Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich

Posted on | November 21, 2013 | 86 Comments

“There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them.”

-George Orwell

Which is about as good an introduction as we’re going to get for the mind-numbingly ridiculous The McRib: Enjoy Your Symptom, an essay for The Atlantic scrawled by one Ian Bogost, whose surname is reminiscent not only of “bogosity” but of the Britishism “bogroll”, which is our English cousins’ word for the household item commonly used to remove things most similar to this essay from your rear end.

“Lacan is a tyrant who must be driven from our shores. Narrowly trained English professors who know nothing of art history or popular culture think they can just wade in with Lacan and trash everything in sight.”
-Camille Paglia

Bogost would like us to take him seriously as he delivers a post-modernist philosophical critique of McDonald’s, that food emporium so often mocked by the intellectualoids as a threat not only to the diet and health of America but the very world, so he drags in the French pseudo-philosopher Lacan and the deranged, posturing Slovenian Communist Slavoj Zizek to “prove” that we don’t really know what we’re doing when we order the McRib, Chicken McNuggets, Double Quarter Pounder, or the other items on the menu. No, we’re just slaves to our unconscious, which desires things that aren’t on the menu but are rather marketed without being marketed. This is obvious nonsense, and Bogost teases us with the notion that he knows it’s nonsense before dancing away on another binge of free-association tarted up with art history and pseudo-paradoxes that exist only in the mind of people without the brainpower to do their own thinking without the crutches of Lacan, Saussure and their ilk.

Most people don’t want to know how the McRib and McNuggets are made for the same reason they don’t like hanging around slaughterhouses and meatpacking plants, and to suggest that there’s something wrong with this is itself wrong. It’s a clear signal that the writer doesn’t understand ordinary folks and how they think and feel. Unfortunately, this is a common problem with the academic Pecksniffs among us, who can’t understand why Americans prefer tasty, affordable mass-produced hamburgers and pork sandwiches to tasteless, expensive “organic” foods that can’t be easily consumed while on the road in the family minivan. Or, for that matter, a preference for clinging to guns and religion in a time when the intellectualoids and their Lightworker are in charge and straining to produce a national transformation.

Bogost drivels on about the seasonal appearance and disappearance of the McRib as if it were some kind of overwhelming cultural event, fraught with significance and weighing heavily on the American id. Clearly, he has zero understanding of the fast food business -or of any part of the food business, I daresay- and its attention to the changing tastes of the American consumer. Even a decade ago, the menus at McDonald’s and Burger King featured nothing more spicy than ketchup and pepper packets, but now both chains (and their competitors) boast barbeque sauces (hot and mild), jalapeno and habanero pepper-spiced items, and various Southwestern and Buffalo-style chicken items that leave a definite burning sensation behind on their way to the digestive tract. Items rotate in and out of the menu on a seasonal basis: you won’t find egg nog shakes in the middle of summer, or the regional specialty McBrat outside tailgate season in the Midwest.

There are many reasons to visit a McDonald’s: cheap, tasty food served fast; large sodas sold for cheap in the pit of the summer; free wifi when the home internet is down. Nobody goes there for the ambience or to experience a gastronomic thrill, and only a deluded intellectualoid like Mr. Bogost would think anyone would go there driven by the unquiet urges of their id. In the end, the McRib is just a sandwich.

Category: Farce, Intellectuals

Comments

86 Responses to “Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich”

MrEvilMatt
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:00 am

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich: – Wombat-socho “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent p… http://t.co/KEvlcsERpu
CHideout
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:00 am

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich: – Wombat-socho “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent p… http://t.co/7Lm5sCoHxN
Resista38176897
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:00 am

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich: – Wombat-socho “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent p… http://t.co/SkZ1sJPFJQ
Citzcom
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:01 am

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich: – Wombat-socho “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent p… http://t.co/4TAwcxFD8G
jwbrown1969
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:01 am

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich: – Wombat-socho “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent p… http://t.co/FJtiNRiC3i
Lockestep1776
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:01 am

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich: – Wombat-socho “There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent p… http://t.co/hvSsHht6Fq
joethefatman
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:24 am

Clearly, he has zero understanding of the fast food business -or of any part of the food business,

Fixed.

