World's largest McDonald's for 2012 Olympics
May 2, 2012 3:20 PM   Subscribe

McDonald's, a sponsor of the Olympics since 1968, will open a two-story cathedral-like restaurant that seats 1,500 customers, at London's Olympic Park. A group of British doctors say that the mega-McDonald’s sends the wrong message about obesity.
posted by ichomp (44 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
it would be using its expertise to provide "high-quality British food"

Is it possible for McDonalds to sue themselves for libel?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 3:26 PM on May 2, 2012 [8 favorites]


A group of British doctors say that the mega-McDonald’s sends the wrong message about obesity.

It seems to me that the message is that McDonald's is ok every four years or so. Sounds about right to me.
posted by 2bucksplus at 3:29 PM on May 2, 2012 [15 favorites]


During the coverage of the McDonald's trial I made a pledge to never give them any money ever again... I'm sometime's surprised and quietly proud I've totally stuck to it. Though the fact that their food's crap is a bit of an advantage.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:31 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


a two-story cathedral-like restaurant

To be fair, it was built over the course of decades by successive generations of Britons as an expression of their fervent yearning for arteriosclerosis.
posted by R. Schlock at 3:33 PM on May 2, 2012 [8 favorites]


It seems to me that the message is that McDonald's is ok every four years or so. Sounds about right to me.

Every four years it cause the clogging of major transport arteries.
posted by atrazine at 3:34 PM on May 2, 2012 [7 favorites]


That does not look cathedral-like to me. At all.

Has the Church of England gone west-coast/vancouver on us all in its design of recently built cathedrals?
posted by Slackermagee at 3:37 PM on May 2, 2012


Is it possible for McDonalds to sue themselves for libel?

Under British libel laws, probably.
posted by strangely stunted trees at 3:39 PM on May 2, 2012 [10 favorites]


A group of British doctors say that the mega-McDonald’s sends the wrong message about obesity

If they say this in public in London, however, they're probably committing a crime under the Olympics enabling laws demanded by the IOC.
posted by acb at 3:40 PM on May 2, 2012 [5 favorites]


That does not look cathedral-like to me. At all.

Looks sort of like an Apple store.

Anyway, fuck the McDonalds Olympics, which just gets worse and worse.
posted by Artw at 3:40 PM on May 2, 2012


That's the least awe-inspiring "cathedral-like" building I have ever seen, and that's not because it's a giant McDonalds. The current record-holding restaurant looks more overwhelming. In fact, the new design looks like it's trying to scale itself down, despite the large size. The weird slat design elements reduce the apparent size, compared to the lifeless grey shell that was in place in January 2012.
posted by filthy light thief at 3:41 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


Something about that architectural rendering — the cuboid building with two story high laughing heads and a spiralling word fingerprint — really reminds me of a surreal (Junji Ito?) manga which I may have seen linked on mefi. It was all 3D panels and fourth wall breaking madness. Seems appropriate.
posted by lucidium at 3:41 PM on May 2, 2012


So utterly banal.
posted by KokuRyu at 3:44 PM on May 2, 2012


Let's see..."2012," "Olympics," "McDonalds"...you better be careful, this post is going to get busted by the Olympic Sponsor Branding Police.
posted by The Card Cheat at 3:47 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


Okay, seriously, McDonald's doesn't make you fat. McDonald's is a restaurant that serves fatty food, as does, say, French Laundry, it's just that it's so affordable and ubiquitous and easy that people tend to overindulge in it.

It's not the restaurant that's the problem, it's that the economy sucks, people work too hard and long to cook, carbs and fats are things that we crave, we all give in to our kids a little too easily, money is too easy to make in poor areas with vices, and we don't stress nutrition over convenience.

It's not the restaurant. It's a lot of things. Blaming McDonald's for obesity is like blaming Winchester for crime.
posted by xingcat at 4:12 PM on May 2, 2012 [13 favorites]


It's not the restaurant. It's a lot of things. Blaming McDonald's for obesity is like blaming Winchester for crime.

I would agree more if Winchester ran millions of adds about how great it feels to shoot people, and had drive through outlets every four blocks in my town.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 4:33 PM on May 2, 2012 [12 favorites]


I would add to what Pater Aletheias said, by saying "and if they gave away toys to encourage children to pester their parents into buying them."
posted by marienbad at 4:43 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


A group of British doctors say that the mega-McDonald’s sends the wrong message about obesity.

