock that 3.84%-of-all-existing-restaurants owned by former line workers down a bit, say to 2% or 3%. You've still got phenomenal upward mobility.
Compare this to the upward mobility in other sectors. Suppose you go to work for a medical company instead... do you think you've got a 3.87% chance of eventually owning one of the hospitals? How about an auto manufacturer: how many line workers have a chance to eventually own one of the factories?
As far as concerns college...
McDonald's runs a program called "Hamburger University" which translates to 46 college credits (an associate's degree is usually 60 credits). The courses are generally delivered in conjunction with local colleges. None of these are watered-down liberal arts courses. Each course has received a credit recommendation from the American Council of Education. The courses include chemistry, marketing, and cooking. So although it's definitely centered around McDonald's business, there are applications in the outside world. The curriculum is compatible with a business degree or a restaurant and hospitality management degree. Tuition for this is free for McDonald's employees.
I've never worked for McDonald's (although I flipped my share of burgers), and I don't own stock in the company. But the kid in the commercial could do a lot worse, provided he never buys into the customary American prejudice against manual labor, service jobs, savings, and self-employment.
Comment: #3
Posted by: Squeaky
Tue Oct 7, 2008 11:32 AM
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Squeaky's post was very informative and contained a lot of information I had no idea about. I find myself wondering if it is the same story with other major chains - Burger King, Wendy's, etc. I haven't seen the ad that the letter writer references either - perhaps it isn't being shown in the parts of the country where I and the other commenters live. However, I have seen plenty of ads run by the company and it is apparent that many of them are aimed at black people. It isn't necessarily racist to do that, though, as I learned in business school that you can break down global consumers according to any demographic group you like. And besides, I see nothing wrong with encouraging people of any color to get jobs. Everyone makes fun of "working at McDonald's," but even if one doesn't take advantage of the advancement opportunities that Squeaky describes, it's still a great place for a young person to learn fundamentals like getting to work on time and following directions from your supervisor - lessons that will serve the employee well later in life, after he or she has gone on to better things. I haven't worked at McDonald's, but I did work at other fast food restaurants as a younger man, and I can tell you that it is a highly structured work environment where a person generally at least knows what he is SUPPOSED to be doing. As usual, I'm with Larry - I see the letter writer's point but believe she is being too sensitive.
Comment: #4
Posted by: Matt
Wed Oct 8, 2008 9:39 AM
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OOps! there's a problem. Blacks have to get in a long line. Whites and Mexicans are heading the pact!
Comment: #5
Posted by: Boni
Fri Oct 10, 2008 9:17 AM
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