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(News.com.au)   McDonald's huge Olympic $ponsor$hip demands that all competing retailers surrender their french fries   (news.com.au) divider line 121
    More: Asinine, Mcdonald, PM Today, Olympic Park, The London Game, AFP Source, General Mills, outlet store, London Olympics  
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10953 clicks; posted to Main » on 12 Jul 2012 at 12:43 PM   |  Favorite    |   share:  Share on Twitter share via Email Share on Facebook   more»



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2012-07-12 08:59:00 AM
Please tell me that somewhere an McDonald's exec is saying "of course they can still serve 'chips' - we're talking about French Fries here, you dolt!"
 
2012-07-12 09:17:46 AM
Unless it's served with fish.

Well then...
upload.wikimedia.org
 
2012-07-12 10:18:05 AM
"I like them french fried potaters mmmm hmmmm"
img.photobucket.com
 
2012-07-12 11:56:38 AM
I have a feeling that it will take a whole lot more than a midget landing on a injured ankle to bring any sense of wonder and spirit to these Olympics.
 
2012-07-12 12:50:04 PM
We're just getting closer and closer...
calorielab.com

But remember everyone, capitalism is good. Capitalism is protects you. Capitalism is Freedom.
 
2012-07-12 12:51:04 PM
It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.
 
2012-07-12 12:53:33 PM
So only Mcdonalds can sell low quality food?
Well, thats just wrong!
 
2012-07-12 12:53:43 PM
Corporate, our new royalty. You WILL follow their edicts.
/stuff your farking fries up your ass
 
2012-07-12 12:54:55 PM
AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics, brought to you by McDonald's, to have agreed to this. I blame the committee, brought to you by McDonald's. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics, brought to you by McDonald's. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.


Fixed that for the sad reality, brought to you by McDonald's.
 
2012-07-12 12:57:15 PM
I'll have one fish stick and an order of fries.
 
2012-07-12 12:57:18 PM
Wait, subby, are you implying their sponsorship deal is for financial reasons?

Shocking. Absolutely shocking.
 
2012-07-12 12:57:26 PM
The flip side is that this could be really good news for any restaurants or vendors just outside the olympic sites. Because a lot of people angry with this decision might decide to get their food outside the venue's. So if someone has a nice little restaurant just a few minutes walk from the olympic site, with chips on the menu, they could really clean up.
 
2012-07-12 12:57:45 PM
How could anyone doubt this wasn't going to work out? Nothing combines better than world class athletes and the bad nutrtional food of slobs.
 
2012-07-12 12:58:06 PM
The Olympics primarily serve to shill specific corporate products. It's like the NFL, but less honest about it (and simultaneously, far more evil about it).
 
2012-07-12 12:58:17 PM
FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUU.....

/sells all british potato futures
 
2012-07-12 12:58:38 PM
My Fry or the Highway

/sorry
 
2012-07-12 12:58:43 PM
When I think of the world's fittest athletes striving to succeed, I think of stuffing my fat face with greasy artificial food from McDonald's.

It's the perfect sponsor!
 
2012-07-12 12:59:35 PM
I guess that McPigMakers cannot get past their pettiness and greed to see that the best that will come from this is that no one in London will eat at McDonalds as an act of protest.

All this farked up company does anymore is sell franchises, the prepared, frozen food-like substances served in them, and make commercials. They haven't operated a restaurant in years, so they cannot rightfully be called a restaurant chain.
 
SH
2012-07-12 01:05:02 PM
This makes me feel slightly better. The idea that corporations run the US government is pretty damned sickening, seems to soften the blow to see that it's ruining a sporting event that's been around since ancient times also.
 
2012-07-12 01:06:03 PM
JackieRabbit: I guess that McPigMakers cannot get past their pettiness and greed to see that the best that will come from this is that no one in London will eat at McDonalds as an act of protest.

All this farked up company does anymore is sell franchises, the prepared, frozen food-like substances served in them, and make commercials. They haven't operated a restaurant in years, so they cannot rightfully be called a restaurant chain.


Not to get all facty on you, but approximately 20% of their locations are corporate-owned, not franchised.
 
2012-07-12 01:07:14 PM
I would ensure that every pack of fries I sold had a small token bit of fish included for free.
 
2012-07-12 01:08:18 PM
Don't be stupid subby, they are only banning other vendors from selling chips.
 
2012-07-12 01:08:35 PM
I don't watch the Olympics, big waste of time IMHO, and I don't like McDonald's. There I did my part.
 
2012-07-12 01:09:28 PM
If you have 'we're going to teh Olympics' money you probably don't eat MacDonald. get real. teh Olympics is not a cheap vacation and it has huge appeal for physically fit people who take good care of their temple.
 
2012-07-12 01:10:33 PM
The Olympics suck.
 
2012-07-12 01:13:06 PM
Hey, I read this book already!

www.richardkmorgan.com


Coming soon to a future near you.
 
2012-07-12 01:14:00 PM
I don't think i can manage any outrage when the Olympics agreed and took Mickey D's money.

The solution would have been easy enough. The Olympic committee could have said no. As they chose to take the money, I don't see that anyone here is getting screwed. Especially if the other Olympic vendors were aware that they wouldn't be able to sell fries and still chose to set up shop.
 
