McDonalds - Smart: An Oxymoron

The other night my daughter and I were watching U of M throw the ball to Notre Dame in what was supposed to be a football game. An ad came on which has been in the loop now for a month or so: It features a group of youngish adults going out to eat at a McDonalds. One of the guys is asked where he is living and, via flashback, we see he has moved back home. The crux of the matter is his need to gracefully get out of telling his friends he has moved back in with his parents. After a moment he comes up with a clever reply that distorts the truth and the equation is it's smart to eat at Mcdonalds just like our hapless friend was smart in embroidering his reply.

My daughter said, "I will never be in that situation."
Dad, a little disappointed, "What, moving back home?"
Daughter, "No! Going out for a meal with my friends at McDonalds in my 30's!"

I was relieved with her answer but then I was struck by the rest of the story: Lying and distorting the truth has become a standard-- and apparently admirable-- modi operandi in our society. We've just become so clever and smart we can just say whatever we want. Credibility is in the answer, not the truth.

The other really pathetic part of the ad is that is implies there is shame in having to move back home with your parents. In a time when millions of Americans cannot find work it is an all too well known scenario that young people who would like to be independent, working, and living in their own apartment or home are having to move back home. So, rather than admit to the circumstance, rather than demonstrate a sense of gratitude that his mother is happy, able, and willing to have him move back home, our sorry McDonalds customer lies about it. And then comes the tag line that links eating at McDonalds with being smart, something like: McDonalds. Smart.

From a personal perspective I'm not too disappointed. I stopped eating at McDonalds quite a while back because it's just wrong on so many levels. But for the "billions and billions served" it's the wrong message entirely and a disservice. Unfortunately, it's also probably a pretty good barometer of the current state of personal integrity.