Playing Chicken by Big Toe Buddha

One of the purposes of this blog is to bring to light the incredible power that marketing has upon society and the environment and to analyze what forces are at work behind the scenes—where BIG Co’s fight tooth and nail for our patronage

For example, how about the sideways logic of the TV commercial for a major chicken chain that makes a joke about cows entreating people to eat chicken, not beef.  This spot has been extensively aired, therefore it and must get the Chick Co’s the ROI they demand...but how the viewers are supposed to reconcile the premise that cows are special and chickens are not.

Obviously  this commercial is suppose to arouse some sort of empathy with the plight of cattle and encourage viewers to substitute chicken for beef. 

The cast of cows are portrayed as:

• sentient--they can read and write
• determined—they had to organize their skydive performance
• athletic—they are expert parachutists with smooth landings
• juvenile—they have misspelled words on their banners

The irony of course is that the Chick Co is not encouraging viewers to eat fruits, grains and vegetables, but another type of animal.  Does the life a chicken not count as much as that of a cow?  If a cow counts, why not a chicken?

Can a chicken feel love?  Many parrot owners will tell you that their birds love them.  But if parrots tasted good, would people savor parrot wings and thighs—no love lost?

And if  hungry, breast-loving consumers have been programmed to believe that chickens are dumb, they might want to check out this video!

...go with the flow...flow with the Kaw