# McDonald's real marketing campaigh; cats outta the bag? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152 "2003-12-01T01:44:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gubernator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@gubernator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gubernator)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/1 "2003-12-01T01:44:47Z")
Been to McDonald’s yesterday. Just remembered seeing their new marketing campaign. Goes something like this: Chicken McNuggets. Now made with real white meat. Change is good. Not a bad change, better meat in the nuggets and all. But what the heck was in the old nuggets (same ones I’ve been eating the past god knows how many years) , then, if real white meat’s a new thing? Not that I’m bashing the mystery stuff, since it did have a charm of its own, but what is it!? Rats, cats, coons, mechanically processed chicken bits, or things that’s got more than 4 legs and swims? ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/2 "2003-12-01T01:52:00Z")
I think the previous nuggets were ground up bits of white and dark meat from chicken that were smashed together while the new stuff is whole pieces of white meat chicken cut into the nugget shape. ---
**Author:** ![Bracken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Bracken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bracken)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/3 "2003-12-01T02:06:57Z")
Duh, **fake** white meat. Thus, presumably, pork (“the other white meat”). But “Pork McNuggets” just doesn’t have the same ring. Anyone else ever mentally translate Chicken McNugget and Egg McMuffin as “Chicken, son of Nugget,” and “Egg, son of Muffin”? Side note: for a while there was a joke radio commercial for Pork Sprouts, all the goodness of Brussels sprouts and all the taste of pork, and every time they said, “of course, there are no pork sprouts,” I lost a little more faith in genetic engineering… ---
**Author:** ![gubernator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@gubernator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gubernator)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/4 "2003-12-01T02:16:00Z")
Pork? Pork!? I know pork when I taste it, and that mystery stuff is not pork! ---
**Author:** ![misstee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@misstee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misstee)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/5 "2003-12-01T02:21:38Z")
I think **BuckleberryFerry** hit the nail on the head. My kids have been McNugget eaters for the last 7 years, I am glad they have switched to all white meat. Welcome to the boards **Bracken**. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/6 "2003-12-01T02:26:46Z")
I quit eating those things years ago because of the horrible dark chicken shit in them. I’d nibble each one and see if it was one I could stomach or not. Now, should I get the urge for nuggets, I go to Wendy’s. Their nuggets may be lightweight and not particularly resemble real chicken, but they still taste pretty damn good. ---
**Author:** ![gubernator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@gubernator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gubernator)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/7 "2003-12-01T02:29:51Z")
Usually when I am in the mood for them, I dip them deep in the special sauce and eats it whole, so that I would not see the insides of them at all. That helps, since I too have lost my appetite at times as a kid when I made the mistake of biting one in half and looking at the inside. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/8 "2003-12-01T02:51:44Z")
I seriously doubt that Chicken McNuggets had Pork or any other meat than chicken in them. But earlier it was probably a mixture of meats, including a lot of stuff scraped from awful close to the bone, flaked and formed into roughly ellipsoid “nuggets”. They probably had to do it because the competition with Burger King , Wendy’s, etc. made theirs look bad by comparison. Burger King Chicken “nuggets” circa 1983 were _good_. BTW – better than they have today. All white meat, no forcemeat. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/9 "2003-12-01T03:03:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by whiterabbit \* > \*\*I quit eating those things years ago because of the horrible dark chicken shit in them. \*\* Oh, man! You mean I’ve been eating chicken shit? ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/10 "2003-12-01T03:06:29Z")
Dark Meat from real chickens. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/11 "2003-12-01T03:11:28Z")
“Now nearly rectum free!” ---
**Author:** ![Bracken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Bracken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bracken)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/12 "2003-12-01T03:12:29Z")
I wasn’t serious about the pork. It would be too expensive, for one thing! Thanks for the welcome, Misstee… I’ve been lurking a while, but somehow it was McNuggets that brought me over the edge. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/13 "2003-12-01T03:30:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BuckleberryFerry \* > \*\*I think the previous nuggets were ground up bits of white and dark meat from chicken that were smashed together while the new stuff is whole pieces of white meat chicken cut into the nugget shape. \*\* Yeah, you’ve got it, **Buck**! (BTW, how’d you get your user name? Bucklebury I could understand. But where’d the Berry come from?) ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/14 "2003-12-01T03:35:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qadgop the Mercotan \* > \*\*Yeah, you’ve got it, **Buck**! > > (BTW, how’d you get your user name? Bucklebury I could understand. But where’d the Berry come from?) \*\* Um…I can’t spell. I didn’t realize until after I registered that it was bury, not berry. But it is indeed LOTR related. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/15 "2003-12-01T03:36:26Z")
“Now with 35% less beak!” ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/16 "2003-12-01T06:34:11Z")
I think they used to be mostly _mechanically seaparated poultry_: > [@](#): > > MECHANICALLY SEPARATED POULTRY is a paste-like and batter-like poultry product produced by forcing bones with attached edible tissue through a sieve or similar device under high pressure to separate bone from the edible tissue. cite: [http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/lablterm.htm](http://www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/pubs/lablterm.htm) ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/17 "2003-12-01T06:41:11Z")
“Parts is parts.” Hey, somebody had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mcdonalds-real-marketing-campaigh-cats-outta-the-bag/216152/18 "2003-12-01T18:02:12Z")
Well, we have long called them “Buzzard Bites”. Or “Vulture Vittles”. or “Pterodactyl Nuggets”. I too remember when they were actually vaguely edible back in the early 80s… but about 6 years ago, when we got a spare portion by mistake I tried to eat one, and gagged. **Dweezil** and **Moon Unit** have no such compunction, they haven’t quite developed taste buds yet. hijack: years ago, we took **Dweezil** to a classmate’s birthday party, where lunch was provided. A few minutes later, I heard him squealing excitedly “Mommy, they have BUZZARD BITES!!!” :o