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What were they thinking?

By Jinal Shah ⋅ July 17, 2006 ⋅ Post a comment

Mout0706This mouth-shaped urinal at a Dutch Mc Donalds was removed after an american toursit made a complain to the head-office in America.

Seriously — what was Mr. McDee thinking with this move? Was this supposed to amuse kids or fuel fire to absurd adult fantasies?!

(Art makes sense in the right context. I probably wouldn’t be offended or think otherwise of these urinals at an art-gallery or even a fun-themed restaurant. But good old Mc Donalds? !)

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11 comments for “What were they thinking?”

  1. I beg to differ here Jinal. The qualifying word here is “Dutch” McDonald not American or Chinese or Indian McDonald.
    I would have understood if they had removed it based on a complain from a Dutch person but to do it after a complain from a American is pure corporate hegemony IMHO.
    One can argue here that McDonald is a “American” corporation but what kind of “multinational” is it if it cannot take a pluralistic view towards the sensibilities of another culture or country, especially the dutch who sometimes stretch their artistic liberties to border bizarreness or vulgarity. It needs to be taken in stride and should have been Inconsequential and is just a case of taking liberty to express oneself.

    Posted by suresh | July 17, 2006, 1:00 am

  2. Hey Jinal!

    Thank you for the compliments :D
    You have a great blog yourself! But I must admit, your confession to liking Hello Kitty casts serious doubts on your claims of being 23.

    Oh and if you don’t mind me asking, what sort of Branding work do you do?

    Posted by Nonedone | July 22, 2006, 1:26 am

  3. http://wakeewookoo.blogspot.com/

    thought u might be interested

    Posted by a | July 22, 2006, 11:32 pm

  4. Hey..

    Wanna let you know that your blogs were interesting. i loved reading every bit of it..

    cheers
    rajesh

    Posted by Rajesh Bysani | July 24, 2006, 3:56 am

  5. Hi,
    dint get time to go thru all ur articless…srry..bt ya read few..nice way f presentiinng thngss..likd ut stylee..gd goin alll..the bestttt

    Posted by Vineet Singh | July 26, 2006, 1:31 pm

  6. yeah..it’s quite disgusting…thank GOD someone had the sense to complain and get it removed!

    Posted by Aqua | July 27, 2006, 2:14 am

  7. Would someone complain against this?
    http://miteshvasa.blogspot.com/2005/12/which-one-would-you-choose.html :-)

    Posted by Mitesh | July 27, 2006, 4:39 pm

  8. This is in a country where you can smoke pot legally, get a prostitute legally and sign up for free heroin - you can also get unemplyment as an artists - how about other cultures being different? Does everyone have to be exactly the same? How about respect for the rights of other people in other countries? GROW UP PEOPLE! Trying to remake everyone in your image of the OC is not what everyone in this world wants.

    Posted by jbelkin | July 28, 2006, 3:51 am

  9. Mc Donalds in the UK (specifically London) is really trashy.

    I would complain if I saw that too.

    Posted by 30in2005 | July 28, 2006, 7:11 am

  10. Hi,

    Great blog there! I’m from India and I just think that you’re the kind who’d love my blog! Check it out sometime…

    PS: It can be addictive!

    Have a great day and keep up the great work.

    Cheers!

    Posted by SANDEEP MAKAM | August 1, 2006, 8:35 am

  11. hey it was sort of a funny thing
    i wouldnt mind it if i got a chance to use it….

    Posted by paresh kerkar | August 21, 2006, 1:14 pm

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I believe in a set of values I cannot live by. I set high goals for myself, I seek perfection, dream of exotic faraway places. But ultimately, what I long for isn't far away at all. Its in my own backyard. Imperfection charms me, familiar things move me... a celebration of what we have, instead of what we long for- that for me, is glamor. -Isabella Rossellini