An ad campaign of dubious appropriateness

Submitted for your approval, as the late Rod Serling used to say: a website called Fourthmeal.com, part of an advertising campaign by one of the leading fast-food chains to promote the notion of a regular meal between dinner and breakfast (eaten at their establishments, natch). (Fair warning: both sites are entirely Flash-dependent.) In the interest of full disclosure, let me admit up front that I often eat there myself; in fact, I did so today at lunch, which prompted this reflection.

Given the sociocultural context of our being the richest, fattest, heaviest-consuming and most poorly-conditioned nation on the planet; and that we are currently attempting to combat a raging epidemic of obesity (the experts' words, not mine), particularly among our youth—the age group most likely to be driving around late at night in search of food or some vague semblance thereof; and given that in some of the world's poorer countries, many people struggle even to achieve one meal a day, never mind four...am I the only one who finds this concept in questionable taste, at the very least?

Ought we to have a major food purveyor encouraging our already overweight teens to think of "Fourthmeal" as a daily habit? No one disputes their right to market their products, or even to promote late-night snackage. But to promote it as a full-fledged meal, to be included in one's daily routine along with the basic three, is quite another thing altogether—one that can only wreak havoc on the environment (packaging litter), the waistline and the pocketbook.

A more developed sense of social responsibility among the executives of the chain and its corporate parent, Yum! Brands, Inc. (also owners of Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and KFC among other chains) would seem called for here. If they really consider being good corporate citizens more important than maximizing profits and shareholder return, methinks they should not be running ads that actively contribute to the problem. What do you think?

Another epidemic that must be stemmed

Almost as bad as the epidemic of obesity mentioned in the last post is the stupidity epidemic; unfortunately, this one is much, much harder to whip.

Exhibit A: The sad case of Idiot Eliot Spitzer, within three days to be ex-governor of New York state through his own foolish cupidity. Most of you have already read far more than you want to about this once-promising young Democratic comer's comeuppance, so I won't bother linking.

Exhibit B: According to this BBC News report, the Catholic Bishop of a Scottish town called Motherwell alleges that gay and lesbian activists are "aligning themselves with minority groups, including Holocaust survivors, to make it appear they are under persecution" and "conspiring against Christian traditions." (Thanks to wolfette for the link.)

Exhibit C: Focus on the Family's Big Jim Dobson worries out loud that the next generation of religious conservatives won't see a threat to the institution of marriage, the fabric of society and life as we know it under every pro-choicer's or gay couple's bedpost. (Thanks to supergee for this one.)

It's even spreading to supposedly whip-smart people, as witness Exhibit D: the entire Presidential nomination campaign so far of Sen. Hillary Clinton, up to and including the latest imbroglio involving the inflammatory remarks of the last woman to ride near the top of a Democratic presidential ticket, Geraldine Ferraro.

But then hope comes in the form of the embodiment of Dobson's worry: an 18-year-old son of one of the victims of 1995's Oklahoma City atrocity definitively rebukes one of his state's Congressional representatives, one Sally Kern (Republican—you can't possibly be surprised, can you?), who is guilty of Exhibit E in her own recent idiotic statements likening homosexuals to terrorists. I think we can all agree this kid is in a unique position to know whereof he speaks, unlike Rep, Kern.

"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation. Stupidity is not a sin; the victim can't help being stupid. But stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death, there is no appeal, and the execution is carried out automatically and without pity." —Robert A. Heinlein, from The Notebooks of Lazarus Long