I saw a crippled guy in a Burger King television commercial.
It was in a montage of people who are supposed to look like
ordinary folks off the street. They were probably actors who auditioned for the
role of ordinary person off the street but the point is one of them was
crippled. And each of those in the ordinary folks off the street montage said
something about what makes a Whopper burger taste so great. The first one sang
the praises of the beef patty. The next one gushed about the lettuce, tomato
and onion and the third one was a crippled guy who rubbed his hands together
enthusiastically and said “and ketchup!”
The crippled guy was only on screen for about two seconds.
But it was clear that he was in a wheelchair because he was sitting and you
could see the push handle of a wheelchair behind his shoulder.
I’m not sure what this all means but whatever it means I
guess it’s good, all things considered. Cripples are always bitching about how
we never see authentic cripples on stage and screen. When there are stories
about cripples, we’re usually played by uncrippled actors. And a lot of those
actors win Oscars for playing a cripple.
But the cripple in the Burger King commercial looked like
an actual cripple to me. But then again, who knows. It all went by so fast. I
suppose if those were actors playing ordinary folks off the street, whomever
cast the commercial could’ve cast an uncrippled guy in the role of crippled
ordinary guy off the street and sat him down in a wheelchair. That would suck
but in a way it would still be good that Burger King thought it was important
that a commercial designed to show how everybody loves the Whopper must include
a cripple.
And even if those really were ordinary folks off the street,
it’s good that Burger King sought out a crippled ordinary person off the street
to contribute to the montage. Or even if they weren’t specifically seeking out a
cripple, maybe they couldn’t help but include this cripple in the montage
because he said “and ketchup” with such unbridled joy. That’s good, too.
I certainly hope it wasn’t a case where they took an
uncrippled ordinary person off the street and had him sit in a wheelchair and say “and ketchup” while rubbing his hands together. But even so, again
it would go back to Burger King feeling compelled for whatever reason to make the
point that ordinary folks off the street includes cripples.
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