Which fits perfectly with the message the Olympics sends about "amateur" sports.
posted by maxwelton at 4:52 PM on May 2, 2012 [3 favorites]


Put a chip shop in there, that should quiet all these crazy British health-nuts.
posted by alex_skazat at 4:55 PM on May 2, 2012 [2 favorites]


A group of British doctors say that the mega-McDonald’s sends the wrong message about obesity.
posted by ichomp


Eponysterical
posted by 4ster at 4:58 PM on May 2, 2012


there will also be a separate McDonald's within the athletes' village

Something makes me doubt that particular restaurant will see much traffic...
posted by emergent at 5:15 PM on May 2, 2012


"Sponsors provide a huge amount of the funding required to stage the games," said a spokesman for the organizing committee in a statement. "Without our partners such as McDonald's, the games simply wouldn't happen."

Funny, I'm pretty sure the Olympics ran from 1896 through 1964 without McDonald's assistance.
posted by explosion at 5:37 PM on May 2, 2012 [5 favorites]


Something makes me doubt that particular restaurant will see much traffic...

They'll probably do searches for outside food.
posted by Artw at 5:41 PM on May 2, 2012


I wonder how big would the counter and kitchen area would have to be to be able to fill a McDonald's restaurant that had 1500 seats. What's the average length of time sitting in a McDonalds, eating? Fifteen minutes maybe? So they'd have to be turning over say, 100 combo meals per minute? That's a big fucking fry vat.
posted by Edogy at 5:58 PM on May 2, 2012


I'll tell you exactly when I lost it vis-a-vis London Olympics. When the Monopoly box I was about to buy turned out to be not a London-themed one (you know, the old one with "Mayfair" instead of "Boardwalk" and so on) with Olympics branding, but a London Olympics themed one with spots named after Olympic locations.

I had become (what I call as) anti-spectacle sports (as opposed to spectator sports) already by then - the ridiculousness involved in the soccer World Cup in South Africa and the Commonwealth Games in Delhi were enough for that - but this ridiculous board game took it to a different level.
posted by the cydonian at 6:43 PM on May 2, 2012


What, nobody? Fine, I'll be the one to say it then...

USA!! USA!! US (cough cough hack and wheeze) A!!
posted by Davenhill at 7:05 PM on May 2, 2012 [1 favorite]


Goddamn I love me an Egg McMuffin.
posted by Brocktoon at 8:42 PM on May 2, 2012


The sad thing is that reading this after reading about the plan to put surface-to-air missiles on top of flats just makes me go, 'Well at least McDonalds doesn't think shooting planes down over a heavily built up area is a good idea, so go them!' But it does make me wonder if there's a correlation between hosting the Olympics and a drop in IQ among People Who Have Been Put in Charge of Things.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 12:43 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


Stephenson of the doctor's group doubts if many of the competing athletes would have an appetite for the cheeseburgers, fries, and chicken nuggets that will be ubiquitous at the Games' venues.

Actually Usain Bolt is quite famous for eating chicken nuggets, then having a two hour nap, then eating chicken nuggets again before running the fastest 100m ever.
posted by colie at 1:10 AM on May 3, 2012


Honestly I think professional sport broke the link with health a long time ago: it's showbiz now. The presence of McDonalds at an event that sold its soul to capitalism way back is hard to get that bothered about: did they think tofu barons were going to bankroll the thing?

I know McDonald's is emblematic of poor eating but actually I wouldn't be that surprised if a Big Mac and fries were among the smaller meals eaten by most of the chubsters rolling in to see the Olympic circus.
posted by Segundus at 1:21 AM on May 3, 2012


There's a cathedral in my city that kinda reminds me of a fast food joint.
posted by telstar at 1:23 AM on May 3, 2012


USA!! USA!! US (cough cough hack and wheeze) A!!

Still haven't recovered from the Beijing Olympics, have you Davenhill?
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:30 AM on May 3, 2012 [2 favorites]


But it does make me wonder if there's a correlation between hosting the Olympics and a drop in IQ among People Who Have Been Put in Charge of Things.

Mitt Romney insists that you're right, and have always been wrong.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 4:32 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


~there will also be a separate McDonald's within the athletes' village

~Something makes me doubt that particular restaurant will see much traffic...


There have been McDonald's in the Olympic village during past games and, in fact, they get very high traffic. Athletes can make good use of the high calories/fat/carbs in the McD's menu during times of intense competition/training...like the Olympics.

Plus, many of them love the fries and McNuggets.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:41 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


But it does make me wonder if there's a correlation between hosting the Olympics and a drop in IQ among People Who Have Been Put in Charge of Things.

No, that's because they elected Tories. Completely unrelated, and harder to clean up after.
posted by Goofyy at 6:07 AM on May 3, 2012


I'm all for sticking it to the Tories, but wasn't hosting the stupid Olympics something Red Ken stuck London with?
posted by Artw at 6:15 AM on May 3, 2012


No, that's because they elected Tories. Completely unrelated, and harder to clean up after.

