I saw it, and what bothered me about it was that he made no effort to order available foods that were more nutritional. He could have ordered the salads, the chicken, the fish, or even the burgers but without all the mayo and whatnot. Maybe it wasn’t a direct slam against McDonald’s, but if all he wanted to prove was that eating burgers is unhealthy, then he could have fried them up at home and plastered them with mayo and ketchup.
Aside from the fact that the breaded, deep-fried McChicken and Fillet-o-Fish sandwiches are probably more unhealthy than the burgers, I think the point was to order the items most people order when they go to McDonalds. I’m willing to bet that they sell a lot more fries than salads.
That’s a good point, and I agree. But like I said, he could have done this at home. He also could have done it by going to a different fast food joint each day. Or for that matter, by going to any Southern or Soul Food restaurant. Why only McDonalds?
I’m another one who held off watching this, because I can’t stand the “sue McDonald’s” crowd, and the types who think it’s up to food vendors to make sure they eat healthily. I was convinced this was going to be more of the same, and simply couldn’t be bothered.
But finally I did watch it, and Morgan Spurlock is now my hero. Sure, he didn’t do McDonald’s any favours, but then their food is pretty manky (but so goood). For me, he focused on exactly the crux of the matter, personal responsibility. He didn’t really advocate any increased regulation or lawsuits, and where he did have a go at McDonald’s it tended to be about the provision of information, which is of course necessary for consumers to be able to make responsible choices. And he was pretty funny while doing it all, too.
To sell the movie. It’s an undeniably great hook; to many people, McD’s pretty much are fast food. An amateurish production of a guy sitting at home eating crap and getting fat would never have got off the ground. Sure, the marketing did give the distinct impression that this was a direct attack on McD’s, hence the large numbers of arguments about the point of the movie. But it’s unlikely he had direct control over the global marketing campaign, TBH, or over the reams of newspaper coverage which tended to focus on the McDonald’s aspect (because again, that’s the hook) in preference to the personal responsibility side.
I thought it was pretty obvious that the story wasn’t about McDonalds specifically, he probably spent only 50% of the movie focusing on McDonalds. He also interviewed people on the street, went into schools, talked about subway and the jared person. His central thesis was essentially that if you are uneducated about your food choices, then you are quite likely going to suffer a significant drop in the quality of life without even realising it. It’s now not possible to eat healthily unless you are aware of what you are putting in your mouth(whether it ever was is another debate).
The school room scene was the most interesting for me, parents assume that schools must be somehow taking care of their children and are serving moderately healthy foods. Yet even the ostensibly “healthy” fruit drinks contained just as much sugar as a coke. He’s not against people eating fast food, but he wants it to be an informed decision made by people who have facts availible on hand.
I saw it a while ago, but I definately remember him saying at the start that he was going to try everything on the menu and then start at the top again - but I saw only one instance of him eating a salad, and most of the time he was eating burgers. And yes, he could have ordered them without cheese or mayo.
And there was never any mention of what type of sodas he was drinking (regular or diet). You can also get bottled water at McDonald’s. To be fair, he should have alternated with the regular and diet sodas and bottled water. I bet a lot of the weight gain was due to all that sugary soda. (Just my opinion, of course - but there’s a lot of empty calories in Coke.)
Regarding his “choices” from the menu: One of the key conditions was that he “rotated” thru the menu, eating a variety of all their offerings. I am surprised that so many people have not remembered this.
On preview, I see that the issue of going through the entire menu has been covered in the time it took me to type this. Is a complete rundown of what Spurlock ate during those 30 days listed anywhere?
As for the fact that he could have ordered his food without mayo and dressing, yeah, he could have, but his rules for ordering were sort of “take what you get”; get whatever comes standard on a sandwich, super-size if asked, etc.
When it was in theaters I had no desire to see it because of the way it was advertised. It looked to me like it was just about a guy who decided to eat nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days and he’d get fat. Well, “no shit” I thought. I did see it when it came on Showtime, and it was a fantastic movie that really gave you a lot to think about food in schools, exercise, and how much sugar we consume as a nation.
