Worst advertisement for McDonald’s ever


Donald Trump honored some college football players with a dinner at the White House, and this is what he served them. He looks so proud of his tackiness.

I am confident that many of his guests like McDonald’s food — it’s carbs and protein and fat, with salt — but fast food from any of the chains is supposed to be served fast. It does not hold up at all well if you let it sit, cooling, for a long time, and that’s implicit in the assembly line production of a McDonald’s burger, which is made on the spot as it’s ordered (OK, with maybe a little slack, and heat lamps). That is old, cold fast food.

Serving it with a golden candelabra does not compensate for congealed fat and shriveled french fries. Not even eating it with Lincoln looking down on you improves it. Having Donald Trump looking down on you makes it worse.


oh god.

Comments

  1. hunter says

    Also, note that the Clemson team, and as I understand it, sports teams in general, are on strict diets and have their own kitchen on campus where their meals are prepared under the supervision of a nutritionist.

  2. davidc1 says

    Most powerful man in the world ,and he can’t even get the cooks to cook and the waiters to wait.

  3. hemidactylus says

    Why not Trump Steaks “The World’s Greatest Steaks”? McDonald’s fries are ok, but they have a limited shelf life.

    Pizza ages better. Reheated pizza for breakfast is the best. Ok to his credit he served pizza too:

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/01/15/trump-has-turned-white-house-into-white-castle-president-roasted-serving-clemson-fast-food/

    But no Trump Streaks “The World’s Greatest Steaks”? That’s a shame. Win a National Championship against a Saban coached team and you deserve nothing less than “The World’s Greatest Steaks”!

  4. archangelospumoni says

    Have not patronized a single McDonald’s franchise since 1977–a mild sort of winning streak since. Try it.

  5. says

    According to NPR, much of the White House residence staff is furloughed due to the shutdown. So Trump’s answer isn’t to end the shutdown and get his kitchen staff working again, it’s to order fast food.

  6. says

    Minor correction… For their more popular options they actually assume that it will sit in the warming drawer for a certain amount of time so they can be pre-made (so it’s “Fast” from the customer’s POV), and have designed their recipe so that they taste better if left for that amount of time instead of being eaten immediately.

    Still… probably not the hours these will be sitting on the table.

  7. says

    How many people are on this team? Even if it’s 100, ten McDonald’s “berders” are a lot for each person to get through…

    (The original number Trump reported was 300… As with anything Trump talks about, the numbers grow with each retelling…)

  8. Akira MacKenzie says

    Yes, the man who millions of garbage people voted from because he was the epitome of “class” and “style” serves his guests a banquet of crappy fast food?

    Also, not being a sportsball fan I’m not sure of the general racial makeup of the guest list, but am I the only one detecting a whiff of racism from menu? I’m surprised he didn’t just have Popeye’s or KFC cater.

    Finaly, did they wash down those hamberders with some iced covfefe?

  9. says

    Back in my college days, I saw what the universities fed their football teams — and it wasn’t dorm food. On the rare occasions my wife and I could afford to go out to a nice restaurant for dinner, we were sometimes surprised to see the entire Oregon football team show up and be escorted to a private room. The university had a contract with the place!

  10. says

    @robro
    But what are the odds that he actually paid for it? That’s not his typical behavior, after all. I wouldn’t be surprised if some poor intern got stiffed on the bill.

  11. whywhywhy says

    I just can’t believe that Trump paid for this out of his own pocket. What is his angle on this?

  12. johnson catman says

    That Clemson even accepted the invitation tells me a lot about them. It is not an honor to be hosted by that orange fool. OH! Clemson’s color is orange. They thought it was their mascot inviting them to a meal.

  13. says

    (The original number Trump reported was 300… As with anything Trump talks about, the numbers grow with each retelling…)

    Well, it’s “hamberders etc.” so 300 burgers and 300 fries and 300 cokes makes 300 Happy Meals…

    +++

    Yes, the man who millions of garbage people voted from because he was the epitome of “class” and “style” serves his guests a banquet of crappy fast food?

    Didn’t you know, using forks and knives makes you a member of the out of touch elite*.
    *Though I suspect there’s a cultural different here anyway.