I hate to say anything good about the Tories, but I think they're just stuck with Labour's mess here. They're not making that mess any better, but I think the push to hold the Olympics was part of Tony Blair's desire to leave his mark on Britain.
posted by lesbiassparrow at 6:24 AM on May 3, 2012


I had become (what I call as) anti-spectacle sports (as opposed to spectator sports) already by then - the ridiculousness involved in the soccer World Cup in South Africa...

I'm going to disagree with you there. The actual tournament aside, the World Cup in South Africa was a triumph of spectator sports over spectacle sports because of one thing -- the Vuvuzela.

Every element under sponsors' control was disrupted by a cheap, plastic trumpet. People stopped watching because of a cheap, plastic trumpet. Television sales dropped because of a cheap, plastic trumpet. No-one was paying any attention to the play or the ads because we all wanted to blow on our cheap, plastic trumpet.

And they wanted to take our Vuvuzelas away. And in a rare moment of non-compliance for FIFA, they didn't let them. So it is with hearty triumphalism for spectator sports that I offer this:
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzZZzZzZzzZZZzzzz!
posted by Capt. Renault at 7:16 AM on May 3, 2012 [5 favorites]


Next time sponsor branded vuvuzellas ONLY.
posted by Artw at 7:40 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


McDonald's is a restaurant that serves fatty food, as does, say, French Laundry, it's just that it's so affordable and ubiquitous and easy that people tend to overindulge in it.

It's also very cheap (the cheapest place near my office to get a hot meal bar Greggs) and familiar. If you only have £2, you can buy, say, a houmous and veg wrap from Pret without knowing whether you'll like it or whether you'll have wasted the £2 you can't really afford, or you can buy a burger. And if you're in a poor area, your choice is between that burger and another burger made by someone else.


I know McDonald's is emblematic of poor eating but actually I wouldn't be that surprised if a Big Mac and fries were among the smaller meals eaten by most of the chubsters rolling in to see the Olympic circus.


Given the cost of tickets, and the huge correllation between obesity and lower socio-economic groups, I'm not sure why you think the majority of Olympic viewers are going to be obese. If you can afford £50 to go and watch handball, you probably aren't eating on the cheap.
posted by mippy at 7:43 AM on May 3, 2012


"Sponsors provide a huge amount of the funding required to stage the games," said a spokesman for the organizing committee in a statement. "Without our partners such as McDonald's, the games simply wouldn't happen."

You know how you go to a Pizza Hut (well, I presume you still do as I haven'#t since 1999) and the waitress says 'What will you like to drink?', you reply with 'a Coke, please' and she says 'OK, so that's a Pepsi'? That's pretty much what London's going to be like during the Games. The level of protection around sponsorship is incredible and LOCOG work hard to protect sponsor investments - that's why there won't be a Wagamama in the athlete's village or Unilever cleaning products.
posted by mippy at 7:45 AM on May 3, 2012 [1 favorite]


The corporatization of the Olympics has reached a point where I now have absolutely no interest in watching them whatsoever. Which is a shame, as I respect and admire the athletes who trained so hard to be there.

It just seems as though the Olympics has just become another advertising venue, something to fill the space between ads.

I have little use for McDonalds, actively rebel against the idea that life cannot be enjoyed without large plastic cups of sugar water, and get fidgets when forced to sit still for ten minutes of commercials in order to see a five minute race.
posted by kinnakeet at 8:12 AM on May 3, 2012


I went to see an American Football game at Wembley and the amount of sponsorship involved was astonishing - maybe it doesn't seem as blatant if you are part of the culture (American TV has a lot more ad breaks than we do - there is never a break between the credits and the rest of the show here) but it seemed far stronger than, say, the FA Cup. I wonder if that's because sporting events don;'t have to be televised with the BBC - who do not show any advertisements and make only cursory references to sponsors if they are in the name of the tournament eg. Barclays Premier League - in mind.
posted by mippy at 9:18 AM on May 3, 2012


I honestly have never understood why anyone thought it would make sense for a fast-food company to sponsor the olympics. Gatorade? Sure, fine. Big Macs? What?
posted by blue_bicycle at 11:04 AM on May 3, 2012


Stephenson of the doctor's group doubts if many of the competing athletes would have an appetite for the cheeseburgers, fries, and chicken nuggets that will be ubiquitous at the Games' venues.

I spent an evening in the home of a professional footballer once, who was in the regular team, so in full training, and played for Brazil at the time (so not a bad player). He had a pile of McDonalds trash on the counter and told us that he ate it after training most days.
posted by jacalata at 12:33 PM on May 3, 2012


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