Blog #6 - Alissa Carlson

        Let me just say, I just love food. All food. I am not a picky eater and I will literally eat anything when I am hungry. Some of my favorite go-to foods are stock piled in my cabinet in my apartment and I frequent it for mid-day snack time, lunch time, dinner time, midnight snack, any time. I do enjoy eating out - but over time that can get pretty spendy and I am a college kid with a minimal credit limit so I have to be careful with the amount of times I go out a week.
        One of the more interesting commercials that I remember from a company so profound is a McDonald's commercial that advertises their McCafé. Don't get me wrong, I love McDonalds. There are definitely instances where I find myself craving a McChicken with little mayo, medium fry, and a small coke (or sprite, really just depends on the day). I also don't frequent this place that often - maybe once a week (for my caffeine fix) or once every 2 weeks. Why do I go there? Because I need a quick fill or a quick pick-me-up to keep going. Whether it be a skipped lunch or the middle of the day 'i-need-more-caffiene-in-order-to-live' Coca Cola. The specific commercial that I am thinking of is both funny, truthful, and painfully accurate (not to mention it makes me want some coffee).
         In this commercial, a mom takes her two darling children to the park and they come up to her and start arguing. She sticks her index finger up signaling to them to "wait," while she finishes her McCafé coffee. They freeze in their tracks when she sticks her finger up. Then she puts her coffee down for a second, they start complaining again, and then she's back with her finger up and the kids are frozen again. Essentially stating that she really doesn't want to hear anything until she finishes her morning coffee. McDonalds is orientating this towards parents and letting them know that their McCafé coffee will do the trick when their kids are arguing (specifically in a park). I attached the commercial below if you heart desires a view.
          Today in society, I have seen a significant amount of cups, t-shirts, and other advertisements that say, "Don't talk to me, I haven't had my coffee yet." I find them quite funny, but I think that there is an underlying meaning to this. I obviously am a little cranky myself when I don't have my caffeine fix by noon, but it seems more and more like people NEED this in order to SURVIVE. A conception that in order to do anything, they NEED to have coffee. While some mornings I can agree that I would enjoy more caffeine than normal but also, you really don't NEED that $6.79 Venti Vanilla Latte with an extra shot of espresso or the $5.85 Grande Carmel Macchiato in order to live. You need food, a shelter, and water. But in this day-and-age its about the coffee and the constant desire and NEED for it in order to tackle the day. This doesn't necessarily make me angry as it does annoyed. It's annoying that people talk about coffee as a necessity when really they probably went 15 or more years of their life without it. I am really more conflicted on this topic than I thought I would be after reading and taking more time to think about it.
        To conclude; Am I mad? Not really. Am I happy? Undetermined. Am I still addicted to caffeine?  Yes. Am I drinking a Mountain Dew right now? You betcha. So I can say that I don't NEED caffeine in order to survive, but it is something that I would enjoy most days of the week. This blog post is hard. I don't have an affirmative opinion, I'm not mad, I'm not happy, I'm kind of annoyed and I really just want to go back to bed.

https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wBfE/mcdonalds-mccaf-playground-parenting-coffee