McDonald's eats its words after tamales Facebook ad sparks backlash in Mexico
Source: Guardian
McDonald's eats its words after tamales Facebook ad sparks backlash in Mexico
Ad posted in Spanish says tamales are a thing of the past and touts the McBurrito one day after a holiday typically celebrated with the traditional food
Nicky Woolf in New York
Wednesday 4 February 2015 15.28 EST
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Tamales: a thing of the past, says McDonalds. Photograph: Carlos Tischler/REX
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February 2 is la Día de la Candelaria in Mexico, a religious holiday celebrated with parties, dancing and processions. It is also often celebrated with tamales, the traditional snack made from corn dough sometimes stuffed with meat or vegetables, wrapped in a leaf and steamed.
Tamales, which have been eaten here for seven millennia or more, are beloved fare in Mexico, even on days that arent festivals which specifically celebrate them. Which makes it all the stranger that fast food giant McDonalds chose the day after the tamale festival to go to war with the humble snack.
Tamales are a thing of the past, read an advert posted in Spanish on Tuesday to the Facebook page for McDonalds Mexico which has more than 55m likes. McBurrito Mexicana also comes wrapped. Accompanying the text was a picture of the menu item.
The post caused immediate uproar on social media.
One user summed up the situation: Look @McDonaldsMexico, if you mess with tamales, you mess with everyone! Get a grip or youll get your ass kicked!!
Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/04/mcdonalds-mexico-facebook-ad-tamales
alphafemale
(18,497 posts)Especially the seasoned pork ones.
Yum!
Populist_Prole
(5,364 posts)I haven't ate their food in nearly 10 years.
They're the epitome of bland cookie-cutter fast food.
sendero
(28,552 posts)... second that emotion with a a big hell yeah.
It amazes me that McD is so stupid.
Mosby
(16,350 posts)what the hell were they thinking?
Not only are tamales hugely popular in South America but they are really popular in the South West and trending up right now, even Circle K is getting in on the tamale action.
murielm99
(30,761 posts)when she was going to summer school. They were a middle class urban family. She still stays in touch with them.
They seldom ate traditional Mexican fare. The mom told her stories about how her father would make tamales and tacos on Sundays, after they came home from Mass. The woman's father died during the time my daughter was living there. Her family got together in the kitchen and made tamales from scratch, to remember grandpa and to help their mother with her grief. I thought it was a nice family gesture.
I will take any traditional food over McDonalds any day. McDonalds is out of touch! Maybe that is why their sales and profits are slumping right now.
Cirque du So-What
(25,977 posts)To think that some marketing flack got paid good money to insult others' culture, then upper management - who get paid even more - signed off on this harebrained idea.
Adsos Letter
(19,459 posts)Every once in a while one of my wife's coworkers brings her pans of homemade tamales.
Heaven descends to our supper table on those evenings.
Botany
(70,581 posts)In N Columbus, OH we have a little taco truck that has home made tamales
every friday and saturday and they get sold out everytime because they
are so good.
MisterP
(23,730 posts)Earth_First
(14,910 posts)...I haven't eaten most of the food in that industry in nearly as many years.
This vindicates not only a health-related aspect to avoiding this industry, additionally a socially conscious decision to avoid these behemoth 'food' industries.
Thankfully I can recognize that I am privileged enough to afford making this decision, for some it's not so easy...
christx30
(6,241 posts)over the best thing on the McDonald's menu.
"A thing of the past"? Yep. As in, this past weekend. Wife and her friend made tamales. Mucho gusto.