Is the entire cup thrown at the person or just the contents? I'm not sure, but this "milkshaking" seems to be the same activity as pie-throwing (where, usually, it's shaving cream in a pie tin, smashed into a person's face). I guess for milkshaking you don't need to get as close, and it's easy to buy your loaded weapon in a fast-food joint. In the UK, there's debate about whether this should actually be called "violence," but obviously it is.
Wikipedia has an entry for "milkshaking":
Milkshaking is a term that refers to the use of milkshakes and other drinks as a means of political protest in a manner similar to egging.Well, with egging, the hard shell is always part of the projectile, and you've got to hit hard enough to break the egg.
The target of a milkshaking is usually covered in a milkshake that is thrown from a cup or bottle.Usually... so perhaps sometimes the cup is also thrown.
The trend gained popularity in the United Kingdom in May 2019 during the European Parliament election and was used primarily against right-wing and far-right politicians and activists, such as Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage, Carl Benjamin, and members of the UK Independence Party (UKIP) and Brexit Party.Robinson was the first one to be milkshaked, and when he got milkshaked the next day, he punched the person who did it.
In American slang, "milkshake," used as a noun, refers to a woman's body "and the way she carries it." Urban Dictionary has various entries for "milkshake," the verb, going back to 2005, including the idea of throwing a milkshake at someone, from 2013. That doesn't have the political-theater angle, just a mindless prank, done from a moving car, aimed at a random pedestrian. The British activity is also there, entered 2 days ago.
And here's the rather extensive Wikipedia article on pie throwing. Excerpt:
The probable originator of pieing as a political act was Thomas King Forcade, the founder of High Times magazine. In 1970, Forcade pied Otto N. Larsen, the Chairman of the President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography; his action was called the first Yippie pieing[.] Aron Kay, also a Yippie, went on to take up Forcade's pieing tactics. Kay pied, among many others, William F. Buckley, Phyllis Schlafly, G. Gordon Liddy, E. Howard Hunt, and Andy Warhol....Though pieing may not have been a political protest before 1970, pieing appeared — almost appeared — in the great 1964 film "Dr. Strangelove," and the context was distinctly political:
But for a last-minute change of Kubrick’s heart, the moment of reckoning was to be preceded with a riotous battle with pastries from the War Room buffet table. The fight, which was shot but cut out before the final print, begins with Soviet Ambassador de Sadeski (Peter Bull) responding to the threat of a strip search by hurling a custard pie at US general Buck Turgidson (George C. Scott), which misses and hits the American president.Pie throwing goes way back — to stage shows and silent movies. The first is the 1909 film "Mr. Flip." There are many many pie-in-face bits in the movies but (judging from the Wikipedia article) the ultimate was this 2-minute sequence from "The Battle of the Century" (1927) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy:
“Gentlemen,” rallies Turgidson, holding his wounded leader (Peter Sellers) in his arms, “our beloved president has been infamously struck down by a pie in the prime of his life! Are we going to let that happen? Massive retaliation!” Chaos ensues in fast-motion, in a manner recalling the silent slapstick of Mack Sennett and the Keystone Cops....
"Eventually, Strangelove fires off a gun and shouts ‘Ve must stop zis childish game! Zere is Verk to do!’ The other characters sit around on the floor and play with custard cream like children building sandcastles. ‘I think their minds must have snepped from the strain,’ Strangelove announces."
Stop! Stop! This has gone far enough! Love thy neighbor!
Posts
148 comments:
Instead of milkshaking politicians with whom they disagree, liberals should debate them publicly about the issues.
Once again the Left proves it has to resort to violence because it is incapable of debate.
We do a little taco-bowling, but only at night.
I think its time to throw a few milkshakes on the Left and see how they react.
American mainstream Democratic party press (hack press) celebrate when anyone on the "right" gets hit. so satisfying.
Fascism = progressivism
Progressivism = Fascism
John Henry
It used to be a favorite pastime of drunk University students in the UK to walk around town puking on windows of restaurants and other establishments. Most unappetizing for the rest of us.
If you were anywhere near a gay club in 2003/2004, you couldn’t avoid Milkshake
Make it like a dunking booth and sell tickets - higher prices for closer pitching - teaching moments should not be wasted.
How many times has Noam Chomsky on campus received a pie or milkshake in the face by a young ROTC candidate
Seems like this type of "activism" goes mostly one way......,.
“In American slang, "milkshake," used as a noun, refers to a woman's body "and the way she carries it."”
What? Maybe by the same folks who say, “23 skidoo”. I’m a dictionary of American slang and I’ve never seen or heard this usage.
The use of this on Farange and the celebration by the "Remain" crowd will increase his vote total and might make him the Prime Minister at the next national election.
Australia should be a warning to these people but they are unteachable.
You bring a milkshake, we bring a left hook.
@Cracker:
See my helpful link above.
Ian Miles Chong https://mobile.twitter.com/stillgray/status/1130901917477904384
Milkshakes today, hydrochloric acid soon.
Umm, pie.
Good thing Kubrick didn't use the scene, I think; he's underrated for comedy--Clockwork Orange is fantastically funny, because it's so true to life.
Narr
Make mine vanilla
The use of this on Farange and the celebration by the "Remain" crowd will increase his vote total and might make him the Prime Minister at the next national election
Not a chance in hell.
In terms of sheer number of pies, the pie fight in "The Great Race" consumed 4,000 pies, the most pies ever filmed in a pie fight (per Wikipedia). This was, however, over the course of five days of shooting.
On the other hand, "The Battle of the Century" used 3,000 pies in a single day of shooting.
Once again the Left proves it has to resort to violence because it is incapable of debate.
The protests in social democracies in Europe are being ignored here in the states, where Democrats are fighting how hard they want to full Euro+50%.