2012-07-12 01:14:04 PM
KrispyKritter: If you have 'we're going to teh Olympics' money you probably don't eat MacDonald. get real. teh Olympics is not a cheap vacation and it has huge appeal for physically fit people who take good care of their temple.

But if it is the only choice in a 5 mile radius, then you eat McDonalds.

Why do you think the Olympic Committee needed all the extra security.
 
2012-07-12 01:15:00 PM
Fine. Every order of fri..er, chips at my shop comes with a free anchovy.
 
2012-07-12 01:17:18 PM
Broktun: KrispyKritter: If you have 'we're going to teh Olympics' money you probably don't eat MacDonald. get real. teh Olympics is not a cheap vacation and it has huge appeal for physically fit people who take good care of their temple.

But if it is the only choice in a 5 mile radius, then you eat McDonalds.

Why do you think the Olympic Committee needed all the extra security.


They learned the best way to do it was the starbucks way. Have one right across teh street from the others.
 
2012-07-12 01:19:34 PM
StrangeQ: We're just getting closer and closer...
[calorielab.com image 360x297]

But remember everyone, capitalism is good. Capitalism is protects you. Capitalism is Freedom.


img256.imageshack.us

Until then we'll just have work with what we have.
 
2012-07-12 01:20:41 PM
They've learned from the NCAA. I'm pretty sure you can get executed for flashing the wrong soda logo at the Final Four.
 
2012-07-12 01:22:16 PM
The sound of one hand clapping: The flip side is that this could be really good news for any restaurants or vendors just outside the olympic sites. Because a lot of people angry with this decision might decide to get their food outside the venue's. So if someone has a nice little restaurant just a few minutes walk from the olympic site, with chips on the menu, they could really clean up.

Otherwise their business is going to suffer during the Olympics.
 
2012-07-12 01:24:47 PM
At previous Games, I vaguely remember officials ordering anybody using Apple laptops to cover the Apple logo. I can't remember if it was at the behest of one of the sponsors or because Apple wasn't a sponsor and officials didn't want to grant the company free advertising.
 
2012-07-12 01:26:29 PM
JackieRabbit
"I guess that McPigMakers cannot get past their pettiness and greed to see that the best that will come from this is that no one in London will eat at McDonalds as an act of protest."

I'm guessing you've never walked by/eaten in a McDonalds in the UK. Despite the whole McLibel thing, McDonalds & other US fast food brands places are doing just fine.
 
2012-07-12 01:26:38 PM
If I were the other restaurants I'd just slip in a single eraser-tip-sized "fish nugget" with each order of fries and give the fish-finger salute to Mickie D's.
 
2012-07-12 01:28:46 PM
FrancoFile: Not to get all facty on you, but approximately 20% of their locations are corporate-owned, not franchised.

Where? I haven't seen one in years. Hell, the ones around here are operated by people who can't even speak English. The stores are usually filthy and the "food" is just slopped together. One takes a high risk of food poisoning by eating in them. Years ago, when Ray Kroc was still running the show, McDs had pretty good food and their restaurants were spotless. A story is told of him that he once walked into a store in NYC to find french fries on the floor and a couple of tables that had not been wiped. Kroc fired the manager on the spot, swept and mopped the floor himself, and then ran the restaurant for the rest of that shift. He was 72 at the time.
 
2012-07-12 01:31:15 PM
CSB:

Over the 4th, I got restless and cleaned my minivan. In the very bottom of the stow-n-go seating compartment, I found a french fry. I have no idea how old it was, but we don't eat fries all that often. The damn thing looked perfect - no mold, no dehydration, no smell...rotten food's no use and a shame, but isn't food kind of supposed to decompose?

I know Morgan Spurlock did this in his famous documentary, but it was weird to see it first hand.

/CSB
 
2012-07-12 01:34:31 PM
Can we stop pretending that the olympics is about amateur sport. Having to put up with people demanding tax dollars for the love of amateur sport when the olympics is purely a corporate event.
 
2012-07-12 01:38:15 PM
AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.



Why do you hate capitalism? McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser. In order to recoup some of that money they are asking their business partner to limit their competitors ability to capitalize off of the event the McDonald's PAID to sponser. What would be the point in giving the Olympics money if Burger King could just roll in and set up a stand next to every McDonalds? And there may be a lot of other companies willing to take McDonald's place, but I'm sure they can't do it a couple of weeks before the games start. I'm also sure that McDonal's lawyers would have a few things to say to them. shiat isn't as easy as you all like to make it.
 
2012-07-12 01:40:20 PM
Fuggin Bizzy: CSB:

Over the 4th, I got restless and cleaned my minivan. In the very bottom of the stow-n-go seating compartment, I found a french fry. I have no idea how old it was, but we don't eat fries all that often. The damn thing looked perfect - no mold, no dehydration, no smell...rotten food's no use and a shame, but isn't food kind of supposed to decompose?

I know Morgan Spurlock did this in his famous documentary, but it was weird to see it first hand.

/CSB


Years ago I was cleaning out a company car and found a whole burger under the seat in a wrapper. There was no smell the bread was a tad moldy but the rest looked like it was fresh out of the microwave.
 
2012-07-12 01:42:16 PM
The sound of one hand clapping: The flip side is that this could be really good news for any restaurants or vendors just outside the olympic sites. Because a lot of people angry with this decision might decide to get their food outside the venue's. So if someone has a nice little restaurant just a few minutes walk from the olympic site, with chips on the menu, they could really clean up.