As much as I personally hate McDonalds, the id10t Bogost is worse. Arnold J. Rimmer has nothing on this douche
Evi L. Bloggerlady
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:24 am

Anything that gets you folks off the Quarter Pounders and Big Macs and onto McRibs and Chicken is a plus in my book!
Frankly Bored
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:29 am

WS – You really should write posts more often than you do. The McRib is my favorite McFood. I eat it till I’m McFull and I don’t care what any of my betters think of it. BTW – Do you kow why they call it a Happy Meal? Because when you hand that little box over to an innocent child, for at least a brief moment that child is happy. Why knock a place that makes kids happy?…because the miserable class wants us all to join their misery. I’m going to grab a McRib on the way home and smile at the thought that I’m taking a bite out of misery with every single chomp. I might even get two…
joethefatman
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:37 am

Nah. The Happy Meal is named that because as soon as the kid gets it he/she has their mouth full and aren’t talking… And that make DADDY happy.
JeffS
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:41 am

Commies everywhere loathe McDonald’s because it’s a successful capitalist venture, iconic of American exceptionalism, and known around the world.

Hence, any excuse to attack it will be grasped, no matter how flimsy. Intellectual shoddiness is immaterial to ardent commies like Bogost, because they are displaying their psuedo-intellectual prowess.
scarymatt
November 21st, 2013 @ 10:53 am

So, what you’re saying, Wombat, is that if we like our False Consciousness, we should keep it?
Wombat_socho
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:02 am

Admit it, you’re one of the Chick-Fil-
A cows in deep cover, aren’t you?
Wombat_socho
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:03 am

Maybe it’s your real consciousness telling you to pick up a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese. Because you’re really hungry.
scarymatt
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:06 am

I really don’t care for their burgers, though they recently had some premium burgers (can’t remember the names!) that were good. I usually get nuggets or, recently, Mighty Wings. Those are actually pretty good.

I really miss the good old days of dark meat nuggets. I used to trade my white meat to my little brother for his dark meat nuggets. I hate the trend of “all white meat chicken.” Thanks, but I prefer the tastier, juicier meat.
Kevin Trainor Jr.
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:12 am

Kevin Trainor Jr. liked this on Facebook.
RS
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:15 am

No, we’re just slaves to our unconscious, which desires things that aren’t on the menu but are rather marketed without being marketed.

As if he, when he goes to the NYT favorably reviewed bistro with a three month waiting list for a table, where he will order the the absolutely divine stir-fried oyster titty appetizer is doing so for some reason other than the marketing to his subconscious, telling him, “Eat our ostentatious food in our ostentatious exclusive surroundings among other glitterati to prove your membership among the elites.”

Yeah, right.
Alessandra
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:28 am

There is no justifiable reason for purchasing meat or poultry that comes from an industrial process that severely mistreats or tortures the animals throughout their process for raising them.

My last blog post on the subject:

Reply to commenter with a parasitic mind about
torturing animals censored on Patterico’s Pontifications blog – article on Dominion and Matt Scully.

http://censoredfirstthings.wordpress.com/2013/10/19/reply-to-commenter-with-a-parasitic-mind-about-torturing-animals-censored-on-pattericos-pontifications-blog-article-on-dominion-and-matt-scully/

That’s the reason why McDonald’s is equal to McCrap and McUnacceptable. If they weren’t a part of the system mistreating animals while raising them, I wouldn’t care if people wanted to eat their junk-tasting hamburgers. There’s the question of obesity, but…
Alessandra
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:34 am

Well, at least he acknowledges human beings have an unconscious. Unlike the homonormative chimp crowd which has decided to pretend otherwise and to claim that our unconscious, ideology, life experience, and formative relationships do not influence, shape, or deform sexual desire, thinking, and feelings and therefore produce homosexuality, pedophilia, and other such problems in people’s minds.
Alessandra
November 21st, 2013 @ 11:36 am

Hate all of their sandwiches as well; we need more and better alternatives in the fast-food arena…
ChandlersGhost
November 21st, 2013 @ 12:03 pm

Wombat-socho trashing Zizek and Lacan. It’s already a great day.
ajpwriter
November 21st, 2013 @ 12:29 pm

Whatever. Five Guys is better.
rmnixondeceased
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:00 pm

Heh. My campaign is promising that if you like your sandwich, you can keep it. Period. (Our favorite is a pound of crisp bacon on grilled dark rye with mayo dripping out the sides) …
Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich | Dead Citizen's Rights Society
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:04 pm

[…] Read the rest … […]
Becca Lower
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:07 pm

Because of the Lightbringer’s sustained attack on our economy, McDonald’s had to ditch the Angus burgers you’re referring to (and it’s a shame, because they’re my dad’s fave, too). They’ve announced a new tiered value menu, as well. It says something when even McDonald’s can’t make money…
scarymatt
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:09 pm

Yes! Angus…for some reason I couldn’t get “Sirloin” out of my head, and I knew that wasn’t right.
BeccaJLower
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:10 pm

Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich http://t.co/bX1kZUUwM4
ECHackett
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:12 pm

“Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich” http://t.co/klE9V46SqR @Wombat_socho quotes Paglia and trashes Lacan. King of the Internet. cc: @rsmccain
Quartermaster
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:17 pm

Good post Mr. Maximus. Good demo of that natural bile you mentioned in another thread. You might have a future where the gruel ration is increased in volume and quality.
pabarge
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:19 pm

http://www.priscillaharing.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/bogost.jpg

Bwah hah hah
rsmccain
November 21st, 2013 @ 1:46 pm

RT @ECHackett: “Hey – Maybe It’s Just A Sandwich” http://t.co/klE9V46SqR @Wombat_socho quotes Paglia and trashes Lacan. King of the Interne…
Kyle Kiernan
November 21st, 2013 @ 2:06 pm

I’ve spent my time out beyond the sidewalks and for me McD’s is the sign of civilisation. When you see the arches you know that you have returned. It’s not the pinnacle of epidurean delight because its not suypposed to be. And its not abysmal either. Its decent reliable food at a decent price delivered swiftly and reliably in clean attractive surroundings. Anyone who thinks otherwise is probably outside screaming at the pigs to better themselves.
Evi L. Bloggerlady
November 21st, 2013 @ 2:31 pm

You know it!
RS
November 21st, 2013 @ 3:12 pm

While I understand your feelings, I would note there are trade-offs to everything. With the advent of industrial agriculture, which admittedly is a messy business, we have seen vast increases in food production which enable us to support not only ourselves, but countless people around the world preventing starvation on a vast scale. There’s a reason those countries which practice a more “organic,” labor intensive, “natural” form of agriculture also have substantially higher rates of malnutrition and the ills that brings. I’m by no means a fan of fast food, but I would note a person making minimum wage can keep body and soul together daily for one hour’s work at McD’s. That’s not possible in a large number of places on this planet, and the reason is, in part, industrial agriculture.
Steve Skubinna
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:14 pm

In-n-Out is better yet.
Finrod Felagund
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:24 pm

Meanwhile I’m annoyed at McDonald’s because the McRib is not going to be rolled out nationally this year, only regionally. The McD’s nearest my house, according to its manager, started trying to order the makings for McRibs as soon as they were able to and still haven’t gotten any yet.
Steve Skubinna
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:25 pm

It’s tough for these people. They have to keep finding new ways to sneer at the rest of us every damn freakin’ week! And you people just laugh at them.
It really isn’t fair.
I mean, we’ve had articles condemning barbecueing because it’s too manly, celebrating an infant daughter’s poops because they chastise the patriarchy, and castigating cupcakes because they oppress womyn of gender. So you try coming up with a new thoughtcrime perpetuated by the bitter clingers to denounce, why don’t you?
So now and then these ink stained wretches must fall back on an old standard, and attack McDonald’s or gun owners or people who don’t commute by bicycle, or who don’t shop at the local farmer’s market. And then you hating haters, instead of keeping a respectful silence, find it needful to mock these strivers for equality and justice. Like you’re as good as they are.
Shame, shame on all of you. I’m going to take up a collection to deliver a truckload of organic free range shade grown fair trade pain free non-GMO heirloom arugula to The Atlantic offices. Better yet, I’ll have it airlifted and delivered by C-17 from 30,ooo feet.
Alessandra
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:40 pm

I’m not any expert, but as far as I know, there is no need to torture animals to feed the West. It is purely shameless, disgusting greed.

People who sustain industrial farming that severely mistreats animals are no different than those individuals who torture kittens for their perverted kicks.
Adjoran
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:53 pm

I hate McDonald’s food. But they have been a pioneer in bringing affordable nutrition to the masses. It is simply not deniable that their business model has driven the actual net cost of a calorie down.

No, their hamburgers aren’t health food. The poor don’t have the luxury of the farm-fresh creations of celebrity chefs in trendy restaurants. And the fact that you now need to work less time to afford sustenance is a good thing for the poor and for society at large. It’s just a fact.
Adjoran
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:56 pm

If he wanted to really critique the place, he might have mentioned the millions of taxpayer dollars they collect from the Export Bank, much of it to help them advertise their products in other countries. Can you imagine a company who LESS needs taxpayer help with their ads?

Also, “McRib” isn’t rib meat. It’s just false advertising to market it this way. It’s deceptive. And most Obama voters just can’t tell the difference and are too stupid to read the fine print.
Adjoran
November 21st, 2013 @ 4:56 pm

If he wanted to really critique the place, he might have mentioned the millions of taxpayer dollars they collect from the Export Bank, much of it to help them advertise their products in other countries. Can you imagine a company who LESS needs taxpayer help with their ads?