The common refrain from the right is to toss out Venezuela. That collapse, while true it is Socialist, collapsed due to corruption (yes that is a feature of socialism). A more meaningful example is the Yellow Vests, they have been demonstrating against higher taxes on petro, because of the burden it puts on the working class. These Yellow Vest protest against the base philosophy of Social Democracies are a harbinger of what the Democrat candidates are striving for. Democrat candidates need to explain why they are advocating for the outcome Paris has been experiencing every weekend for months.
Burger King doubled down in a second tweet. They wrote “We don’t endorse political violence — or wasting our delicious milkshakes!” That bit of bathos snickers at the violence. If someone throws a bag of shit into a Burger King maybe 7-11 could tweet that they are selling bags all summer.
The "youths" of Britain are way ahead of you. England now sees acid resistant make-up as a defense to acid throwing attacks.
An article on Tommy Robinson mentioned...
"The UK has one of highest rates of acid attacks in the world, according to the police. According to the Metropolitan Police, 2017 was the worst year for acid attacks in London, with 465 attacks recorded, up from 395 the previous year and 255 in 2015."
Michael,
The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen.
Can you really imagine any circumstance where she appoints Farage? No matter how many seats his party wins?
John Henry
Oops. I forgot to quote AllenS.
"Pieing," "glitterbombing," and now "milkshaking" are more sinister than they appear. The idea is to intimidate. If a person can get close enough to you to do that, maybe next time it will be sewage, or acid, or anthrax.
“Blogger J. Farmer said...
@Cracker:
See my helpful link above.”
Oh, well, that explains it. I’m more of a jangle pop guy myself.
@Ken B:
That bit of bathos snickers at the violence
Oh, come on. It was a brilliant bit of marketing on Burger King's part whatever one thinks of the juvenile milkshake throws. Plus, does 7-11 actually sell bags of shit?
It's touching in a way, the serene confidence of the Left that they are better at violence. They don’t realize the other side hasn’t tried yet.
@Cracker:
Oh, well, that explains it. I’m more of a jangle pop guy myself.
60's original or 80's resurgence?
Farmer
7-11 sells bags. For the shit you're on your own.
The cops asked McDonalds to not sell shakes. They complied and put up signs. Then BK tweeted “Hey Scotland we have milkshakes. Have fun!” So yes they are nudge nudge wink winking at political violence. Odd you can’t see that. Follow the Chong link I posted and get back to me.
Trivia fact,
There is no legal basis for the position of prime minister.
It is strictly tradition, going back almost 3 centuries, that the monarch select a first advisor. There is no requirement that they do so.
Of course, the cry would be that not to do so would trigger a "constitutional crisis"
I've never understood how England could have a constitutional crisis when they don't have a constitution.
John Henry
Charity Boss Who Called for Acid Attack on Nigel Farage Fired
“Great that milkshakes have become a thing when it comes to racists in our midst. I’d prefer acid but milkshakes will do for now.”
++
Too bad they don't have guns to throw at each other.
"What? Maybe by the same folks who say, “23 skidoo”. I’m a dictionary of American slang and I’ve never seen or heard this usage."
The voting at Urban Dictionary is overwhelming.
It's not a word I would use or feel any native-speaker intuition about.
I'm familiar with the lactation function of breasts.
"It's touching in a way, the serene confidence of the Left that they are better at violence. They don’t realize the other side hasn’t tried yet."
They never seem to go toe-to-toe with someone in a fair fight. I guess all those woke fight training clubs went out of business.
"Seems like this type of "activism" goes mostly one way"
Of course. So does the "reporting."
"and was used primarily against right-wing and far-right politicians and activists,"
So, in other words, it was used BY left-wing activists.
Sheesh.
@Ken B:
The cops asked McDonalds to not sell shakes. They complied and put up signs. Then BK tweeted “Hey Scotland we have milkshakes. Have fun!” So yes they are nudge nudge wink winking at political violence. Odd you can’t see that.
Of course, I see it. The winking is what made it such a brilliant piece of marketing. After all, here we are talking about it. I'd say the tweet did it's job. And had I been McDonald's, I would refused the request to not sell shakes. Milkshakes don't hurl themselves at people, people hurl milkshakes at people.
The same people who say speech is violence justify their own violence as speech.
The Left's justification of their own violent acts is so commonplace it's simply accepted, but I resent the Media pushing the idea that it's ok when some people--the good people, naturally--do it. "It's ok to punch a Nazi!" says the commercial for a network TV show and no one bats an eye--nice centrist people barely even note that who counts as "a Nazi" seems to be a pretty flexible standard.
Pim Fortuyn was hit with pies several times. A few of the times the pies were made of human waste. Eventually he was shot. Hey, these things happen.
The good news is people quit selling tar and pillows near protests long ago.
"McDonald's has made the decision to stop selling milkshakes when there's a Brexit rally nearby...."
Since they stopped providing straws, you can't drink their milkshakes anyways.
"My milkshakes bring all the boys to my yard."
you've got to hit hard enough to break the egg
Isn’t the real trick to throw the egg in such a way that it doesn’t break?
AllenS said...
Milkshakes today, hydrochloric acid soon.
Or bricks.
On Monday, the Chorlton Brewing Company, a beer company based in Manchester in the UK, advocated hitting “fascists” — a term reserved for anyone who is not a flaming left-wing communist — over the head with bricks.
“Note to our customers: please don’t throw our beer over fascists. Hit them over the head with a brick as is traditional,” the company said on Twitter, apparently in response to news that someone threw a milkshake at Nigel Farage.
https://conservativefiringline.com/beer-company-advocates-hitting-people-over-the-head-with-bricks/
And of course, when faced with an entirely predictable backlash, the company's spokesthing complained about receiving "threats."
