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Fast Food Efforts Fail To Hit The Spot

Emily Bryson York and Jeremy Mullman remind us that Burger King has been prone to more than its share of "degrading, stupid and insensitive" commercials recently but they cannot fathom what the chain was thinking when it allowed its name to be attached to a "tasteless" Fox-created animated skit featuring the Dallas Cowboys and a bunch of fat jokes during the "Fox NFL Sunday" show this week.

The skit made fun of Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo with several gratuitous references to the weight of his former girlfriend, Jessica Simpson. By the way, Bryson York and Mullman write, Simpson "is curvy only by Hollywood's warped size-0 ideal, [and] is likely in better shape than the millions who tuned in."

Adweek critic Barbara Lippert, meanwhile, takes Friendly's to task for a spot featuring an 8-year-old boy in a shirt and tie who spontaneously makes a marketing presentation to his mom -- to wit, "A real meal can be a real value." Writes Lippert: "Bewitched hubby and adman Darren Stevens would be embarrassed for the loss of integrity in the portrayal of his industry."

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But Lippert does allow, tongue in cheek, that maybe the spot will appeal to grandparents nostalgic for the glory days of trickle-down economics, leading them to "get the urge to pump it up by taking the kids to Friendly's for a sundae with sprinkles." Which brings us to a white paper that suggests that grandparents actually will be assuming key economic roles with their offspring's offspring.

Read the whole story at Ad Age, Adweek »

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