Charles Ramsey, the man who put down his McDonald’s hamburger to help free women held prisoner in a Cleveland home for years, has been offered free burgers for life from a number of Cleveland restaurants. That’s wonderful, and it’s nice to see him actually honored with a practical reward from his community. Because the man purportedly loves burgers. And I think heroism like that displayed by Mr. Ramsey ought to be rewarded, and encouraged in others with such rewards, because we can be so detached nowadays, and we need great examples of caring people helping those in need as embodied by Charles Ramsey commemorated and celebrated.
But apparently McDonald’s in not among the companies offering Mr. Ramsey free burgers. And I guess it’s easy to see why when you think about it. After all, he put down a McDonald’s burger to go help someone in need, and that tends to make McDonald’s hamburgers appear less than irresistible. Yes, had he ignored pleas for help because he couldn’t bear to put down his delicious McDonald’s hamburger, then that would be a really powerful statement about the deliciosity (yes, I know it’s “not a word”; at least not until you bite into a McDonald’s hamburger and experience it for yourself! Yes, you have to create new words to describe the overwhelming joy!) and addictiveness of a McDonald’s hamburger. And apparently, that’s what McDonald’s would prefer, because you could make catchy ads around that scenario. (But if they gave our hero free burgers for life, it would be rewarding him for making their burgers appear put-down-able. And apparently they can’t countenance such an insult to their fine eatery!)
Yes, picture this as a McDonald’s ad: A man is on his porch eating a delicious McDonald’s hamburger when someone defenseless is running down the sidewalk begging for help, chased by a mad killer. Well, that burger is so delicious, the man eating the burger is so enraptured by the sensory overload that he doesn’t even notice, and so the mad killer kills his victim, and all because of how unbelievably tasty McDonald’s burgers are. And then a police chase ends in front of his house, leading to a deadly shootout, but he doesn’t notice, because of his yummy burger. People are lying dead all around him, but he doesn’t notice or care, thanks to McDonald’s. And then his house catches on fire, and he catches on fire, but he still doesn’t notice because of how scrumptious that hamburger is. Which is actually a tragedy, because now McDonald’s won’t make as much money, which is really all that matters, right?
Then we could have McDonald’s ads with policemen ignoring crimes happening all around them, distress calls on their police radios, an armed robbery inside the McDonald’s, a vicious chain saw massacre, a hostage situation, etc., and all because those McDonald’s burgers are so all-consumingly delicious. And the slogan could be: “McDonald’s hamburgers: so delicious, when you consume one, it consumes you, too.”
But on second thought, this does rather make McDonald’s look a bit callous, now doesn’t it? Wow, I guess they really ought to give Charles Ramsey free burgers for life. And free fries, drinks, and whatever else he wants. Because besides being a hero, he also gave McDonald’s a lot of free advertising with his news interviews; so much so, that everyone knows he was eating a McDonald’s Big Mac, and everyone is reminded of McDonald’s whenever his name comes up. I’d say that’s an awful lot of positive brand recognition. That sort of thing is generally paid for. And it ought to be rewarded, along with the heroism. But it’s nice to see other burger joints stepping up where McDonald’s has not. And who knows: maybe McDonald’s doesn’t feel like they need the good publicity they’d get for doing the right thing and helping Mr. Ramsey after he helped saved lives and after he gave McDonald’s an awful lot of free advertising: the kind you can’t buy.
Here’s the delicious story:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329388/Cleveland-kidnap-hero-Charles-Ramsey-gets-free-burgers-life-14-restaurants--far-McDonalds.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
(Actually, as it turns out, Mr. Ramsey doesn't want anything to do with these offers, as they're seen as promotional gimmicks for the restaurants. Hmm, I didn't see it that way, but then again, I'm not in his shoes. But he did give a lot of advertising to McDonald's, so I kind of feel like they owe him here. But maybe that's why McDonald's didn't initially offer him free burgers: because it would seem crassly exploitative?)
(Actually, as it turns out, Mr. Ramsey doesn't want anything to do with these offers, as they're seen as promotional gimmicks for the restaurants. Hmm, I didn't see it that way, but then again, I'm not in his shoes. But he did give a lot of advertising to McDonald's, so I kind of feel like they owe him here. But maybe that's why McDonald's didn't initially offer him free burgers: because it would seem crassly exploitative?)
