Can McDonalds REALLY copyright the word BURGER? Come on.
haffajappa
Posts: 5,955
Just another reason why the corporate circus that is the Olympics is starting to aggravate me even more:
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2529371
VANCOUVER -- The chef at a First Nations food pavilion at the Winter Olympics says he had to rewrite his menu to purge the word "burger," after the McDonald's chain -- an Olympics sponsor -- objected.
Chef Andrew George, who created the menu for the Four Host First Nations' pavilion, said organizers had to rewrite one of the menu items -- a trio of bison burgers -- after a complaint from the Golden Arches.
"McDonald's is a big corporate sponsor at the Olympics and it turns out they were really touchy about us calling any food ‘burgers,'" says Mr. George, who has published a cookbook and is working on a TV show.
"So we're serving these three little bison patties that now we're calling sliders, or bannockwiches, with sauteed wild mushrooms and Saltspring Island goat cheese between bannock rounds."
There may be little similarity between the native chefs' bison sandwiches and a McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese, but the Four Host First Nations chefs aren't picking a fight with the corporate food giant.
This is "the first time in history that indigenous peoples have been recognized by the IOC as official partners in the hosting of a Games," says the FHFN statement.
The Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, who share the traditional territory on which the Olympics are being held, entered a protocol agreement in 2004 to abide by all Olympic rules.
"McDonald's hasn't been in contact with the Four Host First Nations regarding this. Contact VANOC directly to discuss sponsorship," said McDonald's spokesman Chris Stannell.
VANOC's Bill Cooper, head of commercial rights management, said "there are a number of guidelines ... at all designated 2010 Games celebration sites, of which the FHFN pavilion is one."
Mr. Cooper noted that may include forbidding "certain brands or words that create special associations with our sponsors and their products."
That reflects sponsors' "significant commitment and investment," said Mr. Cooper.
Mr. George's 25 years as a trained chef, including stints with a top-flight European hotel chain, as well as his love of traditional native food lore, have made him ready for the world stage at the 2010 Olympics.
MR. George cooked at Expo 86, where aboriginal cuisine was a huge hit, and he went on to teach and excel at the 1992 German "culinary Olympics."
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html? ... z0fBrG6bj9
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http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2529371
VANCOUVER -- The chef at a First Nations food pavilion at the Winter Olympics says he had to rewrite his menu to purge the word "burger," after the McDonald's chain -- an Olympics sponsor -- objected.
Chef Andrew George, who created the menu for the Four Host First Nations' pavilion, said organizers had to rewrite one of the menu items -- a trio of bison burgers -- after a complaint from the Golden Arches.
"McDonald's is a big corporate sponsor at the Olympics and it turns out they were really touchy about us calling any food ‘burgers,'" says Mr. George, who has published a cookbook and is working on a TV show.
"So we're serving these three little bison patties that now we're calling sliders, or bannockwiches, with sauteed wild mushrooms and Saltspring Island goat cheese between bannock rounds."
There may be little similarity between the native chefs' bison sandwiches and a McDonald's quarter-pounder with cheese, but the Four Host First Nations chefs aren't picking a fight with the corporate food giant.
This is "the first time in history that indigenous peoples have been recognized by the IOC as official partners in the hosting of a Games," says the FHFN statement.
The Lil'wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, who share the traditional territory on which the Olympics are being held, entered a protocol agreement in 2004 to abide by all Olympic rules.
"McDonald's hasn't been in contact with the Four Host First Nations regarding this. Contact VANOC directly to discuss sponsorship," said McDonald's spokesman Chris Stannell.
VANOC's Bill Cooper, head of commercial rights management, said "there are a number of guidelines ... at all designated 2010 Games celebration sites, of which the FHFN pavilion is one."
Mr. Cooper noted that may include forbidding "certain brands or words that create special associations with our sponsors and their products."
That reflects sponsors' "significant commitment and investment," said Mr. Cooper.
Mr. George's 25 years as a trained chef, including stints with a top-flight European hotel chain, as well as his love of traditional native food lore, have made him ready for the world stage at the 2010 Olympics.
MR. George cooked at Expo 86, where aboriginal cuisine was a huge hit, and he went on to teach and excel at the 1992 German "culinary Olympics."
Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html? ... z0fBrG6bj9
The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.
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On another note, I'm not sure you would even call McDonalds burgers "burgers". They are pretty pathetic and not that great tasting compared to many other restaurants.