Oh, and someone did mention throwing acid approvingly (quoted in the article I linked): "I'd prefer acid but milkshakes will do for now..."
Farmer
It’s odd to me that you of all the commenters here don’t get the importance of certain social standards, of there being things one just doesn’t do. That seems the kind of thing you are using concerned with.
What about the beer company that suggested using bricks instead of beer?
Your speech is violence and must be banned--the mean things you say hurt the feelings of vulnerable people and you're a monster for not considering the emotions you make listeners feel. You must be deplatformed and driven from society; anything that can in any tangential way be tied to your speech, no matter how remotely, must be blamed on you.
My violence against you is speech and must be protected and encouraged--I'm standing up against a bully and my small act of violence against you is brave, noble, and praiseworthy. Since my cause is just I must face minimal legal repercussions and anything I do must be interpreted generously, as falling in a proud tradition of protest and dissent.
"It's different when WE do it."
@KenB:
It’s odd to me that you of all the commenters here don’t get the importance of certain social standards, of there being things one just doesn’t do.
Considering the long history of egging, I'm not sure the British believe that it is something "one just doesn't do." I happen to think the tactic is stupid, juvenile, crass, and counterproductive. And I would never engage in or recommend it to anyone else. And I'm all for arresting the thrower and charging him assault.
All that said, I still think the Burger King tweet was a brilliant piece of marketing.
Plastic straws are illegal in England after April 2021. Except at pharmacies (because someone may have a medical need for them).
Althouse said...
"Is the entire cup thrown at the person or just the contents?"
Lefties using violence to invent yet another reason to ban the straw as a safety precaution.
It's a historical certainty that if you wear a top hat to a pie fight, you will be pied. Also, women who raise a lorgnette in a censorious manner are similarly doomed. The rules are inflexible and ordained. The way of the pie fighter. The path is marked.
I thought it was a waste of a milkshake too. I am concerned about the harm. I used to pour the shake ‘stuff’ in the machine and have seen it in it’s unfrozen state. Scary stuff...
Back when I was attending grad school on the GI Bill pieing unpopular professors had a short-lived popularity on campus. Until a professor who as a WWII vet chased down and beat the snot out of the perpetrator.
The winking is what made it such a brilliant piece of marketing.
Well, that depends on if it actually increases sales. Personally I not so sure. Just because someone is talking about a thing doesn't mean they're buying it. And by appearing to choose a side (even if it's only a light hearted jest) they might risk actually losing business. They risk angering a whole bunch of people who might not like getting milkshakes thrown in their faces for no evident reason, and those people may choose to not patronize Burger King anymore. You might disagree with that intepretation, that people shouldn't view it that way, but that doesn't mean they won't.
"All that said, I still think the Burger King tweet was a brilliant piece of marketing."
Yes, alienating over half of your customer base, brilliant!
Seeing as how just over 51% of British voters voted for Brexit a bit more than half
Farmer
It was perhaps a brilliant bit of attention grabbing. Marketing though? Perhaps you think Marco Rubio's joke about the size of Trump's hands was brilliant marketing too. After all, everyone was talking about it. Rubio cratered immediately though.
In 1970, final week in high school, I coconut cream pied the class jerk. The vice principal walked up to me later that afternoon and silently shook my hand. More innocent times.
Ahh, brought back all those Saturday morning memories of why I loved the Stooges.
Trump's realism has created a newly informed populism that has driven the great brainwashed insane. He and Farage have reduced the resistance to Food fights proud of acting out like like two year olds.
Whatever happened to rotten tomatoes? It was before my time, but I understand it used to be a thing. I guess it takes a certain amount of eye hand coordination to do successfully..... Are the milkshakes a Ghostbuster thing--"sliming"--or is the reference to the porn money shot? In any event, the subtext is not slapstick but obscenity.
@Nonapod:
You might disagree with that intepretation, that people shouldn't view it that way, but that doesn't mean they won't.
That is true, of course, but I do reject the notion that the only judge of a piece of marketing is to increase sales. That is obviously the ultimate goal, but I'd say that a good campaign can still be a failure.
@Ken B:
It was perhaps a brilliant bit of attention grabbing. Marketing though? Perhaps you think Marco Rubio's joke about the size of Trump's hands was brilliant marketing too. After all, everyone was talking about it. Rubio cratered immediately though.
So when Burger King UK craters, you can gloat. Sounds like a win, win for both us.
It would be different if we didn't know that we can't throw milkshakes back. But we can't, so it's a cheap insult from the other side. I'll never truly understand why companies choose to insult 50% of their potential market as a form of advertising. What happened to Hillary, the Academy Awards, the NFL? Where are newspapers? Does Burger King think the people they insult will just move on and forget when the ad campaign is over and forgotten? Because, they will. Move on, that is.
I suggest pro-lifers throw milk shakes at the people who work at abortion clinics. It's in harmless good fun! A non-violent way to express your opinion!
Farmer
Oddly enough I think I showed you a brilliant bit of marketing. Again:
https://mobile.twitter.com/stillgray/status/1130901917477904384
Defend milkshaking now, after people see that photo.
"That is obviously the ultimate goal, but I'd say that a good campaign can still be a failure."
Don't double down on stupid.
"So when Burger King UK craters, you can gloat."
It's not just the UK, it's everywhere.
but I do reject the notion that the only judge of a piece of marketing is to increase sales.
Increasing sales is one thing, but the goal of marketing is certainly not to lose sales. Burger King is a business. They're primary goal is to make money. They might have other goals too, but anything that gets in the way of that primary goal or works against it is bad business. If they lose money by annoying a bunch of their customers with a cheeky Tweet, they can't go to their shareholders with "But look how many people are talking about us!".
