The scene opens on two men sitting side-by-side in chairs, separated by a small attached table on which sits a McCafe coffee cup and a few papers or magazines. A sign on the door identifies the room as a Teachers' Lounge. The man on the left is wearing a windbreaker-type coach's jacket; he's burly, has thick, bushy hair, a thick, bushy mustache, and is reading a newspaper, presumably the Sports section: he's the quintessential PhysEd teacher. The man on the right has a notebook opened on his lap, some sort of lesson plan, no doubt; he's slightly built, has on a checked shirt and a tie, and wispyish curly hair: must be an English or maybe Social Studies teacher. Coach complains about having paid "nearly four bucks" for the coffee he's sipping, in an unmarked, Starbucksy cup. Mr. Chips replies, helpfully, that Coach should try a coffee from McCafe, which is fabulous, and way cheaper. Coach says "Don't mind if I do," picks up and drinks from Mr. Chips's cup. Chips, shocked and prissily outraged, says "I meant you should get your own!" Coach, who has never looked at Chips the whole time, says "I just did," shoves his cup (which sounds hollow and empty) across the table toward Chips, and gulps down more of what has become his McCafe. Chips glares at Coach, helpless and humiliated, and... Fade and Print.
Have you seen this ad yet? It's been getting quite a lot of play, although apparently not enough to have it archived anywhere yet, as I searched everywhere I could think of in order to pass that info along to those of you who don't have TVs but do have computers--and what's up with that, anyway--or for those of you with TVs which only receive PBS (snore).
There are at least two subtexts here that piss me off (the phrase "that pisses me off" appeared above the fold--the inward fold, not the outward, but still...-- on the Names page of today's Boston Globe, which I found quite surprising, but also, obviously, liberating). One is the obvious use of stereotypes: the rugged, manly, athletic, "I'll take whatever I want, dammit" Alpha male vs. the slight, "97-pound weakling," sputtering ineffectual intellectual. Really? In 2014 we still hafta deal with that crap? Next you'll tell me racism and sexism still exist, which assertion is clearly laughable, right? And, BTW, as the cool kids say (I don't want to get pushed up against a row of lockers), isn't it far more likely that the Neanderthal Coach-type would eat at Mickey-D's, rather than the likely-vegan, Earth-hugging wimp, and thus he would already know about the whole coffee thing?
What really got me, though, is that this is nothing but clear-cut, un-reconstituted bullying. The big macho asshole pushes the little guy around, takes what was his, humiliates him, and we all move on? Does the little guy bring in an AK tomorrow, shoot up the place, and we all wonder why? No one at McDonald's or on their ad campaign team recognized or thought about that? That's a sad notion, but what's scary is that maybe they did consider it, and just shrugged it off as harmless or even funny. I'm sure I don't need to go into a discussion of the widespread epidemic of bullying that schools are dealing with these days, but if you're unfamiliar with that, just check it out on your favorite search engine, and read the alarming statistics and stories of those who have suffered at the hands of bullies, and imagine the inner demons/family issues that cause bullies to develop in the first place. And we'll perpetuate that and in effect sanction it, in order to sell coffee. Paul Newman must be spinning. And Nell--have a talk with Ronald, wouldya, and set him straight.
Using that seemingly benign yet subconsciously ugly little slice o' capitalism vignette as a jumping-off point, then, a new playlist springeth forth, forthwith:
Bully Steve Winwood
Bully Of The Town Nashville Dobros
Neighborhood Bully Dylan
Wooly Bully Ry Cooder & Corridos Famosos
Wooly Bully Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs
Mean And Nasty Jason King Band
Mean Mistreater Grand Funk Railroad
Mean Mr. Mustard Fabs
Mean Old World B.B. King
Mean Ole World Blood, Sweat & Tears
Mean Streak John Gorka
Mean To Me Crowded House
This World Is Getting Mean Jim Lauderdale with Donna The Buffalo
Think Aretha
Think For Yourself Fabs
Don't Think About It, Baby Mike Bloomfield
Don't Think About Her Little Village
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright Clapton
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright Dylan
Excuse Me, I Think I've Got A Heartache Cake
Fool To Think Dave Matthews Band
Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking Dylan
How Do You Think It Feels Lou Reed
I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself Elton John
I Think I'm Going To Hell My Morning Jacket
No Time To Think Dylan
Think About It The Jayhawks
Think About The People Osibisa
Tuesday, noon till two, WOOL FM, 91.5, and wool.fm. See ya there!
Mea Culpa: I may have been a bit premature about Brady and the Pats....
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