Did McDonald's pay Kanye West to try to make toxic food cool?

Friday, August 26, 2016 by: Daniel Barker
Tags: McDonald''s, Kanye West, paid promotions

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(NaturalNews) The release of singer Frank Ocean's latest album a few days ago was accompanied by the publication of a magazine that included a poem by Kanye West – a poem about McDonald's food.

The magazine, entitled Boys Don't Cry, is a glossy publication featuring text and photos along with West's poem, The McDonald's Man, which contains such immortal lines as "The French Fries Had A Plan, The Salad Bar And The Ketchup Made A Band" – leaving some wondering if McDonald's had a plan to use West's celebrity status as a marketing tool.

Any publicity is good publicity

Whether or not Kanye was paid by the fast food giant to pen the poem is unclear, and even though the lyrics allude to the fact that the food is "artificial," anyone in the advertising industry knows that all publicity is good publicity.

And although West's poem seems to question the healthiness of Mickey D's products, the overall message seems to be that their food is basically irresistible, despite its artificiality.

Here are a few more lines from The McDonald's Man:

The Cheeseburger And The Shakes Formed A Band

To Overthrow The French Fries Plan

I Always Knew Them French Fries Was Evil Man

Smelling All Good And Sh*t

I Don't Trust No Food That Smells That Good Man

I Don't Trust It I Can't

McDonald's Man

McDonald's Man

McDonald's Damn

Them French Fries Look Good Tho

Silliness and seeming mixed message aside, the poem is likely to boost sales rather than harm them, as both Kanye West and McDonald's are no doubt well aware.

In fact, McDonald's has released a statement to TIME regarding West's poem, and the company seems delighted about its publication:

"We're lovin' the love for McDonald's World Famous Fries and Apple Pies. Like the beef in our burgers our love for our fans' creativity is 100 percent."

While McDonald's may be "loving the love" (how much more calculatedly inane could they possibly be?), critics of the garbage disguised as food peddling corporation do not share their enthusiasm.

In fact, many people who understand how terribly unhealthy McDonald's products actually are, and how they contribute to rising childhood obesity rates and illnesses such as diabetes, have been highly critical of the company's use of celebrities in pushing their poisonous fare on the public – especially to children, who are highly susceptible to star-powered advertising.

McDonald's has used many celebrities in the past to promote their products – the list includes popular artists such as Justin Timberlake, Destiny's Child and Jessie J.

Top athletes sell out for millions of dollars, could care less about children's health

And even worse, Mickey D's has often stooped to hiring celebrity athletes who don't seem to mind that their endorsements will lead to anything but athletic prowess; maybe this is their way of eliminating potential competition?

Athletes who have endorsed McDonald's include such superstars as Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, LeBron James, Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan.

Obviously, any athlete performing at the level of these endorsees knows better; you don't win gold medals and championships by scarfing down McRibs or Big Macs. It's hard to believe that Usain Bolt's training regime includes super sized helpings of "Them French Fries."

But money seems to be more important to these so-called "heroes" than sending a message to kids that a proper diet is essential to competitive athletic performance – not to mention good health in general.

It's not surprising that McDonald's would seek to hire sports legends and pop idols to help sell their products, but it's downright disgusting (if not criminal) when these stars agree to do so – no matter how many millions of dollars are involved.

To Michael Phelps, Kanye West and the rest of you McDonald's pimps: You should be ashamed of yourselves.

Sources:

Complex.com

TIME.com

MarketingSociety.com

TheRichest.com

AthletePromotions.com