Big Mac attack on Japanese government website
A Japanese government website was crashed earlier this week by people clicking in to take advantage of an offer of a half-price Big Mac in exchange for a personal pledge to combat global warming.
McDonald’s Japan promised to sell people a Big Mac for 150 yen if they would pledge to take steps to avoid behavior that supposedly contributes to climate change.
People were asked to check up to 39 boxes on a form they could download from the environment ministry’s website, each listing a way of reducing carbon dioxide emissions blamed for global warming.
“We started seeing a rise in access yesterday and it surged this morning. We are now trying to restore the system,” said Kenji Someno, who heads the ministry’s Lifestyle Policy Office.It was the ministry’s first system crash following a corporate offer related to environmental efforts.
“McDonald’s is such a familiar name with people and they eat there often. The Big Mac discount gives them the strong impression that it’s a bargain,” Someno said.
The 39 measures included such practices as lowering the setting of your air conditioner, reducing shower time by one minute, and wiping water from the bottom of a kettle before heating it.
Of course, there is no way to monitor whether or not anyone actually lived up to their pledges, and so the response probably indicates more about Japan’s love of the Big Mac than anything to do with preventing global warming.
Its irresponsible of the government to allow MacDonalds to co-opt a legitimate environmental concern. If Japanese are serious about mitigating the effects of global warming they have to change their eating habits.
MacDonalds is complicit in the clear cutting of Amazonian old growth for soy-produce to use as chicken-feed.
It also requires 1 kg of beef requires 100kg of hay and 4kg of grain. Since it takes 1,000 kg of water to produce 1kg of hay and grain, it takes about 100,000 liters to produce 1 kg of beef.
On top of that the Japan has one of the worse food-energy ratios in the world. For every calorie of food 10 calories are expended in production and transit.
In an era the era of peak-oil and water shortages, the subsumption of the green movement into marketing does not bode well.
September 7th, 2007 at 3:02 am“For every calorie of food 10 calories are expended in production and transit.”
So that’s how they stay so thin!
September 7th, 2007 at 7:43 amglobal warming chic
September 7th, 2007 at 3:04 pmPersonally I think global warming activism can be overblown, to the point of scaremongering. But Mcdonalds is a recognizable global brand, and product tie ins to the environmental cause will at least garner attention to the issue.
Who’s going to flood a site ran by hippies who grow their own produce and power their house with solar power? If youtube ran ads from a company who cleared the rain forest, is it suddenly an inappropriate forum for climate change? Come on.
We can at least take this as an half hearted effort from Mcdonalds Japan to show that they “care”. Otherwise its enemies will proclaim that “Mcdonlads doesn’t care about the environment, only profit”
September 8th, 2007 at 5:21 am[...] November 1st all foreigners visiting Japan will be fingerprinted. - Combating global warming with Big Macs?- Only in Japan would someone get eels drunk in order to pray for rain.- This is not Japan related [...]
September 9th, 2007 at 9:41 amBakjae,
The thing is that Macdonalds is for the most part concerned about the bottom line, and that such half-hearted “environmentalism” is endemic in the corporate world. Corporate and government interests are remarkably short-sighted when it comes to planning ahead. (case in point, the average life-span of a Japanese house is 25 years–about the same as a standard term of a mortgage) At least the construction companies are happy.
Environmentalism is scare-mongering, but it is not driven by the bottom-line, nor are they trying to convert you to a millenarian religion. If anything the environmetal movement is driven by rational empiricist observations. Ask a biologist, climatologist, or oceanographer, paleoclimatologist etc… and ask them for the facts– then you can decide for yourself. Don’t rely only on bullshit documentaries and environmental campaigns–from the Left or the Right because they contain half-truths.
September 9th, 2007 at 4:11 pmI’m not suggesting that Mcdonalds is leading the fight against global warming, of course. It’s a promotion with a green theme. Does it accomplish anything or produce substantiative results? No. Do I any at least give them credit showing a modicum of interest in global issues, yes.
Obviously the scientific community obviously needs no “fight greenhouse emission for half priced big mac” deals to be persuaded into action. But insofar as simply raising general awareness of environmental topics, this isn’t a total waste. And if you want to reach the average joe audience, a global brand like Mcdonalds helps. The fact that the site crashed is telling of how consumers will respond to a product (or an issue) if it’s packaged with name recognition. (I’m not saying I agree with it)
I can actually see some old school Asians feeling honor bound to carry it out. Of course there’s no obligation for the VAST majority of Japanese customers to actually fulfill the pledge. Not in the slightest! With a PBS approach this campaign would be total bust. It worked because it avoided that path.
September 9th, 2007 at 5:49 pmLi the eremite :
Yes, the conventional Japanese cuisine ( rice, vegetable, soy product and fish ) produced domestically, was far more eco-friendly. But once it changed we couldn’t easily go back to the past. But the era of peak-oil and water shortages is just around the corner. Probably we are gradually getting forced to change our life style.
Anyway, it’s well known that the standard term of a mortgage of a Japanese house is 25 years, but I’m afraid its average life span is much longer than 25 years(probably 40 years or longer).
September 9th, 2007 at 6:25 pm