I personally won't be frequenting Burger King anymore. So that's at least one lost customer.
@Ken B:
Oddly enough I think I showed you a brilliant bit of marketing. Again:
Oops, sorry, I meant to tell you before that link no longer works.
Defend milkshaking now, after people see that photo.
I never defended and still don't defend "milkshaking." I defended Burger King's attempt to capitalize on the story with a bit of cheeky humor. I don't consider jumping on the "that's not funny" bandwagon to be progress.
@CUrious George:
Don't double down on stupid.
Can a sports team play a good game and still not win? I'd say yes.
I'm surprised that the pie throwing at the end of The Great Race did not make the movie clips.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDJQ7zn3-2g
"J. Farmer said...
@CUrious George:
Don't double down on stupid.
Can a sports team play a good game and still not win? I'd say yes."
Tripling down with a false equivalency. But maybe you can tell us WHY you think they're tweet was so brilliant? You keeping saying it is, but not why.
“It's touching in a way, the serene confidence of the Left that they are better at violence. They don’t realize the other side hasn’t tried yet”
The problem, as I see it, is that for a century or so, the Republicans represented the upper middle class, who were the stalwarts of society. Fighting was for the lower classes, etc. and the Democrats represented labor and the working class, who did fight. The problem is that the lower middle and working classes have to some extent switched their allegiance to the Republicans in recent years. Republican leadership is still almost entirely upper middle class, so fighting is still frowned upon by them. As these new recruits become more comfortable in the Republican Party, I suspect that they will ultimately shrug this constraint off.
So far, the left has kept this in check essentially by characterizing anyone who fights back against their violence as either a white supremist or a Nazi, ignoring, of course, the rich irony that White supremists, Nazis, and fascists were inevitably from the totalitarian left. I love the irony that Antifa thugs would have been comfortable in the 1930s in brown shirt and black shirt rallies. But this sort of othering seems to be losing effectiveness, esp with the gross hypocrisy of the left’s Antifa thugs pretending to be fighting fascism, when they, themselves, are almost indistinguishable from the fascists and Nazis of the 1930s and the Klan of the first half of the 20th century.
The way that the pushback seems to be happening is that the sheep dog analogy seems to be becoming popular. Most of the populace are not fighters, and need protecting as sheep dogs do sheep, to protect them from the violent predators, the wolves, such as the Antifa fascist thugs. So, they come to political events ( or even in normal life) not to start fights, but to end them. Which is sometimes a bit humorous, seeing big motorcycle types standing back as protectors, ready to rumble if necessary, but only if necessary.
@Curious George:
But maybe you can tell us WHY you think they're tweet was so brilliant? You keeping saying it is, but not why.
It was a funny way to capitalize on a recent social trend and a competitor's decision.
The greatest response to a pie-in-the-face has to be Florida's own Anita Bryant. After being pied by a gay activist, she quipped, "At least it was a fruit pie."
I've never understood how England could have a constitutional crisis when they don't have a constitution.
How could Aristotle write of the Athenian constitution (and of many other polities' constitutions, which haven't survived), when it (and they) didn't exist, according to you.
Indeed, how could the word “constitution” (in this sense) even exist before 1787?
"It was a funny way to capitalize on a recent social trend and a competitor's decision."
McDonald's decision came after BK's. Not before. And all you have done is changed "brilliant" to "funny". So again, why"
I should add that political violence in this country is almost entirely restricted to deep blue parts of the country, where the police have been hamstrung by leftist politicians, who inevitably sided with the violent protesters over their more civilized victims. In much of this country, if a mob of black clad masked Antifa fascist thugs approaches swinging bats, they will be shot, probably as they cross the Tueller Drill distance, in justified self defense. Ditto for anyone throwing acid, etc. the Antifa fascist thugs mostly know this, and stay and riot in their comfort zones, knowing that the politicians have their backs.
@Curious George:
McDonald's decision came after BK's. Not before. And all you have done is changed "brilliant" to "funny". So again, why"
It was the British brilliant. No, actually, I find it pretty amusing that many people here talk about snowflakes and the outrage crowd and then immediately turn around and do the same exact thing.....over a Burger King tweet. Grow a pair, for christ's sake.
It hasn't happened yet, but I'm expecting a scene eventually reminiscent of the scene from JOHN WICK, in which the thuggish asshole who started the whole chain of events looks up at John Wick, seeing his doom, and his last words are, "It was just a fucking dog!"
"It was the British brilliant. No, actually, I find it pretty amusing that many people here talk about snowflakes and the outrage crowd and then immediately turn around and do the same exact thing.....over a Burger King tweet. Grow a pair, for christ's sake."
Who's outraged? You're making shit up. And there's a big difference between being outraged over works and saying it's perfectly okay to commit assault on someone and hey, we'll help!
By the way, those that are truly "British" are the one's getting the milkshakes poured on the them.
"I suggest pro-lifers throw milk shakes at the people who work at abortion clinics."
If given a choice, I'll bet that those workers would prefer milkshakes rather than the bullets & bombs that have historically been lobbed at 'em.
Who's outraged?
Ken B, for one. "That bit of bathos snickers at the violence. If someone throws a bag of shit into a Burger King maybe 7-11 could tweet that they are selling bags all summer."
You're making shit up.
No, I'm not.
And there's a big difference between being outraged over works and saying it's perfectly okay to commit assault on someone and hey, we'll help!
An exclamation point. Okay, so maybe not outraged but certainly excitable. And nobody was saying "it's perfectly okay to commit assault on someone." It was a joke, but I forgot, "that's not funny!"
By the way, those that are truly "British" are the one's getting the milkshakes poured on the them.
Considering that the tweet was addressed to "the people of Scotland," I'd say a good number of their followers would probably happily agree with you.
