debasing foodie

[Benjamin Barrett]

McDonald's has a campaign that may completely gut the meaning of "foodie." I've seen at least two of their billboard ads claiming "foodies welcome."

My first reaction was to laugh out loud (literally, in the sense of literally), but afterward I wondered what it might mean.

Perhaps it's an attempt to upgrade the image of their food by implying that if you eat at the Golden Arches you might be an epicurean. Just as holding a paper Starbuck's cup carries the cachet for knowing what's in when it comes to coffee, eating at Mickey D's might now imply that you know what's up when it comes to food.

Searching for the image, I see Janice has beat me to the punch in her article "Requiem for a Foodie" at http://gigabiting.com/requiem-for-a-foodie/. The article has a photo of Mcdonald's's debasing image, though Janice claims this campaign was simply the final nail in the coffin that was already prepared for the culinary cadaver.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

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