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Like I said on my facebook status, I'll start to wonder when will Samsung copyright the word PHONE and every telephone in the city will have to be called numerated talking machine... Or Coke with ice cubes. So stupid!!
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I mean it's still stupid, but keep things in perspective.
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Almost as if VANOC wouldn't let you use the words Vancouver or 2010
oh wait........................
Phew.....and McD's sux anyway...the only good thing there is frozen coke..at least they can't try and fuck with that!
I prefer McDonalds only because they do a better breakfast than the other chains. Though I try to avoid eating at any of these places.
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I remember eating at a place called 'Ryans' in Florida. It was a buffet type place. Absolutely great value. You could eat as much as you wanted. There are also lot's of really good Mexican restaurants - including drive-thru's - in America, so It makes me wonder why anyone bothers eating McDonalds.
they truly are the burger king.
they aren't official food suppliers ... they are just a corporate sponsor ... can you imagine all these Athletes training all their lives avoiding shitty food like mcd's and then they get to the olympics and they actually have to eat it??
this has nothing to do with getting a return on investment ... it has everything to do with the fact the olympics is a corporate whorefest ... all the coporations have more power than the local gov'ts now ...
on another note - i love how they keep referring to each games as the "greenest" ever ... they put brand new LCD's and DVD players in the rooms, lots of volunteers are getting new temporary cell phones, everything is brand spanking new ... what a load of crock ...
having said that - i hope canada wins gold in hockey! ...
Not an official food supplier, but as a huge corporate sponsor, I'm sure they have protection from competition ( as silly as that sounds in this case)... I'm guessing that these vendors can't sell Pepsi products or a local soft drink with Coke being such a huge sponsor.
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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
dude ... the chef has every right to cook the meal he is cooking and for who he's cooking for ... he's had to change the naming on the menu because mcdicks doesn't want anyone putting "burger" on the menu ... it's still the same food - he just had to call it something else ... how is this remotely justifiable?
Of course the Olympics is a corporate whorefest. When has it not been a corporate whorefest. I mean people always complain every Olympics about how they are too corporate, but they have been that way at least as long as I can remember. Plus the olympics costs a ton of money to put, and you can't just do it with goodwill and happy thoughts, you need cash, lots of cash.
it's called taxpayers ...
was like a picture
of a sunny day
“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
― Abraham Lincoln
uhhh ... you don't think all these corporate sponsors aren't making money on these games? ... the ONLY people that aren't getting a return on their investment is the taxpayer ... taxpayers subsidize these games so corporate giants can benefit the most ...
in any case - do either of you still think its reasonable for mcdonalds to make the chef change bison burgers to bison sliders?
Exactly. I mean complaining that the Olympics has corporate sponsorship is like complaining that NASCAR has corporate sponsorship. I am not sure that either could operate without it.
you are missing the point also ... it's not that these games have corporate sponsorships that i am against ... but again - that is another topic ...
do you still think it's reasonable that they should make this chef change his wording on his menu?
I believe the logic is that the corporate sponsors do things like employ people, pay taxes and make investments in communities. Sure they make money off the games but it is not like the revenue McDonald's gets from them all goes to one guy and he keeps it in a giant Scrooge McDuck style money bin.
??
I don't think it is totally unreasonable. I mean he is serving his food at an official olympic venue. If he wants to call it a burger, he can open his own restaurant, or find one that will let him call the dish a bison burger. Odds are that the money McDonald's put up helped pay for the venue he is working in, so I think it is fair for them to ask that they get a little bit of protection for their money.
The alternate quesiton is this. How much money do you think McDonald's put up to be a worldwide sponsor of the games? I would be it would easily be in the tens of millions. What exactly do you think they should get for that money?
really? ... even if they helped pay for the venue (which i highly doubt) ... they didn't invent the hamburger ... how are they losing out one iota by having this chef call his dish bison burgers instead of bison sliders!?? ...
i would guess it's more money than that ... what they get is exclusive concessionary rights at many olympic venues ... where they sell their "food" at inflated prices ... they also get marketing and brand awareness ... do you think a corporation like mcdonalds is gonna take a loss? ... but in the end - it is compeletely irrelevant if you believe that having a chef call his bison burgers is gonna impact mcdonalds profit at the games ... that is absurd to me ... although i have yet to hear a reasonable explanation - so, be it if you think they are hurt by someone calling their food burgers ...