I wonder if London has any sort of food truck scene like the ones that have sprung up in New York and San Francisco over the past few years? As long as there aren't any oppressive rules just outside the Olympic site, a truck selling higher-quality fish and chips might be very successful during the Olympics.
 
2012-07-12 01:42:17 PM
Sudlow: JackieRabbit
"I guess that McPigMakers cannot get past their pettiness and greed to see that the best that will come from this is that no one in London will eat at McDonalds as an act of protest."

I'm guessing you've never walked by/eaten in a McDonalds in the UK. Despite the whole McLibel thing, McDonalds & other US fast food brands places are doing just fine.


I'm talking about during the Olympics. This will piss a lot of attendees off. And, no, I won't eat in an American FF restaurant in the UK or Europe. That's just retarded.
 
2012-07-12 01:42:39 PM
First they go after knitters and now this? Farking ridiculous.
 
2012-07-12 01:42:45 PM
Did this kind of thing happen at prior Olympics? And what exactly are they sponsoring?
 
2012-07-12 01:43:15 PM
AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.


You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it. But even more crazy: one lane of traffic will be blocked off on all the major highways leading to Olympic events so that sponsors can use them. Not even ambulances are allowed to use them
 
2012-07-12 01:47:31 PM
How can this possibly even be enforceable? If the vendors all give a collective "fark you" and serve chips any way what're they gonna do?
 
2012-07-12 01:52:05 PM
groppet: Fuggin Bizzy: CSB:

Over the 4th, I got restless and cleaned my minivan. In the very bottom of the stow-n-go seating compartment, I found a french fry. I have no idea how old it was, but we don't eat fries all that often. The damn thing looked perfect - no mold, no dehydration, no smell...rotten food's no use and a shame, but isn't food kind of supposed to decompose?

I know Morgan Spurlock did this in his famous documentary, but it was weird to see it first hand.

/CSB

Years ago I was cleaning out a company car and found a whole burger under the seat in a wrapper. There was no smell the bread was a tad moldy but the rest looked like it was fresh out of the microwave.


I seem to recall an article about that phenomenon a few years ago (pretty sure it was linked on Fark at the time). Apparently the burgers are smaller than a typical homemade burger, which gives them a higher surface area-to-volume ratio and allows them to dry out before any significant bacterial growth can occur. If you place the burger in a sealed plastic bag (not a paper wrapper) so that the moisture can't escape, you'll see a lot more evidence of spoilage.

Perhaps the same is true with their fries.
 
2012-07-12 01:52:41 PM
"Uh yeah, I'll take 4 grams of fish and 3 stones of chips please"
 
2012-07-12 01:53:53 PM
Sardines are fish. Just saying.
 
2012-07-12 01:55:42 PM
DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.

Why should the Olympics even have sponsors? They don't need sponsors to hold events, for almost 90 years they ran Olympic games without sponsorships.

The 1896 Olympics didn't have sponsors, the 1900 Olympics didn't have sponsors. . .before 1984 no Olympic games had any kind of sponsorship. In the US, before 1978 there wasn't even any trademark protection on the Olympic logo or words, anybody could use it in advertisements or marketing with no need for permission from any Olympic committee.

The Olympics were supposed to be a competition of the worlds finest athletes and a way for countries to come together in friendly competition.

In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.
 
2012-07-12 02:03:46 PM
Silverstaff: DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.


In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.


Not to mention the bribery and kickbacks between the IOC and cities who hope to host the games in the first place. Corruption, thy name is IOC. I might watch the opening ceremonies because I'm curious how the Brits are going to celebrate their culture as most countries do.

It's not about the athletes. It's how much money the IOC can get for itself.
 
2012-07-12 02:05:42 PM
So here's the plan: Figure out what a "chip" is. Define it, then come up with something that's almost a chip, but not quite, so as to not be in violation of the ban. Serve that, loudly. I'll bet lots and lots of Brits would love a lunch of "fish and not-quite-chips" just to stick it to McD's. Every pound spent is both lunch and protest!

I'm as capitalist as they come, and I have no problem with McD's doing this on that basis. I just think the free (libre, not gratis) lunch market can now slap them upside the head, as a reminder than capitalists need for customers to like them enough to be willing to do business with them.
 
2012-07-12 02:06:07 PM
DROxINxTHExWIND: AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.


Why do you hate capitalism? McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser. In order to recoup some of that money they are asking their business partner to limit their competitors ability to capitalize off of the event the McDonald's PAID to sponser. What would be the point in giving the Olympics money if Burger King could just roll in and set up a stand next to every McDonalds? And there may be a lot of other companies willing to take McDonald's place, but I'm sure they can't do it a couple of weeks before the games start. I'm also sure that McDonal's lawyers would have a few things to say to them. shiat isn't as easy as you all like to make it.


*Insert "Not Sure If Serious" pic here*

And now it's time for the 800 Meter Dash...to McDonald's! Did somebody say McDonalds?

/Please rise for the national anthem...♫Ba Da Ba Ba Baaaa, I'm lovin' it♫
 
2012-07-12 02:06:57 PM
i.imgur.com
 
2012-07-12 02:12:37 PM
McDonald's:
The official french fries of the US Olympic team
 
2012-07-12 02:13:51 PM
Mr Guy: They've learned from the NCAA. I'm pretty sure you can get executed for flashing the wrong soda logo at the Final Four.