If you’re throwing stuff at me and I don’t want you to, we have a serious problem.
If you’re encouraging it, I don’t need to be patronizing your business anywhere.
The way that the pushback seems to be happening is that the sheep dog analogy seems to be becoming popular. Most of the populace are not fighters,
I think another response is that the nation is slowing dividing into two nations, red and blue, if you will. ANTIFA basically rules Portland, for example. Go outside Portland into rural Oregon where my son-in-law lives and ANTIFA would get their ass kicked if not shot. We left Orange County after 50 years for Arizona. I know others who are leaving blue states or cities and moving to safer places. My son who lives in Orange County is planning to leave once he can retire. My other son, who used to ridicule Orange County as conservative (which he is not) now wants to move back from San Francisco. The Democrats used vote harvesting to drive the Republicans from the Congress delegation but the GOP may wise up and recover although in CA every man's hand is against them.
Oregon, Washington, Illinois and New York are ruled by the leftist cities. The rest of the states are conservative. Even in California, the red counties seem to be rallying around Bakersfield as a sort of stronghold. Here is a sign of the Bakersfield resistance.
As a rule generally businesses should try their best to avoid politics if possible. But there are exceptions. Nike took a stance by hiring that kneeling quarterback guy and it seems to have helped their revenue, or at least not hurt it. They obviously knew their market pretty well.
Chick-fil-A recently became the number 3 restaurant in America (number 2 if you exclude Starbucks as a restaurant) despite demonstrating an unambiguous opposition to gay marriage (as well as apparently holding other traditionally conservative positions).
Conversely, from what I've gathered it hasn't worked out so well for Gillete since their ill advised "men r bad" commerical.
Ultimately it's about knowing your market. Time will tell if this hurts BK. Since it's only this one relatively mild incident I suspect it won't effect them one way or the other too much.
Bruce H said
I should add that political violence in this country is almost entirely restricted to deep blue parts of the country, where the police have been hamstrung by leftist politicians, who inevitably sided with the violent protesters over their more civilized victims. In much of this country, if a mob of black clad masked Antifa fascist thugs approaches swinging bats, they will be shot, probably as they cross the Tueller Drill distance, in justified self defense. Ditto for anyone throwing acid, etc. the Antifa fascist thugs mostly know this, and stay and riot in their comfort zones, knowing that the politicians have their backs.
this.
It’s like Glee’s been institutionalized.
@Nonapod:
Ultimately it's about knowing your market. Time will tell if this hurts BK. Since it's only this one relatively mild incident I suspect it won't effect them one way or the other too much.
I agree but absent a pretty immediate drop, it would be hard to blame this tweet. And given that the message was directed at the "people of Scotland," I'm guessing it's a Scottish franchisee, and over 60% of Scots voted Remain.
this is not going to end well.
Blogger Michael McNeil said...
So you are saying that the British have a Constitution? Where might I find a copy?
I know the Brits claim to have a Constitution. I've read Bagehot's history of it. Well worth reading. In the introduction he explains why he had to write a new edition only a few years after the first:
This difficulty has been constantly in my way in preparing a second edition of this book. It describes the English Constitution as it stood in the years 1865 and 1866. Roughly speaking, it describes its working as it was in the time of Lord Palmerston; and since that time there have been many changes, some of spirit and some of detail. In so short a period there have rarely been more changes. If I had given a sketch of the Palmerston time as a sketch of the present time, it would have been in many points untrue; and if I had tried to change the sketch of seven years since into a sketch of the present time, I should probably have blurred the picture and have given something equally unlike both.
Because the English "constitution" is not written down, because it depends on what judges say it is on any given day (even more than ours) there is no "rule book" for British subjects to know what is OK and what is not.
I don't think an unwritten constitution is a constitution in any meaningful sense of the word. OTOH, some, apparently you, seem to think it can be.
Absent a document, it is nothing more than customs, fashion and tradition.
I know the English say they have a constitution, my comment about not being able to have a concri without the con was somewhat facetious.
John Henry
1: I will never buy another product from Burger King, unless and until they :
A: Admit that the tweet was meant to promote violence, and apologize for that
B: Fire everyone responsible for the tweet, or for defending /excusign the tweet
Neither of those are going to happen, so I won't ever be shopping at Burger King again
2: The proper response to left wing violations of our rights is violence. Someone hits you with something? you should beat them into a bloody pulp. Someone tries to shout down the speaker you're there to listen to? Hit them, and hit them, until they shut up.
If the Left is not willing to accept democracy, and a functional tolerant society that allows people to disagree in safety, then they must lose all safety.
It's like the joke about the girl who keeps on pulling her brother's hair. They need to be made to understand that it hurts
the people who work at abortion clinics
The unplanned babies should rise up and throw off their diapers in memory of planned babies. They can shake their rattles in the abortionists' faces. This ritual could be held annually at the tomb of the unworthy baby.
In almost 2 and a half centuries, we have had 17 changes to our Constitution. (the first 10 took place before ratification)
With one exception, prohibition, all amendments have been to increase or better safeguard citizen's rights.
You can do that with a written Constitution. Hard to do, or even know what changes have been made, to an unwritten constitution.
John Henry
I defended Burger King's attempt to capitalize on the story with a bit of cheeky humor. I don't consider jumping on the "that's not funny" bandwagon to be progress.
It's normalizing assault against people for the political opinions. Acid is next. When your wife gets acid thrown in her face, I'll be here with a good quip as you complain "that's not funny".
You have no idea what you are enabling as you pose how cool you must surely be.
Assaulting someone with a "funny" object is still assault. Giggle away.
J. Farmer wrote: Not a chance in hell.
Farmer is right almost as often as he is mistaken, therefore "not a chance in hell" does not mean what it used to mean.
