Rise Up!

" Any Advertisement in public space that gives you no choice whether you see it or not is yours. It belongs to you. It's yours to take, re-arrange and re-use" (Banksy, 196).


McDonald's is one of the most recognizable brands in the world, and Banksy, a London graffiti artist, has distorted the golden M to read as a twisted W. Banksy has created an interactive work, where a young boy is carried away by a McDonald's balloon. Instead of moving, the balloon and the boy remain static. He is physically incapable of grounding himself. The question is: What would become of the boy if he were to gain a solid footing?
The child, innocent in his bliss, resonated with me, as it recalled the naivete of childhood. McDonald's embodies happiness, where Ronald McDonald's gang of friends delighted me with their television series and stickers and educated me with their toys. I too could pretend I worked at McDonald's flipping burgers! But what I really loved was the clothing; I was a McKid. I even recall wearing a Ronald McDonald pin; in McDonald's I trusted. As I got older, McDonald's lost that magical quality. I peeled my Grimace toothbrush holder from my bathroom wall, exposing the previous layer of paint and leaving a white outline. It was as if I had murdered my purple friend and with that, McDonald's would never be the same.
Banksy took my childhood love affair of the brand and began to unravel the controlled image Mcdonald's projects. Through a simple image of a boy floating in the air Banksy truly embodies Fletcher's notion that, "Symbols are open to hijack" (Fletcher,218). Banksy has brought a new perspecctive to the golden arch, where the gold is stripped away, coated and dipped into a boiling deepfryer.
When I first perceived this image the stereotypical McDonald's child, one full of zest and life, has been subsumed by a limp and lifeless body. A body that is moved and manipulated by a singular string. Personally, I would have liked to see a morbidly obese child attached to the string, but I doubt the balloon would float for very long. But the stillness of the child does evoke a feeling of unease, there is something pitiful about a child who cannot run and play like the other children.
The backlash against Mcdonald's has been tremendous over the years. Even prefacing words with a simple 'Mc' to create 'McMansion' and 'McJobs' for example, now makes them synonymous with being substandard. While I don't believe McDonald's is entirely unhealthy, I dislike their marketing tactics. When I think of how strong of an impression Mcdonald's made on my life as a child, it does make me somewhat resentful. Children do not have the ability to question Ronald McDonald or see him as a grinning menace. They should not be force fed corporate ideals. Funny enough, when Banksy's child descended towards the ground after 9 hours in the air, the child was hit by a bus. If only the entire franchise would follow suit.

Source: Banksy “Wall and Piece”. Century: London: 2006. 196,214
Fletcher, Alan “The Art of Looking Sideways”. Phaidon. 218
Inspired by Naomi Klein's "No Logo".