Every week? Every day? Every single minute? Clearly, the last option is the one most favored by famous startup founders. But for the rest of us, we slip into habits, prejudices, and opinions that aren’t always truly considered. Which is why a new ad may make you stop, as it did me, and wonder about the utterances you make and the things you (claim to) believe. Like the notion that Android phones are better than iPhones, or vice versa. Here, you see, we don’t even know what the ad is telling us – other than people are consistently blowhards and mindlessly opinionated. Does this sound like anyone you know? Does this sound like anyone you are? This ad presents us a rather full fast-food joint, which is an oddity in itself. I thought everyone did delivery or drive-thru these days. At first, we don’t know which fast-food joint it is. What we do know is that a young couple begins to argue about the various merits of McDonald’s different offerings. Soon, other diners join in, crowing about the merits of KFC, Five Guys – which I somehow always initially type as Five Guts – and something called BioBurger. Also: Mastodon isn’t Twitter but it’s glorious Did I mention this ad comes from France? Does it matter? Anyway, one of our heroes explains that you can’t really compare KFC chicken and a McDonald’s burger. Yet things become fractious. “I’ve been eating burgers for 20 years, so I don’t need any lessons from you, OK?” offers one interlocutor. “What? Do you have a degree in burgers?” a woman interjects. Oh, doesn’t this all remind you of the phone camps? Android is more open and versatile, iPhone is more beautiful and reliable. Worse, this sort of thing gets propagated by Android brands desperate to compare themselves to Apple. Here, though, the police arrive and insist KFC is the best. Also: Mushroom meat and robot chefs: Chipotle’s vision for the future of fast food Wait, what is this an ad for? Wait a little longer, as this thing gets entirely out of control. Everyone stands and screams. It’s as if Twitter had been turned into a play. Finally, the male of our young couple declares: “Actually, it was a private conversation.” And this is the point where we see it’s an ad for Burger King, because a server brings our couple their Whoppers. “People are nuts,” says the young man. “It’s obviously the Whopper.” For you, it might obviously be a Galaxy S22. For your lover, it may obviously be an iPhone 14. Also: iPhone 14 vs the best Android phones: Spec showdown What is it about us that makes us want others to use the same phones we do? Other than, of course, the need to see their texts in blue, rather than green. We can have many spirited private conversations about the gadgets that work for us. We can even do it in a public forum like this one, without reaching any agreement at all. But giving people a choice isn’t about encouraging them to tell other people their choices are incorrect. It’s about creating a little oasis of personal satisfaction just for you and a subject about which to have a personal conversation. Personally, I think Whoppers are OK. Just like Android phones.
