A Tale of Two Mcdo Fries Commercials

by Silvertongue

In 2009, I saw a Mcdonald’s commercial that made my heart smile, flutter, break, and then smile again. It opens with two kids, a boy and a girl, meeting serendipitously through their mothers, who were long lost friends. The young girl shows her newfound friend a new way of eating French fries by dipping them in chocolate sundae. She then grabs his hand and leads him towards the McDonald’s play place. The commercial then flashes forward into the future where both kids have now grown-up with the girl still holding the guy’s hand and leading him towards to the play place where she introduces him to her husband and child. The commercial ends with the guy dipping his fries in chocolate sundae as the girl watches smiling. All of this is bound together by the Eraserheads’ Ang Huling El Bimbo playing in the background while a soulful voiceover recounts the experience of meeting one’s first love at a later point in time. It made my heart smile and broke it at the same time. It was a rollercoaster of emotions. The beauty of an undying love is unmatchable.

What I found most fascinating about this commercial is that it kept the human experience at the forefront of the story while the product is only a means or a venue to share that experience. The presence of Mcdonald’ is only incidental to the plot and there is a story behind the product placement. It delivers a powerful message aside from “eat at Mcdonald’s”.

It idealizes love; which is rare in our cynical times. It depicts first love as pure and incorruptible; how it lives on in memory through time. It shows a love that does not manifest envy when parties have moved on (although I won’t deny that the guy probably felt envious) but rather celebrates the good memories that they’ve shared. It raises love on a pedestal where it has no strings, no conditions and no rules.

It’s a shame that some things can change so much in two years and not everything transcends time.

A couple of days ago, I saw a Mcdonalds Commercial which made my heart smile, flutter and then break horrendously. It opens with two kids, a boy and a girl (6 or 7 years old, would be my guess), sitting in a playground, talking. The young girl asks her friend: “Girlfriend mo na ba ako?” and the young boy replies with “Ayoko nga” and tells his friend that girlfriends have the tendency to want too many things. The girl pouts and says “Gusto ko lang naman ng McDo fries eh”. The young boy’s eyes lights up as he checks his pockets and as the commercial closes we see them holding hands while the girl clutches a small bag of Mcdonald’s french fries.

Yes, it made my heart smile. The beauty of a young love is almost unmatchable. As I sat on my chair, however, the smile quickly turned into a frown as I realized that love had just been commercialized. It no longer talks about how love factors into a relationship. Here, it simply stemmed out from a business deal: I’ll give you fries and in return, we’re boyfriend and girlfriend. It was simple yet heartbreaking; how 25 pesos was able to buy something as priceless as a person’s affections. The young boy has already foreshadowed this with his prior statement: “Demanding ang mga girlfriend. Gusto ganito. Gusto ganyan.” as if a relationship is forged only by one’s ability to match the wants of their partner. Has our world truly become that cynical; that such words can come out of young children and the audience will just smile and laugh and never for a moment feel a sense of loss?

It also reinforces negative gender stereotypes: Opportunistic males and Materialistic females by showcasing these traits in young children. If you take a look at how the boys eyes light up upon hearing that the girl only want Mcdo Fries depict men as opportunistic vipers (although, in this case, a very cute one) waiting to strike at easy prey. If holding hands is one of the more basic manifestations of physical intimacy then this commercial shows the beginnings of stereotypical man doing anything just to get inside a woman’s pants. The girl, on the other hand, reflects the notion that material gifts are actually needed to placate their wants. Upon being told by the young boy of the supposed materialistic nature of girlfriends, the young girl doesn’t challenge this notion but merely lowers expectations instead. In the end, the female is still depicted as a person who is persuaded by gifts. Stereotyping is a dangerous and slippery slope; one which I fear we’re rapidly sliding down on.

Of course there is the chance that I am just thinking too much. After all, this is just a commercial. However, if we don’t think about the messages we are sending then we are doomed to create a cycle of ignorance in our society. If we don’t believe that little things make an impact, then just how big does the problem have to be before we start acting? I’m not saying that this is the only commercial that is guilty of stereotyping and commercializing love (there are worst offenders) but because this commercial is cute and sweet, it is all the more dangerous. The devil is always in the details and it is best that we keep this in our memories, so that we never forget and our children can still hear of the ideal (and therefore learn to hope) before the world disappoints them.

Advertisement