Before I dive into this week's topic, I would like to hold a moment of silence for Gourmet magazine. I mentioned three weeks ago that the magazine was closing, but now it officially has the announcement on its Web site. Subscribers will receive Bon Appétit magazine for the remainder of their subscription, but it's just not the same. There's a reason I don't subscribe to Bon Appétit: They are much more focused on recipes than actual food journalism. I feel like the reporting in Gourmet was completely unique. The magazine often focused on how food plays a role in current political and social issues; we will be hard-pressed to find another publication that lives up to the standards Gourmet set during its 68-year history.
And now I'll officially put my soapbox away and move onto some far more intriguing topics in the news right now: bankruptcy, Iceland, excess, technology, Japan, museums and the French. Surprisingly, I am not talking about anything related to Bernie Madoff, Carla Bruni's clothes or plot lines from a Dan Brown novel. All of these subjects relate to none other than the goings-on of two of America's finest cultural and culinary representatives abroad: McDonald's and Burger King (so the soapbox came back a little — sorry).
First, let's dive into the most outlandish of all of the hamburger-related stories. A Burger King restaurant in Tokyo is selling a seven-patty Whopper to promote the launch of Windows 7. The five-inch-tall burger is on sale through today, weighs about 1.6 pounds and is retailing for 777 yen, or about $8.44. There is a slew of YouTube.com videos popping up of people attempting to eat the Whopper 7, and they all resemble a bad horror movie — disturbing, terrifying and hilarious all at the same time. The amount of press the Whopper 7 has received seems to be achieving the cross-promotional goals of Microsoft and the King; everyone from Nation's Restaurant News to Computerworld has run articles on the burger. After I initially became queasy from thinking about eating that much Burger King at once, one thing popped into my mind: Where's my Snow Leopard Snack Wrap, BK?
Things for McDonald's have not been so highly entertaining this week. Iceland's three McDonald's locations, all situated in the capital city of Reykjavik, are closing on Halloween. Magnus Ogmundsson, the owner of the three franchises, told the Associated Press on Monday, "The economic situation has just made it too expensive for us." The Icelandic banking system fell apart last year, causing the collapse of the krona. Ogmundsson explained that his restaurants were required to import beef and produce for the burgers according to a contract he had with McDonald's; the shipping costs became too high with the failure of the krona. Remember all those joke suggestions to buy Iceland with the returned embezzlement money last year? We could have saved Mickey D's on top of founding Tuftstonialand!
And finally, something a bit more scandalous. McDonald's France, the second most profitable McDonald's organization in the world after the United States', is opening a franchise in the commercial mall in the Louvre. Sacre bleu! The French seem to be split in their opinion of a Mickey D's being located in one of their foremost cultural institutions. The New York Times reported that most Parisians interviewed about the new location had a blasé attitude, while those in the museum world see it as cultural degradation. Zut alors! The Louvre, however, is an institution of tourism, and having a familiar restaurant in the mall could keep tourists in the building. But there's that soapbox again …
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Caryn Horowitz is a senior majoring in history. She can be reached at Caryn.Horowitz@tufts.edu.
