Slashdot Mirror
McDonald's and Sony Offer Music Downloads
J ROC writes "CNet reports that McDonalds and Sony are teaming up to offer free music downloads to customers who buy a Big Mac Extra Value Meal. The offer, which begins on June 8, offers customers an access code to download one free song at Sony's Connect online music store. Hmmm, let's see, about 600 calories in a Big Mac, an average of 12 songs on a CD, so that's about 7200 calories you will need to consume in order to get an album's worth of music (and I'm not including the calories from the fries and softdrink). Does this offer also include a free gym membership?"
I thought McDonald's was supposed to start promoting it's more healthier meals now? What's the point of tying that to a Big Mac extra value meal? They should put it with their healthier stuff to spark up sales of that since that's where their business looks to be heading...
Hmmm.
Why not do that instead?
Clown. Hamburger. That combination alone is bizzare. Now we're supposed to think Clown+Hamburger+MP3 is sane?
Sony's Connect store is the one only offering the ATRAC3 format files, which is only compatible with Sony players.
I admit that iTunes is only offering DRM Protected AAC, which is almost as bad, but at least AAC has a pretty high quality. By comparison, ATRAC3 sounds like you're hearing the music through a tube. Not to mention that ATRAC3 has some of the worst DRM and restrictive software I've ever seen.. You have to check music into and out of your portable player device, I believe. It's just wacky as hell.
- Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Before buying any more fast food, check out Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. I'm reading it right now, it has lots of interesting information about the fast food industry that might effect your desire for their food.
Of course there is also Super Size Me the movie about the guy who ate nothing but McDonald's for a month & the effects on his body. I haven't seen it yet (I'm waiting to finish "Fast Food Nation" first) but I hear it's good.
maybe they'll be adding a tie-in with Dance Dance Revolution for the Playstation 2, for the Adult Happy Meals? That would counteract the calories a little better.
It's in style these days to bash unhealthy fast food.
It's just another thing for the people who don't believe in personal responsibility to latch on to... The evil corporations are forcing people to eat fat! How dare they!
I wouldn't be surprised if that new "documentary" about the guy that ate only fast food for a month wasn't funded by the various lawyers that stand to benefit from class action suits against fast food.
Fast food is the next tobacco in the real life slippery slope of litigation that hinges on the belief that no one is responsible for their actions.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I really don't think anyone is eating healthier or dieting... Take a look around, America is still a pretty fat place. The recent jazz about the Atkins diet is just that; jazz. Diets like that have no lasting effects because people do not learn the CONCEPTS before they implement. They hear "Atkins sez: Don't eat bread, eat meat!" so they go eat 2 lbs of ground beef wrapped in cheese and covered with bacon. "It's cool", they say. "...No BREAD!".
I was a vegetarian for about 4 years of my life, and it made me much more selective and concious of what I was eating, and thus I lost a considerable amount of weight and became more aware of my body's needs calorically, etc. Then, about 2 years ago, I went back to eating meat, and ballooned up at least 20 pounds. Why? Because it just became food food food all over again. Burgers, steaks, whatever. Much like you stated with the common American food consumption mentality, you get in a mindset where it becomes so hard to moderate yourself, you really lose a grip on your food intake and just go hog wild. Even an INCREDIBLY active person can not sucessfully maintain a healthy body if they were to participate in the diet of "fat" Americans.
I went back to being a vegetarian about 3 months ago and have also gotten my ass on a treadmill, and I'm starting to shed off those pounds I gained from when I started eating meat again. I'm not advocating that vegetarianism is the means to lose weight here. Rather, I'm just stating that personally, for me, being a vegetarian puts me in a mindset where I'm just so much more concious of what I'm eating that I see HOW BAD most food sold in America really is. And the sad thing is, it seems people aren't necessarily always living to eat rather than eating to live, but they just can't get a decent healthy meal anywhere else.
--
Is it me, or did it just get fatter in here?