Remember when Brian Urlacher wore a Vitamin Water hat to a press conference?
 
2012-07-12 02:18:45 PM
I'm pretty damned liberal but I'm having a hard time getting worked up over this. Reminds me of the thread a few weeks back when that Gotye guy was complaining about how he didn't like how Glee up and gleeified his song on the show. You signed the contract, took their money, and granted them the rights. What were you expecting?
 
2012-07-12 02:18:58 PM
anfrind: The sound of one hand clapping: The flip side is that this could be really good news for any restaurants or vendors just outside the olympic sites. Because a lot of people angry with this decision might decide to get their food outside the venue's. So if someone has a nice little restaurant just a few minutes walk from the olympic site, with chips on the menu, they could really clean up.

I wonder if London has any sort of food truck scene like the ones that have sprung up in New York and San Francisco over the past few years? As long as there aren't any oppressive rules just outside the Olympic site, a truck selling higher-quality fish and chips might be very successful during the Olympics.


I recall someone, somewhere mentioning something about a zone of exclusion for a few miles around the Olympic Park, where the only sellable things allowed are those sold by the sponsors; not only is McDonald's the only fast-food restaurant (and probably the only restaurant) allowed in this zone, but since Visa is a sponsor, that's the only credit card vendors (probably including ATMs) in the zone will be allowed to accept -- If you've got an AmEx Black Card with a fifty million pound limit but no cash, you'll have to panhandle if you want to eat.
 
2012-07-12 02:22:22 PM
The only branded products sold at the Games will be those made by commercial partners Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Cadbury, Nature Valley and Heineken.

Soft-drinks, fast-food, candy, granola-bars, and beer (barely). A healthy mind in a healthy body.
 
2012-07-12 02:31:21 PM
JackieRabbit: FrancoFile: Not to get all facty on you, but approximately 20% of their locations are corporate-owned, not franchised.

Where? I haven't seen one in years. Hell, the ones around here are operated by people who can't even speak English. The stores are usually filthy and the "food" is just slopped together. One takes a high risk of food poisoning by eating in them. Years ago, when Ray Kroc was still running the show, McDs had pretty good food and their restaurants were spotless. A story is told of him that he once walked into a store in NYC to find french fries on the floor and a couple of tables that had not been wiped. Kroc fired the manager on the spot, swept and mopped the floor himself, and then ran the restaurant for the rest of that shift. He was 72 at the time.


Yeah, it's amazing how when the giant revered figures that started these organizations pass, and they get into the hands of people without their vision, they screw it up. Same with Wal-Mart. Back under Sam Walton, there was tons of made in America stuff, the store was clean, and everything was decent. He died, and the kids got hold of it, and it went to shait.
 
2012-07-12 02:41:29 PM
3.bp.blogspot.com
 
2012-07-12 02:47:47 PM
Can all competing vendors just reclassify their french fries as freedom fries to circumvent McDonalds?
 
2012-07-12 02:55:08 PM
I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism
 
2012-07-12 03:02:10 PM
farkerts: I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism


Exactly. Crony capitalism is something that the Tea Party and OWS groups both protested about and that both American political parties support.

But as long as you buy into thinking this is a right versus left issue instead of an issue of political corruption, the more you let it happen.
 
2012-07-12 03:05:14 PM
AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.


Really? But are there a lot of other companies with a commensurate amount of adspace, willing to be filled by the company itself, in their shops with a commensurate number of said shops (31,000) in a commensurate number of countries (121)?
 
2012-07-12 03:09:27 PM
farkerts: I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism


Kindly explain how selling out to the highest bidder is not at the very heart and soul of capitalism.
 
2012-07-12 03:27:57 PM
LoneWolf343: Mr Guy: They've learned from the NCAA. I'm pretty sure you can get executed for flashing the wrong soda logo at the Final Four.

Remember when Brian Urlacher wore a Vitamin Water hat to a press conference?


Competitors are getting more aggressive about trying to undercut/bypass "official" sponsors of events with "guerilla" marketing, so the events and the sponsors are tying things up ever tighter - people may enjoy some bavarian beer producer trying to stick it to the official world cup sponsor and try and get large sections of the crowd wearing adverts for them, or all the other examples recently, but it is the people that attend the events that end up being the main losers, ending up with more and restrictions like this.
 
2012-07-12 03:29:35 PM
So just order fries instead.
 
2012-07-12 03:32:24 PM
StrangeQ: heart and soul

I think as long as you're using weasel words like "heart and soul"-- seemingly significant, but ultimately so imprecise as to be nearly useless-- you'll find little ground for useful discussion. You could instead say, "frequently-found outcome of" and be correct, but that lacks the benefit of implicitly condemning the entire system. You could say "defining characteristic of" and come close to your original intent while raising an idea that can be debated as either correct or incorrect. The downside, of course, is that the answer is a resounding "incorrect". But "heart and soul"? That's "not even wrong".
 
2012-07-12 03:39:16 PM
i624.photobucket.com
 
2012-07-12 03:41:26 PM
Mcdonalds fries are a lot better if you ask them to hold the salt
/almost taste like potaotes
 
2012-07-12 03:41:32 PM
Walker: You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it. But even more crazy: one lane of traffic will be blocked off on all the major highways leading to Olympic events so that sponsors can use them. Not even ambulances are allowed to use them

Not entirely true. They can use them during an emergency.

