Sunday, September 28, 2008

Anti-intellectualism at McDonald's

Now, I like a good burger as much as the next person, which is why I get my burger fix almost exclusively at In-N-Out Burger. It beats the pants off McDonald's, but I understand how if you're on the road (and not near an In-N-Out), the crappy, consistent mediocrity of a McDonald's burger might offer some comfort. But McDonald's has taken things in a new direction with their new coffee advertisements:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2008/09/in-videos-mcdonalds-coffee-mccafe-ad-feminists-women-upset.html

The first ad shows two women in a generic coffee shop gushing over how they can drop all pretense of intellectualism and go to McDonad's. So that means only dumb women drink McDonald's espresso? And why can't a women in Starbucks wear heels and a skirt? Basically, it's hard to get around the fact that McDonald's is insulting its female customers by calling them stupid. As a commenter Human Bean on feministing.com wrote, "Is their ad agency working for Burger King?"

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Science reporting and the LHC (Large Hadron Collider)

Slate.com writer Chris Wilson had an interesting piece today entitled, "Atomic Prose: Why can't science journalists just tell it like it is when it comes to particle physics?" Wilson states that he prefers more matter-of-fact descriptions of particle physics, such as Richard Feynman's description:
"...[he] was fond of comparing the process of exploring the atom to smashing two pocket watches together and then trying to figure out how they worked by examining the debris—an analogy that neatly captures how particle physics is a distinctly forensic exercise."
I agree that sprinkling nuts and bolts descriptions with sprinklings of religious imagery can be distracting, I think *some* of it is warranted in this case. The experiments that will be conducted at the LHC are notable both for their scale and the fact that they represent a massive push against the unknown. While material scientists who design, say, new ways to squeeze more transistors on a wafer of silicon have more obvious and immediate benefit to society, here the focus is more esoteric and deeper. Probing the unknown simply because it is there is a concept that most readers only encounter in a religious context. So it is understandable, I think, that journals attempt to couch their descriptions of these grand experiments in terms that convey the depth of importance to their readers.

Monday, September 22, 2008

Simpon's children recast as Kroger spokepersons


A while back in Texas I spotted an odd-looking series of insurance pamphlets in the Kroger grocery store. What caught my eye was not the breathless promo of the "first 30 days of coverage for only $1!", but the appropriation of what looks for all the world like a grown-up Bart and Lisa Simpson. Note the spiky hair on the elder Bart compared to the larger spikes of the elder Lisa. Setting aside the copyright issues, what is really creepy is that this famous cartoon brother and sister are depicted here as a family unit (Mom, Dad, Son, Dog).

Actually, in addition to the overt implication of incest, their oddly upturned noses are also creepy. What do these incest practitioners have to be so uppity about? To say nothing of the fact that while "Dad/Bart" has his hand on his son's head, "Mom/Lisa" has her hand on the dog. Clearly, she cares more about canine companionship than the obvious love-child of inbreeding. Yikes.