Fish McBites: McMockery Missed Opportunity

This is part of our new series, Ad Nauseam– a look at advertising through the ethical vegan lens.

Every day on the way to work I pass a McDonald’s. The word board underneath the Golden Arches notifies bad NJ drivers making illegal turns into the place (fried, greasy flesh knows no traffic laws) that they now have MacBites. If I wasn’t so disgusted by the product, I’d be more annoyed that whoever puts the words up can’t even spell the product name properly. But I digress.

NPR recently weighed in on this new “food” item in The Salt, and while I appreciate sarcasm in almost all of its forms, I can’t help but feel that reviews like this one are exactly why we have such a problem getting people to think about where their food comes from.

A marketing slogan is suggested: “…for the bottom feeder in all of us.” Then, some witty (ahem) one-liners referencing The Little Mermaid, colon cleanses, and ‘catch and release.’ Oh, and don’t forget a reference to the horse meat scandal for good measure. (We all agree that in the case of animals being used for food, a horse is a cow is a chicken is a pig is a goat is a fish, correct?)

This edition of “Sandwich Monday” would have been such a good opportunity to take a serious look at how McDonald’s procures its animals and turns them into items they pass off as food. How are we ever expected to really think about what we’re putting into our bodies if we only spend the time making wisecracks about how the fish breed used for McBites must be “crappie” and likening Alaskan Pollock to a well-known painter using herring guts on canvas?

The next time someone says “I wouldn’t eat this shit,” what will it take to make them think of the fact that this “shit” used to be a living thing who deserves more respect than the mockery of a fried fish nugget, or a fried chicken nugget, or a greasy hamburger? What will it take to make them think that we deserve better, too?