Marc
I believe that when the month was up he had eaten everything on the menu at least once. I’m pretty sure they even mentioned the amount of calories in the shake’em up salads that were available at the time. Everything he ordered he ate as it was normally served. If the McFish comes with tartar sauce and lettuce that’s what he ate.
Marc
Because McDonald’s is an icon and something like 90% of the population in the lower 48 are within 15 minutes of one. They are the most successful fast food franchise, adults and children are bombarded by their ads on television and radio, and McDonald’s even makes an appearance in clothing and toys.
Unlike some of the others I do think he was specifically setting his sights on McDonald’s. I don’t think the whole movie was about McDonald’s but it’s pretty clear to me that McD’s was his white whale for the movie.
Marc
True, but I also saw him in a few scenes eating a sundae. Sorry, but you don’t order a sundae repeatedly just because you are “cycling” through the menu. He was trying to consume around 5000 calories a day and he ate accordingly. He could have easily cycled through the menu and only eaten 2000 calories a day, but that wouldn’t have been a good movie.
If folks are interested in Spurlock, you may want to check this site out: www.spurlockwatch.typepad.com/
It’s mainly concerned with his new book, but it has some interesting information debunking many of his assertions.
That, I think, is a very honest answer. Thanks, Dead Badger.
Very often in the movie Spurlock is sitting around with a bottle of water. You ask me, most of his weight gain comes from his sedentary behaviour. He went from being your average, walk several miles a day New Yorker to sitting on his spreading ass and doubling or tripling his caloric intake.
There are multiple sundaes on the McD’s menu, and eating more than one dessert in a month is not unreasonable. Even if his habits were a caricature, they were a caricature of a genuine phenomenon, the person who eats McDonald’s/fast food on a very regular basis. Maybe he could have chosen meals representing only 2kcal per day (although I still think this would have made him ill), but this would have involved eating in a vastly different manner to most McDonald’s patrons; for example, a sausage and egg McMuffin alone represents 450kcals and 40% of the RDA for fat, and that’s just one part of what’s presented as breakfast at McD’s. How are you supposed to show how damaging American eating habits are if you do something completely different?
Correct me if I’m wrong - but didn’t he say that during the month, he was going to eat every item off the menu at least once? So he did eat the salads (I distinctly remember the salad shaker), the chicken, the fish, etc. that were available at McD’s at the time of the documentary.
Mr. Spurlock ate ninety or so meals at McDonald’s. McDonald’s only has a few different sandwiches, and did not (before the movie) have an extensive variety of salads. It does not take a genius to realize that Spurlock could eat one salad over the month and still be eating burgers at most meals. In the long run, there is no indication Spurlock rotated through the menu more than once; and every indication he had an agenda to eat fatty foods and gain weight for the purposes of marketing the movie.
As I said, I liked the movie. I would like to see a break-down on what Spurlock actually ate. And I agree most of the choices at McDonald’s are, on balance, unhealthy. There is a reason most nutritionists recommend eating at fast food only very occasionally (some do say “never” and some are more realistic). But the movie was sold on the “super size me” premise, and it’s worth repeating this was offered (to my surprise) on fewer than 3% of the meals. I bet Spurlock was surprised too. “Fast Food Nation” is far more interesting and objective than this movie.
I am very surprised how many people think eating salads at a fast food place is “better” than eating sandwiches. Folks, some of the salads at fast food joints are practically lethal. There’s ones out there with 500 calories!
I really enjoyed this movie also. BTW, McDonald’s is evil. (I still eat there sometimes.)
I read Don’t Eat This Book and am now reading The Great American Detox Diet : 8 weeks to weight loss and well-being, by Mr. Spurlock’s vegan girlfriend, Alex Jamieson. I’m enjoying that also but I’m taking it with a grain of salt (ha!) since the girl’s credentials aren’t all that impressive.
Also, by opening up the variables of dining at different fast food places, you can’t make your point as succinctly. Simply stick to one restaurant, then people can’t play the blame game between two or more places.
I know of no Southern or Soul Food “fast food” restuarants. What are you thinking of, KFC?