Like the OK sign.
John henry said...
Michael,
The Prime Minister is appointed by the Queen.
Can you really imagine any circumstance where she appoints Farage? No matter how many seats his party wins?
Um, last I checked, the Queen supports Brexit. So yes, I could easily see her appointing Farage as Her Prime Minister
Fen said...
I defended Burger King's attempt to capitalize on the story with a bit of cheeky humor. I don't consider jumping on the "that's not funny" bandwagon to be progress.
It's normalizing assault against people for the political opinions. Acid is next. When your wife gets acid thrown in her face, I'll be here with a good quip as you complain "that's not funny".
+1
What burger King attempted to do was celebrate violence against an disfavored class of people. If that's your idea of "good marketing", you're a monster.
When Brexit supporters start throwing rocks through BK windows, THAT will be funny
@Quaestor:
Farmer is right almost as often as he is mistaken, therefore "not a chance in hell" does not mean what it used to mean.
Yes, the new Brexity Party is doing well in polls for the European Parliamentary elections. UKIP did well in European Parliament elections, as well, and the only seat in the House of Commons they won was by Douglas Carswell, who had shifted from the Conservative Party. He now sits as an independent, leaving UKIP with zero representation in the British parliament. So even if Farage's new Brexit Party does well in the European elections, that does not translate into success at national elections.
@Greg P:
What burger King attempted to do was celebrate violence against an disfavored class of people. If that's your idea of "good marketing", you're a monster.
Oh brother. Talk about overwrought.
Farmer
Thanks for the heads Up. Still works for me. But here is another http://kenblogic.blogspot.com/2019/05/milkshakes-no-big-deal-right.html
A one pint milk shake weighs just under a pound.
J. Farmer said...
@Greg P:
What burger King attempted to do was celebrate violence against an disfavored class of people. If that's your idea of "good marketing", you're a monster.
Oh brother. Talk about overwrought.
Right! How dare those conservatives think that they're actually people, and deserve to be treated like people!
I'm sure it would be "great marketing" for Chick-Fil-A to celebrate Planned Parenthood employees getting milkshakes, or having chicken dipping sauce thrown at them, right?
How stupid do you have to be, to not understand that what you do to others, will be done to you?
@Ken B:
Still works for me. But here is another
And? Considering that I've described the tactic as "stupid, juvenile, crass, and counterproductive" and have said that I am "all for arresting the thrower," what more exactly do you want me to say?
So just to recap: (1) I'm against throwing things at people and (2) I'm fine with making jokes about throwing things at people in order to sell milkshakes.
@Greg P:
Right! How dare those conservatives think that they're actually people, and deserve to be treated like people!
This is not a just conservatives problem. Egging has a very long tradition in British politics. George Galloway, Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn have all been victims just off the top of my head.
I'm sure it would be "great marketing" for Chick-Fil-A to celebrate Planned Parenthood employees getting milkshakes, or having chicken dipping sauce thrown at them, right?
I certainly wouldn't get bent out of shape about it. How about you?
Pie fight? The Great Race, with Tony Curtis, Jack Lemon, and a cast of hundreds.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCneye8GuSo
In the Laurel and Hardy film I noted the Taft Building in the last scene where the woman sits on a pie on the sidewalk. The building still exists on Vine St. in Hollywood. At that time all the movie studios had an office there. It was the first high rise in LA.
I'm always amazed by large corporations that delve into politics.
In this country basically what they're saying is, yeah, alienating half the potential customer base seems like a really great strategy.
If your goal is to sell hamburgers, and hamburgers are a commodity, the strategy is all about market share and how to capture it.
Maybe in the UK, it's different and large corporations don't want to maximize profit. I wonder what BKUK board of directors think about that.
How far up the chain do you suppose these Burger King tweets went?
Curious George said...
"All that said, I still think the Burger King tweet was a brilliant piece of marketing."
Yes, alienating over half of your customer base, brilliant!
There are no consequences for alienating that half.
It used to be that we were united against intolerance and fascism. But just like the Nazi's were a left wing phenomena we are repeating history.
This is just a reoccurring theme with violent little state educated idiots attacking people the wealthy elite do not like. Remember the Nazi's were a corporately driven machine. Just like the left is today.
Chocolate shakes for one faction. Green shakes for another. Food fight!
I wonder which is more likely to a leave an impression.
Who gets the Carrie treatment?
#HateLovesAbortion
So you are saying that the British have a Constitution? Where might I find a copy?
Ha ha. Indeed, any educated person prior to 1787 would have laughed at the notion of getting a short printout — anything other than a lengthy general description (such as Aristotle's book on the Athenian constitution) — which not only accurately lays out but legally binds the State (any State up to that time) in question.
One of the greatest things, in my humble opinion, about Winston Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples is the perspective that history inculcates due to Churchill's broad outlook and experience as a parliamentarian — a kind of republican.
In it Winston Churchill observes the following about the ancient English system: [quoting…]
The law concerning murder, theft, the ownership of land, and the liberty of the individual was all transported, together with much else, to the New World, and, though often modified to suit the conditions and temper of the times, descends in unbroken line from that which governed the lives and fortunes of twelfth-century Englishmen.
Most of it was then unwritten, and in England much still remains so. The English statutes, for example, still contain no definition of the crime of murder, for this, like much other law, rested on the unwritten custom of the land as declared by the inhabitants and interpreted, developed, and applied by the judges. Lawyers could only ascertain it by studying reports and records of ancient decisions. […]
Digests and codes imposed in the Roman manner by an omnipotent state on a subject people were alien to the spirit and tradition of England. The law was already there, in the customs of the land, and it was only a matter of discovering it by diligent study and comparison of recorded decisions in earlier cases and applying it to the particular dispute before the court. […]
Here was a precedent. If a judge could be shown that a custom or something like it had been recognised and acted upon in an earlier and similiar case he would be more ready, if it accorded with his sense of what was just and with the current feelings of the community, to follow it in the dispute before him.
