Prime Cut

Thanks Donald for bringing this article to my attention about Burger King and their strange masked man, the King. As usual, I find myself in disagreement with Slate.

Let me go one the record and say I am not paid by Burger King. I never worked for Burger King. I found the BK stories on the web and could have ignored them, but I didn't because I thought they were funny.

Seth Stevenson of Slate Magazine is worried that an advertising agency has filled his mail box with inquiries about BK's king costume to raise the buzz factor about a product. I find his conspiracy theory ridiculous. Not because it isn't possible, but because of the irrelevance if it is.

Seth seems helpless in being able to accept or reject e-mail. I have received spam buzzing about the power of Viagra. Should I suspect Pfizer is behind it? Does it matter? If I don't care about the e-mail's subject, I ignore it, trash it.

Why does Seth feel compelled to acknowledge the e-mail in the first place, especially about something as trendy as the King? Is Slate magazine where all the hipsters hang out? Is it the place where all the kids are going to find out about BK Halloween costumes? Seth thinks too highly of Slate.

Yes, I know he writes about ads, but there are plenty of ad campaigns to write about. He could easily ignore BK's. Since his gig is to write about advertising, should his guard be up all the time anyway? Why does an event with Burger King just now send off alarm bells?

Seth brings forward no real evidence other than a hunch. He gives an opinionated analysis of the subservient chicken promotion and offers it as substantiating evidence. He is worried about a press being duped into over hyping company's products. This is the same press that has orgasmic reactions every time Steve Jobs releases a new iPod. Maybe Steve Jobs should run Burger King. Then Seth would be complimenting BK for such a clever idea.