Eat me

[bunsen_h]

I have always been somewhat creeped out by commercials that feature animated food or animals urging people to eat them.  See also: Douglas Adams's "Dish of the Day", and Alice being introduced to Mutton and Plum Pudding on the other side of the Looking-Glass; not to mention Paul Gallico's charming children's book Manxmouse.

But recent commercials for M&Ms are even more troubling.  Red M&M doesn't want to be eaten, but people around him talk about eating him, start gnawing on him despite his objections, and eventually stuff him — kicking and yelling — into an oven.

In Larry Niven's World of Ptavvs, there's a line: "An intelligent food animal!  Hitler would have fled, retching."  I've always thought that Niven was a bit of an optimist on that point.

Comments

[batyatoon]

The "complete jerk" message often comes with "Our product: not worth spending money on, but good enough to steal or lie for."

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

See also the breakdown of cereal mascots into pushers, addicts, thieves, and those that have pica disorders.