Didn't apple deny a rumor about McDonalds using their site around the time they signed the pepsi deal? Interesting. I guess McDonalds really was shopping for a music service promo. Too bad, it would have been cool to get iTunes on your BigMac (Sorry that was bad but had to be said)
I tried for 5 years to come up with a clever sig...only to realize that I am not clever.
You are right-- in the USA's culture of convenience, "Fast Food Nation" is essential reading. For those who think it is just about the ingredients (yes, there is shit in the beef), you are missing 90% of the issue. Go spend a few bucks on the book-- it will open your eyes to the incredible influence of the fast food industry. All of which is entirely funded by the one in four Americans who eats fast food everyday without giving it a second thought.
I think I spent maybe $6.50 on this book at Costco. I have gained priceless insight on a very mundane part of everyday life, and have made much better decisions about since then.
As I read the book (I have a second or later edition, with updates), I noted the omission of comments about In-N-Out Burger. At the end of the book, Schlosser mentions how In-N-Out Burger is completely unlike all of the other fast food chains, especially with regards to the food itself.
This was particularly pleasing to me, as I have always thought that In-N-Out Burger is *so much* better than any other fast food hamburger, and their fries are fantastic, too. Every time I have visited there has always been a long line, but the wait is short, and the food is absolutely worth it-- regular, or "animal style".
I so wish they would expand their business eastward. They would destroy Whataburger (sawdust buger, methinks. even the chicken) and even Sonic here in San Antonio.
BTW-- even back in 1999 I recall seeing signs that they were hiring new employees in Gilroy near the outlet shopping center at over $11/hour.
Except that they call their pedometer a 'stepometer'.
God I hate it how they dumb things down for Americans.
.noitacidem deen uoy siht daer nac uoy fI
Excessive consumption of fast food IS the enemy.
e pickleso nionsonasesameseedbun (1975)
Is McDonald's marketed as an indulgence, or as something that should be daily consumed? Here are the themes from McDonald's advertising:
McDonald's is Your Kind of Place (1967)
You Deserve a Break Today (1971)
We Do it All for You (1975)
Twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucechees
You, You're The One (1976)
Nobody Can Do It Like McDonald's Can (1979)
Renewed: You Deserve a Break Today (1980 & 1981)
Nobody Makes Your Day Like McDonald's Can (1981)
McDonald's and You (1983)
It's a Good Time for the Great Taste of McDonald's (1984)
Good Time, Great Taste, That's Why This is My Place (1988)
Food, Folks and Fun (1990)
McDonald's Today (1991)
What You Want is What You Get (1992)
Have you Had your Break Today? (1995)
My McDonald's (1997)
Did Somebody Say McDonald's (1997)
We Love to See You Smile (2000)
Notice the themes of "Today", and "everyday good feelings"? Do McDonald's ads portray the reality of eating its food on a daily basis?
They're not dumbing it down - it's not a full fledged pedometer. A real pedometer allows you to calibrate it, and will estimate the distance that you've walked, calories that you've burned, and other useful information. The 'stepometer' they're giving out only counts steps, and doesn't give you any other information.
Information doesn't want to be anthropomorphized. -AC
Here's an idea: Go to McCorporate, purchase a couple dozen (or hundered, depending on your choice/desire of music) of the meals, but not for yourself. Have the meals donated to some hunger program, keep the free songs for yourself. You get the music, and you can write off the purchase of the McMeals as a tax exemption or whatever.
/eats a Double Cheese a day, has stayed at a constant weight (don't know if I can say the same about cholesterol)
While many people may not enjoy the thought of eating at McDonald's, I'm sure that quite a few homeless/poor people would be overjoyed at the thought of a full meal for free, regardless of the grease (homeless people don't care about carbs.) You get the music, they get the food, everyone's happy. Oh, and you get a tax exemption.
Just something that came to my mind, I wouldn't actually do this. [no money]