FTFA:
While ambulances and fire trucks responding to emergency calls will be allowed into the lanes, blood supplies and non-critical sick people in transit may not.
 
2012-07-12 03:46:19 PM
Walker: You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it.

I remember when they tried that cunning plan at the olympics in Atlanta. Of course it was 95 degrees every day, so once spectators started dropping from heat exhaustion, they started giving away water at the stadium entrances for free.

/at least it will be a comfortable 70 degrees in london
//plus, hey, free water from the sky.
 
2012-07-12 03:49:21 PM
They let Heineken be the official beer sponsor but they throw this bullshiat rule in there? What the fark.
 
2012-07-12 04:00:13 PM
Broktun
But if it is the only choice in a 5 mile radius, then you eat McDonalds.

We went into the Grand Canyon McDonalds. I saw the prices and said 'F that, we'll eat in a couple hours.
 
2012-07-12 04:04:45 PM
Dreyelle: Did this kind of thing happen at prior Olympics? And what exactly are they sponsoring?

Yeah, but I'm still waiting for the obligatory sweeping-out-the-poor-people-before-someone-takes-a-picture-of-them story.
 
2012-07-12 04:11:16 PM

meanmutton



farkerts: I saw another article on this that referred to it as capitalism at it's worst which made me laugh.

/this has NOTHING to do with capitalism

Exactly. Crony capitalism is something that the Tea Party and OWS groups both protested about and that both American political parties support.

But as long as you buy into thinking this is a right versus left issue instead of an issue of political corruption, the more you let it happen.


I don't think this is any type of issue. They paid $100 million for the sponsorship and thats part of the deal.

Try ordering a Coke at Taco Bell or Coors light at Busch Stadium, etc etc etc. Venues sign deals all the time, its just a fact of life.
 
2012-07-12 04:13:47 PM
I remember back when I was attending VCU, I was told an offer was tendered to put a McDonalds in our cafeteria. WacArnolds countered the offer by stating every other commercial vendor would have to be expelled. I never ate WacArnolds there, but I think I gained about ten pounds eating Chik-Fil-A.
 
2012-07-12 04:15:32 PM
treesloth: StrangeQ: heart and soul

I think as long as you're using weasel words like "heart and soul"-- seemingly significant, but ultimately so imprecise as to be nearly useless-- you'll find little ground for useful discussion. You could instead say, "frequently-found outcome of" and be correct, but that lacks the benefit of implicitly condemning the entire system. You could say "defining characteristic of" and come close to your original intent while raising an idea that can be debated as either correct or incorrect. The downside, of course, is that the answer is a resounding "incorrect". But "heart and soul"? That's "not even wrong".


I'm sorry, were you trying to answer the question or just ramble on about semantics in a vain attempt to sound intelligent?
 
2012-07-12 04:16:24 PM
casual disregard: I remember back when I was attending VCU, I was told an offer was tendered to put a McDonalds in our cafeteria. WacArnolds countered the offer by stating every other commercial vendor would have to be expelled. I never ate WacArnolds there, but I think I gained about ten pounds eating Chik-Fil-A.

/fark that reminds me, that was when Pepsi Blue was still available
//FFS bring back Pepsi Blue
 
2012-07-12 04:34:27 PM
JackieRabbit: The stores are usually filthy and the "food" is just slopped together. One takes a high risk of food poisoning by eating in them.

And you know this how?

Also, apparently you fail at the interwebs, Google specifically. Lots of info about corporate-owned McD's units there.

Also, please stop talking out of your ass.

Thank you
 
2012-07-12 04:38:52 PM
Free market, woohoo!
 
2012-07-12 04:49:04 PM
I do luvs me the lympics - I am going to get in shape for the 2020 games....hey, can I have your fish???

cache.gawker.com
 
2012-07-12 04:55:17 PM
DROxINxTHExWIND: Why do you hate capitalism?

Because of crap like this.

I don't really hate capitalism, but since you want to pretend it's as simple as loving or hating something, there you go.
 
2012-07-12 04:55:24 PM
I take it sumo wrestling is an official sport this year?
 
2012-07-12 05:00:11 PM
No where in TFA does it say they have to be McD's fries... er, chips. Only that fish has to be served with them.
 
2012-07-12 05:19:47 PM
www.offmessage.com
 
2012-07-12 05:21:42 PM
So all the other merchants have to do is include a small piece of a fish stick with each order of chips. The rules don't say how large the fish portion has to be.
 
2012-07-12 05:31:59 PM
Silverstaff: DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.

Why should the Olympics even have sponsors? They don't need sponsors to hold events, for almost 90 years they ran Olympic games without sponsorships.

The 1896 Olympics didn't have sponsors, the 1900 Olympics didn't have sponsors. . .before 1984 no Olympic games had any kind of sponsorship. In the US, before 1978 there wasn't even any trademark protection on the Olympic logo or words, anybody could use it in advertisements or marketing with no need for permission from any Olympic committee.

The Olympics were supposed to be a competition of the worlds finest athletes and a way for countries to come together in friendly competition.

In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.



It's just a sad reminder that society merely exists for one reason only... to profit the corporation

You can't go anywhere or see anything in this day and age without mindless brainwashing demanding you buy certain products and act a certain way

Then you go home and your friends and family all act like a stereotype of something that they grew up watching, either a gay guy playing a cowboy in movies (John Wayne) or Captain America, a liberal elitist barista, etc. Nobody is an individual anymore. You might as well start stamping corporate logos on babies and accept the fact that nothing in this universe matters anymore except the profits of multinational corporations.
 
