It's kicked off again. The suits at McDonalds - lets call them the McSuits - are up in arms, and quite frankly who can blame them? They say that it's time to show them and their employees (a fine bunch of grafters) a bit of McRespect.
Their beef is with the dictionary definition of "McJob" which first caused Ronald to choke on his Big Mac back in 2001, and which they say today is outdated and inaccurate. In short, they want it changed, and are planning a public petition to that end.
And the offending definition? Well, the frightfully scholarly chaps at the Oxford English Dictionary currently define the McJob as "an unstimulating, low-paid job with few prospects, esp. one created by the expansion of the service sector." So, you can see where the McSuits are coming from.
In fact, ever since the term "McJob" entered the popular vernacular back in 2001 thanks to Douglas Coupland's Generation X, it's become ever more synonymous with what Coupland described as a "low-prestige, low-dignity, low-benefit, no-future job in the service sector."
Will the McSuits prevail? It's not the first time they've addressed the McJob issue. Just last year the "Not Bad For A McJob" campaign featured 18 posters, including one with the slogan "McProspects -- over half of our executive team started in our restaurants. Not bad for a McJob."
The specifics of this latest campaign which will kick off in May are unknown. So let us know, will you be signing the petition?
Comments (4)
No! McD is welcome to try and change the associations of the word, and 'not bad for a mcjob' was quite a gutsy attempt to do so. But dictionary definitions are there to reflect usage. Suggest McD top brass look up 'dictionary' in the OED. Does the entry read 'just another channel - please insert message'? Does it? Eh?
Posted by Nathan | March 23, 2007 12:52 PM
Posted on March 23, 2007 12:52
It's a fair point Nathan, although you can understand their frustration given that McDonalds were named overall winners of Caterer's own Best Places to Work in Hospitality Awards 2007 - they're clearly fed up of being the whipping boys of the industry.
Posted by Roger Oldham | March 23, 2007 3:08 PM
Posted on March 23, 2007 15:08
I am A mcmanager at a mcjob. I hate it. I am thankful to God(not my mcjob) for income. I just wish they paid me and treated me like I was human.
My site www.ihaveamcjob.com
(blogs for miserable mcjobbers coming soon)
Posted by Joshua Garlock | April 10, 2007 6:10 PM
Posted on April 10, 2007 18:10
I work for McDonalds and I really cannot understand how they win awards such as Best Places to Work in Hospitality Awards 2007. Some of the survey results they publish are also very suspect with some stating thay 87% of employess are proud to work for McDonalds. LOL. Well if they did that survey in our group of McDonalds of 8 stores I would be very surprised if they could manage to achieve above 50%. In the Restauarnt I work in staff are verbally abused everyday, go whole shifts without breaks, have their schedule changed without notice, I know of a staff member physically threatned by our Store Manager because he refused to work night shifts. This is just the tip of the iceburg and this type of behaviour goes on in most McDonalds. McDonalds is truly a disgusting company who try to brainwash the public with their propoganda, dont believe a word of it. I work there because it pays the bills nothing else.
Posted by A McDonalds Worker | April 21, 2007 10:12 PM
Posted on April 21, 2007 22:12