TresSugar

Insane Clown Posse?

GiggleSugar — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:00:00 -0700

Oh, it's just Ronald McDonald fronting a death metal band. Wait - what?!

Ewww!

GiggleSugar — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 09:00:00 -0700

What's the point of the "Employees Must Wash Hands After Using the Restroom" signs if employees get to sweat in the tea? Not lovin' it.

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Sadly, This Actually Makes Me Want a McD's Filet-O-Fish

GiggleSugar — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 04:00:00 -0800

I'm the psycho junk food eater demographic they targeted. And it worked! It's almost too easy.

Ronaldo-san McDonald Has Lost His Damn Mind

GiggleSugar — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 11:00:00 -0800

This is one video artist's take on Ronaldo-san, as he's known in Japan. Who knew this was the effect of fast food on the brain? In the US, McDonald's just makes you fat.

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Flashback: Captain Creepmeister McDonald

GiggleSugar — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:00:00 -0800

Is it just me, or did this vintage McDonald's ad send children a questionable message? Something like, "Hey kids, don't talk or accept gifts from strangers, unless those strangers push food on you and identify themselves as Ronald McDonald!" And then all the little kiddies skip off into the sunset with potentially deranged impostors . . .

Camp Michael McDonald on Conan O'Brien: I Wanna Go!

GiggleSugar — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:00:00 -0800

So Conan O'Brien hosted his last show a few days ago before moving on to be the host of The Tonight Show. He reminisced about the surreal hijinks his show became famous for. Example: a skit about a kids' camp run by the Doobie Brothers singer Michael McDonald. I don't know you, but I know me: I wanna go! (Can you believe this isn't the first GiggleSugar video about Michael McDonald? Here's another one!)

Morning News Anchors Drink McDonald's Coffee (For Cash)

LibertySugar — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:15:00 -0700

Each morning news anchors on Fox's Las Vegas affiliate sit in front of very visible McDonald's iced coffee cups, part of a product-placement deal. The fast-food chain sponsors the two-hour morning news-and-lifestyle segment, but instead of commercial breaks, the advertisement happens during the news.

Since advertisement dollars already influence networks, I think the product-placement deal raises some old conflict of interest concerns. The producers say they would pull the cups if they had to report a negative story about McDonald's, just as they would pull a regular commercial. Still, the covertness of the promotion could deceive some viewers not aware that McDonald's paid for the cups' placement.

To find out how political parties are incorporating product placement, and how the industry sees it, read more.

Product integration happens a ton in scripted television, so much so that the Writers Guild of America wants it blatantly disclosed. The WGA says: "the hope is that consumers, not expecting to find a commercial within their program, will fail to realize they are actually being advertised to. This practice exploits the emotional connection viewers have with shows." Perhaps this expectation of neutrality increases significantly when dealing with news, as opposed to entertainment.

Going the overt-sponsorship road, the Democrats will be handing out AT&T logo-plastered bags at the Democratic National Convention. It's almost impossible not to see a conflict of interest here (telecom cough cough immunity) but, the Democrats assure that sponsorship does not equal access to politicians.

How should news stations and political parties reconcile high costs with integrity?

Lovin' It? Thai Students Happily Work at McDonald's in US

LibertySugar — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 07:30:22 -0800

Every Summer thousands of Thai college students come to the US and change into McDonald's uniforms. They not only do it with a smile, they pay money for it.

The reward? Slapping foreign work experience - American work experience - on their resumes. Thai employers value foreign work experience, seeing it as initiative, in the country's ultracompetitive postcollege job market.

Agents (seems like the polite term) set up work visas, secure job placements, and, maybe, include plane tickets for $3,000 plus - a large sum when converted into Thai bahts. Students typically earn about half the money back; however, most consider the work experience and language skills worth it.

One student, who wound up in Mobile, AL, because she heard it was cheap, found the small town to be far from her image of America. Yet, she doesn't regret it. "Honestly," she said, “If I had money, I’d go back.”

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WTF Is Sweden On?!

GiggleSugar — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:15:00 -0700

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a nonsensical Swedish McDonald's commercial. Today, I stumbled across six nonsensical Swedish McDonald's commercials. They're all part of the same funked-up ad campaign. And they're all pretty damn effective, if you ask me.

Dish! Help Us Finish This McDonald's Blog!

GiggleSugar — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 07:00:00 -0700

This is one of the worst ideas I've heard in a long time: McDonald's is encouraging its workers to blog. (Cuz they have soooo much time during their busy, minimum wage-earning days to help McD's brand themselves as the caring fast food joint.) In any case, BellaSugar and I had some fun today imagining what a McDonald's blog would sound like. After you read some of our McMusings, add your own McBlog in the comments below!

3/10/08. 9:38 pm. Today I fried 4,000 Chicken McNuggets, 50 more than my Nugget-per-shift quota. This has made me eligible for a free bathroom break per shift!!! I am BEYOND excited. If all continues on this trajectory, I may get a 20 cent/hour raise in six months and/or maybe - just maybe -I will be promoted from grill de-greaser to coveted hashbrown grease trap cleaner. Honestly, though, if one more person asks me for a ~~coffee stirrer~~ coke spoon, I'm gonna lose it. We haven't had those in years, people!! And no, I don't have time to get you extra Horsey sauce (Arby's, FYI!) - I gotta write this damn blog!

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