2012-07-12 05:33:51 PM
StrangeQ: I'm sorry, were you trying to answer the question or just ramble on about semantics in a vain attempt to sound intelligent?

Sorry, I guess I used big words. Here you go: You didn't want the question answered. That's why you asked it the way you did.
 
2012-07-12 05:59:04 PM
What is Le Relais de Venise going to serve during the games?

Don't recall anything remotely like this in a McDonalds:

3.bp.blogspot.com
 
2012-07-12 06:17:24 PM
Anyone who feigns disgust at the idea of eating a Big Mac also tends to:

1. Own a TV but haven't turned it on in years
2. Drink microbrewery beer
3. Watch Japanese children's cartoons on a Mac
4. Appreciate the warmth of vinyl phonograph records
5. Read books at Starbucks
6. Claim to prefer girls with small breasts
7. Make snide remarks about Wal-Mart.
8. Walk past a smoker and force pretentious coughing noises
9. Take comfort in believing size doesn't matter
10. Ride a bike to work wearing spandex stretch trousers
 
2012-07-12 06:18:57 PM
letrole: Anyone who feigns disgust at the idea of eating a Big Mac also tends to:

1. Own a TV but haven't turned it on in years
2. Drink microbrewery beer
3. Watch Japanese children's cartoons on a Mac
4. Appreciate the warmth of vinyl phonograph records
5. Read books at Starbucks
6. Claim to prefer girls with small breasts
7. Make snide remarks about Wal-Mart.
8. Walk past a smoker and force pretentious coughing noises
9. Take comfort in believing size doesn't matter
10. Ride a bike to work wearing spandex stretch trousers



Nice try, but people with good taste in food don't appreciate crap quality covered up with chemicals, salt and spices. But we get it, you're poor.
 
2012-07-12 06:29:21 PM
McD blew it. I'd have let all 800 vendors sell all the chips they want - as ,long as they bought the chips from me.
 
2012-07-12 06:32:02 PM
Man, The Olympics has become one disgusting onslaught of corporate bullshiat disguised in the glory of what The Olympics are actually supposed to be.
 
2012-07-12 06:32:20 PM
Walker: AqueousBoy: It's dumb for McDonald's to have asked for this, but even dumber of the Olympics to have agreed to this. I blame the committee. They should have taken one look at the fry exclusivity and said, "Well, no. We can't have that."

After all, it's the Olympics. If McDonald's balks at their refusal, there's a lot of other companies out there who would gladly take the place of McDonald's.

You have no idea on how the Olympic organizers are caving into their sponsors. No bottled water is being allowed in to the events because they want you to spend like 10 pounds for a bottle of it. But even more crazy: one lane of traffic will be blocked off on all the major highways leading to Olympic events so that sponsors can use them. Not even ambulances are allowed to use them


The London Olympic Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG), however, has decided that ambulances on non-urgent business will not be given permission to use them.


non-story
 
2012-07-12 06:39:43 PM
letrole: Anyone who feigns disgust at the idea of eating a Big Mac also tends to:

1. Own a TV but haven't turned it on in years
2. Drink microbrewery beer
3. Watch Japanese children's cartoons on a Mac
4. Appreciate the warmth of vinyl phonograph records
5. Read books at Starbucks
6. Claim to prefer girls with small breasts
7. Make snide remarks about Wal-Mart.
8. Walk past a smoker and force pretentious coughing noises
9. Take comfort in believing size doesn't matter
10. Ride a bike to work wearing spandex stretch trousers


1. No
2. Lager
3. What is this, I don't even
4. You must be deaf
5. I travel for work, so sometimes yes - to kill time
6. Small is a relative term. I don't like them to sag past the belly button, no.
8. Wal-Mart sucks - this is self evident
9. You must be compensating, besides, your mother can't take all of it.
10. I used to ride to work, but at 30 miles a day, 5 days a week, you'd get a hell of a rash and saddle sore wearing anything else.

Oh, and Big Macs are really disgusting. The last burger I liked from Crapdonalds was the McDLT. I go there when I'm in the UK because they still have the deep fried apple pies!
 
2012-07-12 07:16:30 PM
Yay Americans.

Making fun of the uniform because its Frenchie.

Outraged that the uniform is made in China (I mean really, the horse has escaped the barn on that one. If you're really going to complain about stuff being made in China you have to take on Walmart and others who only sell cheap shiat that isn't made to last). You can't draw the line there and pretend to be morally outraged, not after you've sold the rest of the country down the river.

Oh, and now we're doing our best to make everyone fat!

USA! USA! USA!

/Looking forward to the Olympics anyway, but oh well.
 
2012-07-12 07:19:48 PM
andersoncouncil42: 1. No
2. Lager
3. What is this, I don't even
4. You must be deaf
5. I travel for work, so sometimes yes - to kill time
6. Small is a relative term. I don't like them to sag past the belly button, no.
8. Wal-Mart sucks - this is self evident
9. You must be compensating, besides, your mother can't take all of it.
10. I used to ride to work, but at 30 miles a day, 5 days a week, you'd get a hell of a rash and saddle sore wearing anything else.



