The Soft Lounge Blog

McDonald’s makes me look up the word ‘Heteronormativity’

Here is a new advertisement from McDonald’s for their “Come As You Are” campaign. As you can see, it’s in French-largely because it runs in France-and not something you’re likely to see on a TV in the US anytime soon.   I like how, by the way, the Daily Mail is using blog comments as news quotes-but they do bring up some good points.  The entire Religious Right (as the commentor notes) would, in fact, boycott McDonald’s if this aired in the US (…for about a week.  Let’s be fair- I think McDonald’s would win out a waiting war with any subset of angry Americans-particularly one so American as Mickey D’s.  Besides,if they are really committed then a little thing like distance and language shouldn’t stifle their righteous rage-they should be pissed off anyway.).

One commenter I read on some blog somewhere (seriously, I can’t remember) commended the ad for portraying the father not as homophobic, but as Heteronormative-a very awesome word I had to look up (and completely smacks of having been invented in a liberal arts college somewhere).  Essentially, as the roots suggest, the word describes a world where actions are based on the idea that heterosexuality is the norm and that homosexuality is abnormal.  It still seems debatable about whether any moral judgment need be attached to the idea of abnormality or not (I personally think something can be abnormal but not morally wrong), but the father’s comments clearly indicate a reflection of this way of thinking.  He isn’t bashing homosexuals by any stretch, but simply assuming (wrongly) that his son is straight.

And why wouldn’t he?  His son hasn’t told him he’s gay (yet, perhaps right after the commercial ends over some Nugets de Poulet avec pommes frites) and estimates (for the U.S. anyway) of 10% of the population being gay seem to be towards the high end of estimates.  Even if you do subscribe to the idea that Heteronormativity creates a “sexual hierarchy” that puts heterosexuals in the “good” area and gay sex in the “bad” area (which I can understand as possible, but not sure I buy yet) it isn’t as if there is something bad or amoral about having those thoughts-they are, by definition, norms taught to most people.  They are the default, and the worst you could accuse someone of is being “on autopilot.”  (It might be no worse than assuming I’m right handed or that I eat meat.  Most people in this country are right handed omnivores, but I’m left handed-even if I still do eat meat). 

I guess I found this ad really compelling because it is so understated.  This isn’t the story of some sexually confused teen raging against his father for not understanding him, nor is it some camp portrayal of a drag queen waiting to be born in the ashes of a homophobic father.  The image of a straight kid feeling embarrassed as he discusses his/her romantic yearnings to a parent over a #2 with Coke (or maybe embarrassed as mom/dad drops them of to meet the certain someone else) has played through a million times in any  number of ads-and to be fair this ad isn’t that ad.  But, it does deal with the very relatable fact that all children are a little intimidated by their parents (and that all parents are a little clueless when it comes to their kids) all while driving home the ultimate message that you should eat at McDonald’s-because McDonald’s is a safe place where everyone is welcome and no one is going to yell at you.

Look-as evil as you may think McDonald’s is, it’s one of the hallmarks of the American psyche.  There are few companies that take less chances socially than McDonald’s.  So if French McDonald’s decided this was a good idea, then American McDonald’s thought the same thing-at least that it was a good idea for France.  Still, as this is part of a campaign my guess is that more ads will roll out for other groups to “come as the are” in a Tony Stark type effort to privatize world peace-particularly at a plastic counter-top or going though drive-thru. 

We’ll see what, if anything, comes of this.