i think they’re marketing to whiteswho don’t know any blacks but genuinely want to feel good about race relations, and this commercial reflects their naive but pleasant image of those nice wholesome black folks.  this is the same set who fall every time for the baby-kissing politician and the kind-looking white haired gentleman pastor on the tv screen.  they are good people, but sheltered.

I may be naivebut I see nothing offensive at all in this commercial. The leads are gorgeous, the music is wonderful. I’ve seen far worse stereotyping on commercials.

I’m only offended by the food…the ad itself seemed rather charming.

LOL! Brian!Yes! I’ll admit to eating there a few times a year. I think moderation is the key. I know people in my neighborhood who eat there every damn day.

It’s not the worst they’ve doneTo be fair to the actors, breaking into the biz is rough. You take any role you can when you’re starting out. Folks in LA want to be on TV so badly, they’ll take what they can get.
That being said, I’ve seen worse from McDonald’s. There’s nothing wrong with indulging now and then, but not all the time. Obesity is a problem affecting most everyone in America. It’s true you don’t see lots of thin, attractive people eating at McDonald’s. Then again you don’t always see thin attractive people shopping at Wal-Mart or even Whole Paycheck. I’m not sure Apple, Dell or video game makers would sell many units if they accurately depicted their users in advertising.
The YouTube comments are indefensible.
I shudder to think of the stereotypes that would be used should McDonald’s decide to air a commercial featuring gay, lesbian or transgendered folks.

Completely Randomly OT

To be fair to the actors, breaking into the biz is rough. You take any role you can when you’re starting out. Folks in LA want to be on TV so badly, they’ll take what they can get.

That is very, very true.  Especially since the actress in the commercial portrays the character Rachel Gannon on One Life to Life which is filmed in Brooklyn.  Rumors have been buzzing around the soap sites that she’d been fired and this commercial may serve as proof and that she’s gone west in search of work in LA.
OK, end random tangent.

Can someone explainwhat they find offensive about this?  I love PHB but I feel like these days the posters just take for granted that we’ll agree with them so they don’t sufficiently express the reasoning behind their views.  If you find it offensive, don’t just say it’s offensive – say WHY you find it offensive.

“the posters”if you want us to be specific, then you need to be specific too and not lump all of “the posters” into one category.  we’re separate people with different ideas and differing opinions.

At a guess…It wasn’t so much offensive as shock at how the commercial is totally divorced from any reality, much more so than the usual McDonalds commercial.
Personally, I find offense in how one of the biggest promoters of obesity around the world is so firmly tied to Olympics sponsorship. There is nothing that an actual Olympics-class athelete can eat from McDonalds: even the salads are heavily laden with fat and empty calories. This kind of mind-boggling dissonance is a key reason why I avoid the Olympics as far as possible.

Wow…Talk about a commercial with a boatload of double entendres! Yeah, I’d love to check out that guy’s sweet chili sauce and tender juicy nuggets. LOL.
Now if they could only make a full length version of that song, I’d buy it on iTunes.
(Eating fast food in moderation isn’t a bad thing. We do that about once a week. Most of our meals are made at home.)

Well, McDonald’s has alwaystargeted minority audiences, and they’ve never really cared about anyone’s “health.”
What I do want to research prior to pronouncing this as possibly “racist” is the content of their ads for their “healthier” offerings.
I can see sexism in this but not racism

I don’t see it as purposefully racistqBut McDonald’s has the facts at hand that its food and its stores are well-positioned and target minorities because they are eager consumers of their products. Their people also know the statistics about obesity heart disease, stroke, diabetes and other conditions brought about by over-consumption of its products
How about making that commercial with the couple talking about the company’s grilled chicken sandwich or salads instead of McNuggets and burgers? I don’t see those commercials.
It’s particularly egregious, as others have noted, to advertise these foods during the Olympics where health and fitness are clearly not compatible with the vast majority of McD’s offerings.  

I just went to youtubetrying to find some of those McDonald’s salad ads.
I didn’t see many salad ads, all but one I saw was a foriegn commercial, and I saw no blacks.

To be fairThe commercial was for a specific product: their “sweet chili” sauce, which is tied directly to their Olympic sponsorship. The commercial had to be about McNuggets; grilled chicken or salads would not have promoted the sauce.
And also to be fair, at least McDonalds does offer things like grilled chicken and salads. Their products may be fat-laiden crap, but I don’t see KFC, Burger King — or for that matter, actual restaurant chains like Chili’s or The Cheesecake Factory — offering anything better.
(FWIW, I went to McD’s the other day after a hiatus of several years, just to try the sauce. It’s identical to the “Shanghai” sauce they had way back when. I didn’t like it then, either.)

HonestlyNo one forces anyone to actually go into McDonald’s to eat these things. I live around the corner from every possible fast-food restaurant out there, and they are far more crowded than the one lonely health food store. I do not see anyone being forced to actually go in. There is plenty of information out there, everyday all over the TV and other media, about the dangers of fast food. If people don’t want to heed the advice, there’s nothing McDonald’s or anyone else can do about it. I barely touch the stuff because it tastes like shit and because I have high blood pressure. But every once in a while, I will go in and eat a burger. Their salads are horrid, so I eat my own. I don’t think the commercial in question is offensive in any way shape or form. It merely advertises their special new sauce. I think it’s actually one of the better ads I’ve seen. The leads are lovely and the music rocks.  

Actually, when I was growing up in the 70sMost of the “You Deserve a Break today, so get up and get away to McDonald’s” commercials were full of white actors. I truly think this is McDonald’s trying to cast diverse actors and actresses.

Me and Bill Clintonloves us some McDonalds.  I could die at any given moment.  
Too bad for the world, I’m still alive, mean, and kicken’.  
The commercial is an oddity.  But cute…a little offensive in its stereotyping…but the kids are cute.  
I’ve got bigger fish to fry.  Then slather with tarter sauce and eat.