  14. lanir says

    He always says he pays for stuff or will pay for stuff but according to people who have spoken with contractors he worked with, this shutdown is par for the course. Payment options were discussed (US account at the Bank of Mexico, Free Handouts for Beggars and Fools division), work was done (there is a pay delay and some “necessary” staff are volunteered to loan their time and effort interest free with no late fees), then rather suddenly Trump the Great Negotiator decides to give himself a better deal at everyone else’s expense (backed out of the deal the Senate had already approved because he was on board with it).

    Somewhere someone has a catering bilk from McDonalds they’re never going to get reimbursed for. Or he’s telling the restaurant they owe him for featuring their food on twitter. Or nonpayment is a good tax write-off. Which doesn’t really work as it’s a franchise anyway and that restaurant wouldn’t normally be the sole payer for a national ad buy.

  15. says

    The best take of this I’ve read comes from Vice Sports.

    “And here, in offering LITERALLY THE CHEAPEST HOT FOOD HE POSSIBLY COULD to these players who have just beaten the most dominant football program of their generation, DJT has inadvertently given us the ultimate metaphor for the sham of amateurism. An entire economic system is built on these kids’ backs, one that lines the pockets of networks, conferences, advertisers, administrators, coaches— [Clemson coach Dabo Swinney] made over $6 million this year in salary, along with nearly another million in bonuses for his run to the championship—and due to a series of convenient self assessments and ideas about itself, the kids get practically NONE of it.”

    https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/439kw9/trump-serving-mcdonalds-to-college-football-players-is-perfect-clemson-national-championship?utm_source=vicesportsfb&fbclid=IwAR3a-ItECbk8QoVZyYdsxgU8MYOXa8fMgCcFhjL4dwdpX-CSOffKeha0w8o

  16. drst says

    He owns a hotel a few blocks away with a full kitchen staff that hasn’t been furloughed, but no, don’t get catering from there, order shitty fast food that will be ice cold by the time its being eaten. Ugh.

  17. woozy says

    I suspect we are being sucker-punched. It’s so appallingly tacky and gauche that we just can’t help criticizing it (and such hypocritical grandstanding should be criticized). But when we do it’s going to be spun how we are elitist and out of touch and so determined to criticize Trump that even when he does something magnanimous (hah!) will find a reason to criticize him out of habit.

    Well, no-one pays attention to what I think so I’ll say it. It’s really just gross and tacky and self-serving.

  18. Ragutis says

    President Billionaire couldn’t fricking spring for Red Lobster or Olive Garden? Not even Smashburger or 5 Guys? I suspect he just wanted to be sure of lots of his favorites as leftovers to fuel his Twtter tantrums while the kitchen staff is on furlough. Also kind of surprised he didn’t kiss some evangelical ass by including Chik-fil-A or Papa Johns.

  19. Akira MacKenzie says

    When’s he going to pay all the government workers?

    Not until he get’s the monument to American racism and xenophobia he promised his Redneck trash supporters. After all, he does have priorities.

  20. ardipithecus says

    You laugh and/or criticize, but what could be a more apropos symbol of his presidency?

  21. graham2 says

    The president of the US standing in the oval office, surrounded by mountains of fast food.
    Can we just dwell on that image for a moment.

  22. Zeppelin says

    “Hamberders” is doing my head in. Like, that’s not a typo, those letters are nowhere near the correct ones. He actually thinks the word is “hamberders”. Did the poor soul who proof-reads his tweets get furloughed as well?

  23. methuseus says

    Even if you hate Chick-fil-a, I’m sure he could have gotten them to cater it at a moment’s notice. The one here always has advertisements about it and they say you only need an hour’s notice. Of course their advertisements are pretty easy to find in a college town. Pretty much any sit-down restaurant could have catered with 24 hours notice, Chili’s, Outback, Applebee’s, or one of many others. I’m flabbergasted that he went the fast food route. Also that the team ate it.

  24. John Morales says

    methuseus:

    I’m flabbergasted that he went the fast food route.

    Really?

    I quote, with emphasis: “I served them massive amounts of Fast Food (I paid)”

    (mmm… Cheap Food!)