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I know a number of our readers work in the restaurant industry so I'm looking for your opinion here. A US restaurant association has expressed their concern over a Nationwide Insurance commercial starring Kevin Federline, which is set to debut during Super Bowl. In the ad, Britney's ex- is dreaming about being a rap star, but when he snaps back to reality, the scene shows him working in a fast food joint. A representative from the National Restaurant Association believes that it conveys the image that working in a restaurant is unpleasant and demeaning.
Personally, I think a Nationwide Insurance official said it best: "We're not making fun of anybody, except maybe Kevin Federline." What do you think? Does this ad sound like it conveys the image that working in a restaurant is demeaning, or are people taking it a little too seriously?
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1-28-2007 @3:44PM Allison said... I'd say people are taking it too seriously. I used to work in fast food. Most of the customers already
have an attitude of "You must be uneducated, stupid, a druggie or a welfare mom. I can treat you like dirt because you don't have any choice but to work here." : / I don't think people will think more or less of fast food workers because of that commercial.
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1-28-2007 @3:46PM Grillin Greg said... People are taking this way too seriously. It's political correctness gone crazy.
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1-28-2007 @5:29PM Zillionaire said... Working in ANY service industry CAN be an incredibly demeaning experience.
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1-28-2007 @6:22PM Poppy said... To me it just conveys the message that working at a restaurant might not be someone's dream job. I haven't seen the commercial yet, obviously, but it's weird to me that Kevin Federline and a fast food restaurant have anything to do with insurance. I'd personally rather see Federline disappear into the background which is where he's been for most of his life. Let's at least stop making everything he does into a controversy so that we don't have to hear about him any more than we absolutely have to.
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1-28-2007 @11:53PM James Allen said... As a recent former fast food worker let me just say, it IS a demeaning job.
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1-29-2007 @1:17AM DaveD said... The National Restaurant Association looks after the well being of restaurant owners, not workers. Whenever there is a minimum wage hike, safety or environmental issue or a health plan on the table the NRA pumps millions into lobbying and PR to make sure it is DOA or gutted by the time it passes.
So I'd be wary of what the fox tells you of the conditions at the hen house.
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1-29-2007 @3:17AM Mike said... There was a time when a fast food job was an "entry level" job. This was one you did only until you could get something better ( better as in pay and the job itself ).
Somewhere along the line we had adults trying to raise a family on the pay they got from working the fry station at McD's instead of kids looking for extra money while going to high school or college.
A job raising and lowering the fries into the hot oil is supposed to suck, is supposed to pay poorly. You do it for extra money or you do it while you you're working to get educated to get a better job. If you've decided to make it a life career, then fine, but but if it was your decision, live with it.
As for the commercial, the people with no sense of humor should see it not as if someone ended up with a dead end job, but someone who slid all the way to to the bottom of the ladder. It could just as well be mowing a lawn or bagging groceries, the jobs that used to be exclusively for kids to make a little extra money on the side.
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1-29-2007 @10:08AM calamari said... No one dreams of growing up to ask, "Do you want fries with that?"
From time to time, I've had favorite clerks at fast food places -- people who were obviously smart and efficient, and who got my order right, no matter how complicated it was. Funny... they always moved on to some other, better paid and more fulfilling job. It's not that working fast food is *demeaning* -- it's that it's entry-level.
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1-29-2007 @10:34AM davelog said... Working fast food for a foodie is like pumping gas to a skilled mechanic. Of course it's an insulting position, but it's deserved. To be a fine cook takes study and discipline, to work fast food takes the willingness to work for minimum wage and the ability to watch a training video.
Gussy it up however you like, fast-food management types, but your products and workers are the bottom of the barrel in the cuisine biz. Deal.
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1-29-2007 @2:21PM Theresa said... All this politically correct garbage is a great way to distract people from real issues. You better not laugh, or else Big Brother will simply think you don't care enough or aren't politically correct enough. It's so Orwellian that it's sickening. This crybaby attitude is nothing more than whittling away at peoples' rights slowly but surely. America and the world need to wake up before it's too late.
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1-29-2007 @5:38PM John said... The restaurant association needs to relax...almost any job is going to seem mundane when compared to being a rap-star. Maybe the association needs a reality check and realize that many employees in most businesses would prefer to be a music star!
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1-29-2007 @3:34PM kitty said... K-Fed working at any thing is a joke,and as far as fast foods go,i know of people who raised a familey and put there children tru school working at one.
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1-29-2007 @4:57PM pappabill said... Life is way too short too get excited about a has been and a dumb commercial.
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1-29-2007 @2:33PM cobra4by said... Working in fast food is not a demeaning job, it is a job that people look down on. Yes for the most part it is a entry level job, but for some individuals this is the best they can find. Not everyone is born with the silver spoon, provided the ability of a college education or serving in the military to escape the harshness of their lives. If it were not for people in the service industry, a lot of people would go hungry. As for K-Fed, he is a fool that cannot make it as a singer so he does crap like this to keep his name in the paper.
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1-29-2007 @2:36PM smoky said... fuck kevin federline hes a bitchboy and i work at wendys so i take this commercial offensively trying to say ima fuck up bittt get it right yo
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1-29-2007 @2:42PM Virginia said... Why is this news? Who f**kin' cares?
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1-29-2007 @2:42PM Virginia said... Why is this news? Who f**kin' cares?
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1-29-2007 @2:43PM Bruce said... Actually it is funny to see K-Fed making fun of himself for a change. The world has been doing it long enough.
Have these whiners actually gotten fast food lately? I can assure you that there are not a helluva lot Einsteins there.
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1-30-2007 @11:48AM ellen said... get real! if he isnt offended why should anyone else be??? all its saying is that reality for him is just like it is for the rest of us! the daily drudge is the same no matter what kind of job you have- even high paid execs get bored ! it is not saying its a worthless job- no job is if it gets you the paycheck so you can pay bills!
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1-29-2007 @3:04PM alm said... Anyone who has ever worked in the restaurant industry in any capacity will quickly admit that it is at the same time both extremely unpleasant and morbidly demeaning. It's no secret. Also, if these people are so hot and bothered by this then why didn't they go after Rob Mckittrick for "Waiting?"
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