You accidentally a number
 
2012-07-12 07:57:06 PM
McDonalds: It sucks and will kill you.
 
2012-07-12 08:09:17 PM
LoneWolf343: Mr Guy: They've learned from the NCAA. I'm pretty sure you can get executed for flashing the wrong soda logo at the Final Four.

Remember when Brian Urlacher wore a Vitamin Water hat to a press conference?


It's VITAMINWATER®. You'll probably be getting a letter from Coca-Cola's lawyers now.
Link
 
2012-07-12 08:17:44 PM
Well if any orders chips, give them a fish stick.
 
2012-07-12 08:42:23 PM
www.geekologie.com
 
2012-07-12 08:44:33 PM
Hi, would you like your large plate of fresh cut fries and a single fish stick super sized?
 
2012-07-12 09:14:11 PM
letrole: Anyone who feigns disgust at the idea of eating a Big Mac also tends to:

1. Own a TV but haven't turned it on in years
2. Drink microbrewery beer
3. Watch Japanese children's cartoons on a Mac
4. Appreciate the warmth of vinyl phonograph records
5. Read books at Starbucks
6. Claim to prefer girls with small breasts
7. Make snide remarks about Wal-Mart.
8. Walk past a smoker and force pretentious coughing noises
9. Take comfort in believing size doesn't matter
10. Ride a bike to work wearing spandex stretch trousers


Or maybe we're just aware that sticking a McChicken between the patties of a McDouble costs significantly less, is larger, and is far more delicious*. The BigMac is low-tier even by McDonald's standards.

/*Relative term
//I know how I sound
 
2012-07-12 09:38:26 PM
...and FIFA forces World Cup host facilities to serve on the swill know as Budweiser (not the Czech version). Isn't that just as scary?!

/Heineken is barely passably better at the Olympics.
 
2012-07-12 09:48:32 PM
intelligent comment below: andersoncouncil42: 1. No
2. Lager
3. What is this, I don't even
4. You must be deaf
5. I travel for work, so sometimes yes - to kill time
6. Small is a relative term. I don't like them to sag past the belly button, no.
8. Wal-Mart sucks - this is self evident
9. You must be compensating, besides, your mother can't take all of it.
10. I used to ride to work, but at 30 miles a day, 5 days a week, you'd get a hell of a rash and saddle sore wearing anything else.

You accidentally a number


yes i did.

Walking past a smoker, I tend to hold my breath
 
2012-07-12 10:13:11 PM
northguineahills: ...and FIFA forces World Cup host facilities to serve on the swill know as Budweiser (not the Czech version). Isn't that just as scary?!

/Heineken is barely passably better at the Olympics.


Doubly so because the swill known as Budweiser is Americans, and Americans don't play football, and when they do they call it soccer. WTF is Anheuser-Busch getting involved with that anyway?

ISTR that when American Budweiser first showed up in the UK, they just licensed the label to a British bulk brewer who put English lager in the bottles - equally tasteless, but about double the strength. Wasted yank tourists FTW.

/ baseball fans please note ... it's a World Cup because 200+ countries participate, it's not a domestic game between two teams in the only country where it's a mainstream sport
// and yes I know about the newspaper ;)
 
2012-07-12 10:28:11 PM
ParaHandy: northguineahills: ...and FIFA forces World Cup host facilities to serve on the swill know as Budweiser (not the Czech version). Isn't that just as scary?!

/Heineken is barely passably better at the Olympics.

Doubly so because the swill known as Budweiser is Americans, and Americans don't play football, and when they do they call it soccer. WTF is Anheuser-Busch getting involved with that anyway?

ISTR that when American Budweiser first showed up in the UK, they just licensed the label to a British bulk brewer who put English lager in the bottles - equally tasteless, but about double the strength. Wasted yank tourists FTW.

/ baseball fans please note ... it's a World Cup because 200+ countries participate, it's not a domestic game between two teams in the only country where it's a mainstream sport
// and yes I know about the newspaper ;)


As someone who was born in West Virginia, and grew up in north Florida in the 80s/90s. I used to have to go to the library to get football scores from across the pond a week late. Then the internet happened. My two favorite sports are football (soccer)/(american) football. It wasn't until the 2000s until you could even see the US football team on tv regularly, and even then, it's not guaranteed (See US-Guatemala WC qualifier last month).
 
2012-07-12 11:32:09 PM
I miss the McDonald's of the 80's

Free Big Mac if a US athlete took gold, or fries for silver, etc.
 
2012-07-12 11:41:37 PM
groppet: Fuggin Bizzy: CSB:

Over the 4th, I got restless and cleaned my minivan. In the very bottom of the stow-n-go seating compartment, I found a french fry. I have no idea how old it was, but we don't eat fries all that often. The damn thing looked perfect - no mold, no dehydration, no smell...rotten food's no use and a shame, but isn't food kind of supposed to decompose?

I know Morgan Spurlock did this in his famous documentary, but it was weird to see it first hand.

/CSB

Years ago I was cleaning out a company car and found a whole burger under the seat in a wrapper. There was no smell the bread was a tad moldy but the rest looked like it was fresh out of the microwave.


I've seen plenty of people express this sentiment and i really feel i should point out that the evil chemical responsible is probably just plain old sodium chloride.
 
2012-07-13 02:55:31 AM
Silverstaff: DROxINxTHExWIND: McDonald's has paid a LOT of money to be a sponser.