This slow but continuous growth of what is popularly known as “case law” ultimately achieved much the same freedoms and rights for the individual as are enshrined in other countries by written instruments such as the Declarations of the Rights of Man and the spacious and splendid provisions of the American Declaration of Independence and constitutional guarantees of civil rights.
But English justice advanced very cautiously. Even the framers of Magna Carta did not attempt to lay down new law or proclaim any broad general principles. This was because both sovereign and subject were in practice bound by the Common Law, and the liberties of Englishmen rested not on any enactment of the State, but on immemorial slow-growing custom declared by juries of free men who gave their verdicts case by case in open court.
[/unQuote]
____
(Winston S. Churchill, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume I: The Birth of Britain, 1956, Dodd, Mead & Co., New York, 1962)
They bring a milkshake. We bring a gun. - Barack Obama
With one exception, prohibition, all amendments have been to increase or better safeguard citizen's rights.
How did the 16th Amendment increase or safeguard my rights?
In American slang, "milkshake," used as a noun, refers to a woman's body "and the way she carries it."
Never heard this either. With us it was "It must be jelly 'cause jam don't shake like that."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie7gih_Xc_c
We bring a gun. - Barack Obama
Historically, technically, a blade, a scalpel has aborted more human lives. When a child goes to someone's house, they should ask and report if there are unsheathed scalpels... blades in the house. (H/T gun control enthusiasts)
Unexpected Alfred E. Newman sighting in the lower video.
BION but the standard treatment of American history and civics in textbooks circa 1900 traced our practices and principles back to 1) Jerusalem 2) Athens-Rome, and 3) the Germanic warbands who elected their own kings.
Whoda thunk?
Narr
Not so keen on Jerusalem myself
In American slang, "milkshake," used as a noun, refers to a woman's body "and the way she carries it."
In urbane slang, perhaps. They are on the progressive edge of reducing a human life to a colorful clump of cells, a hole to a whore (h/t NAACP), a cheerful expression to a social liability, and, apparently, a woman to a dairy treat, a political projectile, or a dispenser. Keep it weird, I suppose.
So even if Farage's new Brexit Party does well in the European elections, that does not translate into success at national elections.
Strange things happen. Especially in Britain which has had some previous flips
A new party would be novel but there are BREXITeers in both Conservative and Labour.
I don't really care what Starbucks thinks I ought to talk about or whether their Christmas cups are Christmasy enough. I don't care if CFA opposes gay marriage or if Ben & Jerry's supports it. I still enjoy all of them. I thought Nike's campaign was stupid, but I still buy Nikes.
Burger King, however, offered a "cheeky" tweet encouraging violence against people whose political positions you disagree with. That's a bridge too far, in my opinion. Perhaps that was brilliant marketing in Scotland, but I'll be damned if I ever patronize BK again.
@Michael K:
Strange things happen. Especially in Britain which has had some previous flips
A new party would be novel but there are BREXITeers in both Conservative and Labour.
The Brexit Party receiving a majority of the seats in Parliament would be orders of magnitude stranger than anything on that list. What Farage is trying to do, in basically replaying what he did just a few short years ago, is to put pressure the two main parties who will be worried about defections to Euroskeptic parties. Don't get me wrong, I am a fan of Nigel Farage's and a supporter of Brexit in general, but the Brexit Party is too single-issue to be a viable force in national politics outside the manner I suggested.
Michael K said..."Oregon, Washington, Illinois and New York are ruled by the leftist cities. The rest of the states are conservative. Even in California, the red counties seem to be rallying around Bakersfield as a sort of stronghold."
If only the states had their own electoral colleges for statewide offices!
Swift is wrong- dont shake this off!
the Left's existence is facilitated by conservatives' restraint
Hijack the Milkshake--
next Brexit rally, all Brexiteers bring a milkshake,
and there'll be a whole lot of 'Shakin' goin' on.
and as a bonus, BK will be sorry they encouraged it
next Brexit rally, all Brexiteers bring a [not Burger King U.K.] milkshake
With fruit, whipped cream, and a cherry on top. A tasty reprise.
the Brexit Party is too single-issue to be a viable force in national politics outside the manner I suggested.
Oh, I agree but Conservative is now at 7% in the EU election. The rumor is that May will resign in the election news blackout period.
So "Milkshake" isn't some weird Gay sex term that the MSM knows? How amazing. Imagine being some little shit head, who wants to stand with the Billionaires, and you go out and throw milkshakes on someone who stands for UK Democracy.
Wow, what a freaks the Left has become. Stalinist. And 3 out of 4 they're always Gays. What's up with that?
The Brits are so conformist. I'll be surprised if they exit the EU. I hope so, but I'm doubtful.
There Will Be Blood
I Drink Your Milkshake!!
I forget who I am responding to but I could see the queen appointing a pm who supports independence if they had a majority. Even, perhaps, someone from UKIP.
But never Farage. He is too interesting. Too much of a pushy strive. Just not our sort.
No Agenda used to play a lot of clips of Farage speaking in the European Parliament. Great fun to listen to. Always seemed like the kind of person England needs as PM.
Unfortunately, in England the people do not get to vote for pm.
John Henry
J. Farmer said...
So just to recap: (1) I'm against throwing things at people and (2) I'm fine with making jokes about throwing things at people in order to sell milkshakes.
Does not compute. BK was celebrating doing #1, which you say you're against.
Claiming to be happy that people are celebrating doing things that you think are wrong, is pretty much the height of stupidly incoherent.
