National Nitwit

Guest Editorial by Reese McCullough,
marketing consultant

You've just got to hand it to the marketing geniuses at McDonald's, a company that is never content to sit on its corporate laurels. I about laughed myself silly watching that new commercial with the little black kid with the beatbox, who munches his french fries as a rap song goes on in the background.

I think that McDonald's hip-hop attitude in their commercials must really be connecting with the black folks!

You know the one I am talking about, right? It has the song "Cha-Cha Slide" in the background, and the street-smart kid schools his dad in the living room? There he is, in his Adidas track suit, just a-dipping those apples in the caramel sauce right to the beat?

And his dad, who at first looks like he's some kind of middle management type, but we later find out he's not above a-shucking and a-jiving with the kid? I mean, you can't change who you are, am I right? As soon as the dad starts feeling the rhythm, he's just got to start a-bobbing his head and getting that funk moving.

I think McDonald's should make a whole series of these crazy commercials. Maybe the dad can be riding with the kid in their big old 1976 Cadillac Fleetwood, all pimped out in chrome and the beat to the "Cha-Cha Slide" pumping throughout the whole ghetto. Then the camera could cut to the adorable mom, who is in the backset of the Caddy stuffing fries in her face and whose 250-lb body is jiggling to the beat.

Nothing too sexy, mind you, but maybe the wind could blow that colorful Hawaiian muumuu around a bit to see a little of that tasty-looking cleavage, or maybe she would drop a Chicken McNugget and we could see that gigantic rump wiggling a bit as she adjusts her dew-rag.

Anyways, kudos to McDonald's for making a commercial that really nails it. Not only do they hit a grand slam in the black demographic, but the rest of us learn just a little bit about other cultures.

Labels: Cha-Cha Slide, McDonald's