Why should the Olympics even have sponsors? They don't need sponsors to hold events, for almost 90 years they ran Olympic games without sponsorships.

The 1896 Olympics didn't have sponsors, the 1900 Olympics didn't have sponsors. . .before 1984 no Olympic games had any kind of sponsorship. In the US, before 1978 there wasn't even any trademark protection on the Olympic logo or words, anybody could use it in advertisements or marketing with no need for permission from any Olympic committee.

The Olympics were supposed to be a competition of the worlds finest athletes and a way for countries to come together in friendly competition.

In the last 25 years or so it's become a giant excreted display of corporate sponsors, logos, mascots, and marketing. Who actually wins in the games and the actual events themselves are secondary to the constant blitz of paid advertisements.


Unless they smoke pot. Then everyone seems to remember.
 
2012-07-13 06:48:38 AM
ParaHandy: / baseball fans please note ... it's a World Cup because 200+ countries participate, it's not a domestic game between two teams in the only country where it's a mainstream sport

For the record, there is one MLB team in Canada, and we do get players from Japan, Cuba and the Dominican Republic, the other countries where Baseball is a mainstream sport.

Yeah, it's reaching, but it's not strictly American.
 
2012-07-13 08:17:17 AM
DROxINxTHExWIND: fBurger King could just roll in and set up a stand next to every McDonalds?

We're not talking about other burger chains here, we're talking about the local Chip Shops, most of which are family run, that are being banned from selling what constitutes 70-90% of their profit margin, unless they sell them with fish.

No beer battered sausage, black pudding, steak pie, haggis, mars bar, chicken, crocodile, ostrich, etc, suppers, can be sold. Nor can a simple bag of chips - it has to be sold with fish.

WTF is the point of hosting the games if local businesses can't capitalize?

I mean, FFS, the British Chip is nothing like McFreedomfries, other than they are deep fried potato. Is there a ban on potato croquettes, or rostis? They're both fried potato products.
 
2012-07-13 09:22:14 AM
RELIGION OF FRITES
 
2012-07-13 09:38:40 AM
uttertosh: WTF is the point of hosting the games if local businesses can't capitalize?

To allow the megacorp sponsors to profit. They pay big bucks to be the only corporations allowed there, and they profit from the captive audience. Nowadays it's not about doing anything for the good of the local people, they are to consider themselves honored they are allowed to host the Olympics and tolerate the huge intrusions and disruptions with a smile because it's The Olympics.

Now, I'm kinda curious as to how this will play out in the long term. How many cities hosed by having to construct expensive venues they struggle to find a use for afterwards, put up with intrusive security, massive disruption to their lives, and not actually make much/any profit off it, will want to ever do it again?
 
2012-07-13 09:54:45 AM
Silverstaff: uttertosh: WTF is the point of hosting the games if local businesses can't capitalize?

To allow the megacorp sponsors to profit. They pay big bucks to be the only corporations allowed there, and they profit from the captive audience. Nowadays it's not about doing anything for the good of the local people, they are to consider themselves honored they are allowed to host the Olympics and tolerate the huge intrusions and disruptions with a smile because it's The Olympics.

Now, I'm kinda curious as to how this will play out in the long term. How many cities hosed by having to construct expensive venues they struggle to find a use for afterwards, put up with intrusive security, massive disruption to their lives, and not actually make much/any profit off it, will want to ever do it again?


A further example: Rolex is one of the sponsors of the Wimbledon club. however, Omega is the timing sponsor for the games. Omega demanded that Wimbledon cover or replace every clock, watch, and timing device in the complex, if they wanted the honor of hosting olympic tennis.
 
2012-07-13 01:23:53 PM
Slightly off topic, I saw a two king-size Rice Krispie Treat bars yesterday, one super fudge chocolate, the other butter toffee crunch, both with Olympic sponsor logos on them.

Rice Krispie Treat bars: The official sugar brick of our Olympic athletes.
 
2012-07-14 07:49:29 AM
Putting dollr signs right into the word sponsorship! How very clever!
 
2012-07-15 01:15:09 PM
Here is McDonalds' actual response when asked about this issue:



"Thank you for contacting McDonald's and for giving us an opportunity to share some information with you.

As the Official Restaurant of the London 2012 Games and a Worldwide Olympic Sponsor, we're looking forward to serving McDonald's World Famous Fries, sourced locally in the UK.

We've been granted the exclusive privilege of serving our core menu to spectators, media, athletes and coaches.

Just like other worldwide sponsors with exclusive rights in their categories, we're keeping our commitment to serve the great-tasting food McDonald's is known for, including our Fries.

Again, thank you for your sharing your comments with McDonald's.

Lisa
McDonald's Customer Response Center

ref#:9043374"

I see they take the Romney route of ignoring the actual question at hand:



"Why would your company ban small businesses in London from selling french fries during the Olympics? Are you really that afraid that actual food will dominate in sales compared to your barely edible, non-food products (food actually spoils).


I would take my kids to your restaurants once every blue moon to satisfy their want of cheap hamburgers. After reading the article today explaining McDonalds decision to have Olympics bosses ban over 800 restaurants from serving french fries, I will never step foot on a McDonalds property ever again.

In case you aren't aware of what I'm speaking of, here ya go: http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/games-ban-on-chips-unless-it s-with-fish/story-fnda1bsz-1226424369840"
 
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