Glitterbombs and milkshaking should be treated as assaults. Anyone who does this risks a violent response because the victim and those around them don't know what happened.
@Greg P:
Claiming to be happy that people are celebrating doing things that you think are wrong, is pretty much the height of stupidly incoherent.
You're right. I simply shouldn't tolerate anyone having a different opinion than me!
But really, "celebrating" is such a ridiculous embellishment. There was no celebrating. They were trying to promote themselves with a cheeky joke. Anyone offended by that--or any other tweet--I'd pretty much say the same thing: get over it.
There was also a pie fight on the Mike Douglas Show between Moe, Mike Douglas and Ted Knight.
https://youtu.be/PZhaBi5eEPM
J. Farmer said...
@Greg P:
Claiming to be happy that people are celebrating doing things that you think are wrong, is pretty much the height of stupidly incoherent.
You're right. I simply shouldn't tolerate anyone having a different opinion than me!
But really, "celebrating" is such a ridiculous embellishment. There was no celebrating. They were trying to promote themselves with a cheeky joke. Anyone offended by that--or any other tweet--I'd pretty much say the same thing: get over it.
Nice attempt to rewrite reality, but it doesn't work. Their tweet essentially said "if you want to assault Breixters, we're happy to help you."
Gosh, can't see why anyone would get upset at that!
@Greg P:
It's. A. Joke.
These threads are a lot more fun when people are making fun of "that's not funny!" instead of jumping on the bandwagon. Their previous tweet was "Think your personality is big enough to take on the #Whopper?" I think getting butt hurt over a Burger King tweet is about the stupidest fucking thing I can imagine. Other than throwing the milkshake in the first place.
Who knew that there were this many Burger King customers on the Althouse blog. Maybe Burger King should start advertising here.
J. Farmer said...
@Greg P:
It's. A. Joke.
No. It. Isn't.
It's a celebration of violence against a socially despised sub-group.
It's the equivalent of chanting "!, 2, 3, 4, poke that pussy 'til it's sore!" while a woman is getting raped.
Actual jokes about violence don't get told while the violence is happening
Your rights end at the tip of my nose. Once you've violated that it's no longer funny. You dump a milkshake over my head expect to get punched in the face.
I'm with Rusty. Somebody milkshakes me and they can look forward to a 16oz can of pork and beans on their cranium, full force, at my earliest opportunity. No matter the wait.
Narr
I forgive, after justice is served
Kind of surprising how so many commentators have stated they would respond with lethal-force if they were humiliated by having some food thrown at them. (And that's all it is - even the most delicate of snowflakes ain't gonna be hurt by having a milkshake poured on 'em. They person is humiliated, not hurt.)
My first thought is that these "Bad Asses" are just shit-talking while safely sitting behind a monitor at home....but then again, perhaps I should take 'em at their word and recognize that there are thugs in our world who actually would try to kill another person over any minuscule action which they found to be personally insulting.
I've never had to respond to such an assault with force, but I have been assaulted and battered by people who, sooner or later except when they died first, got back what they dealt and then some. In other cases, involving small property damages and considerable wasted time on my part, I have been lucky enough to deal back what I was dealt, and a tip.
And how, receiving a liquid missile of unknown content, would pp respond?
Narr
If you haven't learned that yes, there are people in the world who will hurt you badly if they merely feel dissed--not assaulted, which is what I'm talking about--you haven't been paying attention. Ever heard of religion?
purplepenquin said...
"Kind of surprising how so many commentators have stated they would respond with lethal-force if they were humiliated by having some food thrown at them. (And that's all it is - even the most delicate of snowflakes ain't gonna be hurt by having a milkshake poured on 'em. They person is humiliated, not hurt.)"
But the person you assault doesn't know that. The person you assault doesn't know what's in the cup. They don't know if it's freezing cold or boiling hot. They don't know if the contents are caustic. The antifa assaulter claimed he only hit the guy with a sock. But there was a steel bike lock in the sock.
Why are you progs so violent?
purplepenquin said...
Kind of surprising how so many commentators have stated they would respond with lethal-force if they were humiliated by having some food thrown at them. (And that's all it is - even the most delicate of snowflakes ain't gonna be hurt by having a milkshake poured on 'em. They person is humiliated, not hurt.)
You assault me, I assault you.
You violate my rights, I violate yours.
And no, morally speaking, there is no upper bound on how I may chose to respond. You don't want me to put you in a hospital, or a morgue? Great!
Don't attack me.
You attempt to "humiliate" me? Which is to say: you attempt to claim dominance over me? I am going to destroy you.
And rightly so.
Once you chose to violate my rights, you have no rights that I respect.
I'm a prog? I'm assaulting people? I've a milkshake thrower?
*rolls eyes*
That is simply silly.
Anywhos - Since it was asked, I have had food thrown at me (as well as other forms of "assault") but still didn't feel the need to immediately respond by trying to kill the other person. I do agree that there are times a lethal-response is warranted, but immediately going to that level (without knowing what is actually going on) is an absurd way to live your life.
Well, I don't literally carry 16oz cans of pork and beans around either, my point is I would feel entirely justified in certain circumstances in responding to an unexpected assault by a stranger with enough force to make a lasting impression.
Others have pointed out the shallowness of your logic (I'll leave aside your presumption as to what other people have experienced), but here's another honest question for you: what if a beneficiary of your jolly food fight has say, a heart condition, and the cold causes them a heart attack? Just assuming.
Throwing things at unsuspecting strangers is just not a good idea, and you're smart enough to know it.
Narr
It's not even a defensible idea
NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" today was discussing these milkshake attacks against "far right" politicians, and they were really yukking it up. NPR thinks the use of violence against political opponents is hilarious!
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