Saturday, September 6, 2014

McDonalds Happy Meal Artwork Controversy

So I'm proud to say today that some art work got some controversy last month. I'm proud, because the art work was created by a very dear friend of mine, Robert Clements, known to his close friends as Newt.

I met Newt back in 2008 when I befriended his partner at the time, Faris. Faris and I hit it off as friends right away, and trust me when I say we left a lecherous trail of destruction in our wake. Faris introduced me to his partner Newt, who I later discovered was an ultra-talented artist.
Newt showed me his portfolio of all of the art he created, and it was stunning. All freehand drawings which he would draw from memory in most every case. His art work is simply astounding and incredibly realistic.

After some time Newt went on to practice more with computer  graphics software, fine tuning how he made art by hand now on the computer. A result of this was the Happy Meal art that swept the internet.

For awhile Newt cranked out these awesome Happy Meal graphics, some were really horrific, others were absolutely hilarious. It was due to the artwork itself in part, but it's entertainment value also came from the fact that no one in their right mind would market McDonald's Happy Meal toys in the shape of say the main characters from Night of the Living Dead, or a toy of Jaws eating the boat, or even Frankenfurter from Rocky Horror Picture show. Others include Carrie, from the titular movie, a crazed Jack Nicholson from The Shining, and Ash from Evil Dead.

Newt even made one for me especially! I loved it! But what I loved most about it was that we barely spoke when Faris and I were friends, yet he knew of my love for anime and made me a Cowboy Bebop Happy Meal featuring a Faye figurine.

Newt's artwork just exploded in the news recently though, when Amy Bruni from SyFy's Ghost Hunters re-posted a piece that Newt made of a Happy Meal containing a Ouija board. She received a lot of flak for posting that image, because people seriously believed that McDonald's was going to be offering these "Ouija Happy Meals".  The funny thing is that she even wrote in the SAME post that these were not real.
Amy's post:
__________________________________________________
SO excited for McDonalds' Halloween Happy Meal this year!!!
;) <---- -WINKY FACE AKA THIS ISN'T REAL But for those concerned with the future of our children, you might want to march those pitchforks and torches right on over to Toys R Us, Wal-Mart, Target, etc - they all sell, *GASP*, OUIJA BOARDS!!! Millions of them a year! To anyone who wants one! __________________________________________________
Let's cut the shit, she is absolutely right. And I think the flak that she caught for this bullshit was because she IS in fact right. If McDonalds wanted to market these kind of toys to children the outrage toward McDonalds would be overwhelming, yet these toys are sold in your local retail store in the kid's toys section.

Some argue, "Well that's because I have a right to buy a toy or not buy a toy when I go into Target. But at McDonald's it's shoved down me and my kids throat."

What bullshit, I mean really think about this one folks. You have the choice to buy your children a Happy Meal, you have the choice to censor your children's TV viewing so they aren't exposed to things you find harmful. You think McDonald's is going to screw up your children by giving them stupid Ouija board toys? Isn't McDonald's already screwing up your children because the food is pretty much not the shit you should be feeding them in the first place? Yet you have no problem shopping at a store that markets these devices to your children? Hmm.


The point is, Amy Bruni had a lot of people read her the Riot Act for making a joke about something neat she found on the interNewt (<-- Intentional). She has even admitted that this was a learning experience for her to not joke about things that may upset stupid people. Yet the crazy responces she has received are just...well, crazy! I don't believe in this ghost bull crap, I had a Ouija board and used it many times when I was a lad. Nothing ever came out of it, except for me scaring the hell out of my stupids friends who didn't notice me moving the icon myself. And that's all these people are doing is moving that little piece of plastic and glass by themselves. They warn people that they are dangerous devices that shouldn't be used by children, when all they really are is a piece of cheap cardboard and plastic with neat graphics printed on them. Cost on that has to be less than five dollars, yet it is packaged and marketed to kids at three to four times that cost.

Remember folks, the human mind is weird piece of organic equipment. We truly create the world around us with our thoughts. And if you believe in 'magik' and witchcraft and Ouija boards than fine, that's just you seeing the world the way you want to see it. It has no effect on me, since no one has ever or will ever release some evil demon spirit that will require the likes of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroid, Harold Ramis (Maybe FROM the Ouija Board), and Ernie Hudson to vanquish.

But! This is not about the controversy of Amy Bruni's post, nor her naive audience. This is about my dear friend Newt, whom I love very much, and his artwork making it into celebrity circles and into controversy. I guess, maybe, you are not a real artist until something you create makes someone uncomfortable. What an admirable goal, one that I strive for daily.
Thank you, for your awesomeness, Newt! Keep up the good art!

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Hash? Yes Please!

#Newt #Happymeal #Ouijaboard #happymealouijaboard #mcdonalds #amybruni #Ghosthunters #controversy #artwork #horrorhappymeal #happymealartwork #SyFy #Ghostbusters

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