Also, “McRib” isn’t rib meat. It’s just false advertising to market it this way. It’s deceptive. And most Obama voters just can’t tell the difference and are too stupid to read the fine print.
tlk244182
November 21st, 2013 @ 5:12 pm

When I was in the Navy in San Diego, I went to the Mickey D’s in Pacific Beach every night that we were in port and I didnt have duty. Those were great times: Big Macs, french fries, Coca Cola, Southern California, and Ronald Reagan. I didn’t know then that I had been born in paradise. Thanks, man. God bless America.
The Bearded Bastard of Babylon
November 21st, 2013 @ 5:17 pm

I don’t eat “clown food”…

Mon estomac!
RS
November 21st, 2013 @ 5:34 pm

You claim no expertise, but yet accuse some of “torture,” (a term you do not define) and then double down with accusation of “perversion” directed at those who “support” industrial agriculture, a category which includes virtually everyone who shops at a supermarket, because industrial agriculture is directed to satisfying that market at an affordable price, and claim, without supporting evidence, that modern agribusiness is “unnecessary” to feed the west.

I know nothing about you beyond what I’ve read on these pages and your own. I do know that the alternative to modern agribusiness is subsistence agriculture, which leaves those who practice it precious little time for anything else, most especially authoring inflammatory comments on the internet.
Shipmate
November 21st, 2013 @ 5:51 pm

When I was in the Navy in San Diego, we had a chaplain visiting the ship that couldn’t understand why sailors would go to the McDonald’s on base when the ship was serving “sliders” (hamburgers)…
Shipmate
November 21st, 2013 @ 5:51 pm

When I was in the Navy in San Diego, we had a chaplain visiting the ship that couldn’t understand why sailors would go to the McDonald’s on base when the ship was serving “sliders” (hamburgers)…
Alessandra
November 21st, 2013 @ 6:13 pm

As far as I know there is no need to severely mistreat animals to feed the West. There is plenty to eat – in fact too much to eat – in the West. And people, the majority of them, have more money than just for food and rent. Many people have quite more money. What they are doing is completely unethical.

I suggest this book, by Scully:
http://www.amazon.com/Dominion-Power-Suffering-Animals-Mercy/dp/0312319738

(Amazon):”This is one of the best books ever written on the subject of animal welfare. Scully, a journalist and former speechwriter for President
George W. Bush, chooses to fight on his own ground, and he rightly argues that the important thing is not insisting upon equal “rights” for animals but in treating them with a modicum of respect and dignity. His book is as close as a philosophy can come to representing “animal rights” goals while not proclaiming animals to be equal in status to humans, as do classic works like Peter Singer’s Animal Liberation. As a journalist, Scully personally investigated several major animal
industries, including those of hunting, whaling, and factory farming. He asks penetrating questions and shows the logical and political inconsistencies used to defend cruel industries. Although some may balk
at the author’s sarcasm, it adds an emotional element to his unequaled depth of insight. Scully has a remarkable grasp of the issues and a unique perspective on our societal treatment of animals. Highly recommended.

The factory farms — producing almost every animal product we see sold or advertised, in our country and most others — are places of immense and avoidable suffering. And though the moral stakes are not the same as with abortion, the moral habits are, relying in both cases on the averted gaze and a smothering of empathy.
================

You’re equating torturing animals to the entire food production in the West? Clearly you can see that’s nonsense.

Many people could pay more for meat that wasn’t produced by mistreating the animals. If everyone demanded meat and poultry that wasn’t produced by mistreatment, the prices would come down – quite a bit, in fact. And so the majority of people would still be able to afford it. There are plenty of foods that furnish protein, meat is only one choice. Who says you need to torture a chicken to grow peanuts?
A Pointless Exercise in Academic Hipsterism | Blackmailers Don't Shoot
November 21st, 2013 @ 6:34 pm

[…] Wombat-socho draws our attention to a piece in The Atlantic that’s so silly I’m almost ashamed to be writing about it. Almost. Writer Ian Bogost turns the ever inane eye of Critical Theory on the McRib sandwich as a means to trash the much-hated McDonalds and show how far above the little people he is. […]
Matthew W
November 21st, 2013 @ 6:44 pm

“Also, “McRib” isn’t rib meat.”

Chuck E. Cheese doesn’t sell pizza either !!!
Wombat_socho
November 21st, 2013 @ 6:45 pm

There are plenty of alternatives, including an entire chain dedicated to weaning America off its beef habit.