McDONALDS FURIOUS OVER 'I WAS LOVIN IT' AD

Source: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/mcdonalds-furious-over-i-was-lovin-it-ad-20100915-15bkq.html

Image taken from: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/wellbeing/mcdonalds-furious-over-i-was-lovin-it-ad-20100915-15bkq.html

McDonalds is furious over commercial

McDonalds is furious over an anti-McDonald’s television commercial aimed at deterring people from consuming fast food. In the advertisement (See embedded video below), an overweight, middle-aged man is lying dead in a morgue clutching a half-eaten hamburger, while a woman (presumably his wife), is standing over his linen-clad body lamenting. The voiceover can be heard saying “high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks”.

The commercial was produced by the “Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine” (PCRM) in Washington, who said the advertisement was driven by a goal to raise awareness of the high rates of death due to heart disease, and the large number of fast-food outlets in the city.

The story has conflict and currency, covering two of the key news values in journalism.
The SMH has incorporated quotes from the opposition to add conflict. Bridget Coffing, a spokesperson on behalf of McDonalds spoke out in defence of the fast-food chain, and admonishment of the commercial saying the ad is “outrageous, misleading and unfair to all consumers” (SMH). The story also has currency, because the health issue around obesity and childhood obesity is very topical, it is a current issue of great public concern and is prevalent around the world.

The article is informative, providing information stemming from PCRM on how studies have found that consumers of fast food have a higher risk of obesity and obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease.


The SMH have also integrated a link of the actual advertisement within their article to accompany the description of the ad - this is a strength of the SMH, because videos and visuals can assist in attracting and sustaining a reader’s interest as opposed to merely text.

An interesting point I thought I should raise is that this article has been copy and pasted verbatim on several mainstream news websites. Stories online commonly stem from news agency feeds or press releases that tend not to be fact-checked and are recycled over and over again, so this raises questions of accuracy.

A further point to raise is that the article would have been more interesting if the SMH included a quote from a parent - what do they think if their child was exposed to the ad? Do they think it's appropriate and will this ad deter them from allowing their child to eat foods high in fat, sugar and salt content such as McDonalds?

Overall, this was a good story.