February 2015Scarves and Swiss Rolls: February 2015

Sunday, February 1, 2015

5 Reasons Why Seth MacFarlane's McDonald's Tweet Wasn't Funny.

I'm sure a lot of you saw the McDonald's Commercial during the SuperBowl. It is a new marketing strategy by the company that gives away food in exchange for selfies and hugs (look for the ad on YouTube). After the commercial aired, Seth MacFarlane tweeted about it.


This attempt at a joke missed the mark by a long shot. I typically don't take offense to many things due to my pacifistic nature, but this tweet really disappointed me. Lately I have noticed ignorance about diabetes everywhere. So I put together a list of 5 reasons why that tweet wasn't funny.

5 Reasons Why Seth MacFarlane's Tweet Wasn't Funny.

1. It is a misrepresentation of information.
Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder of the pancreas which means that the body can't process insulin well (Type 2) or produce it at all (Type 1). There are not many known causes of diabetes. What is certain, though, is that it isn't caused by eating too much sugar. The tweet that MacFarlane put out there perpetrates the idea that eating sweets does cause it, and while a person who knows better would just say "that's not how it works" and move on, many people in this day and age take things at face value without checking their facts. While believing something what they hear says nothing about their intelligence in my opinion, the more myths like this spread around, the more likely it will be that someone will get hurt by it.

2. Indirectly blames patients for their condition.
When comments like this are made, it indirectly will blame a diabetic for their condition. Diabetes isn't something you can control or prevent. I was diagnosed in 2005 out of nowhere, but I have had people ask me what I ate to get it. Once, some people who sat behind me in class whispered that my mother must have poured sugar down my throat when I was a baby. Can you imagine a child being told by society and by individuals that their disease is their fault? Making jokes like this won't help dissuade the stigma.

3. In some ways, it can be seen as a slur.
You wouldn't make a joke about someone who has cancer would you? Would you laugh at a racist joke if you knew that it would hurt someone's feelings? I hope you wouldn't. Jokes made at someone's expense are mean and a horrible way to be funny. While realistically you wouldn't say anything like "That's so diabetic", making a joke about diabetes can be viewed the same as saying "That's so gay" or something of the like. It is rude and makes diabetics the butt of the jokes.

4. It makes light of a serious medical condition.
Having diabetes isn't funny. It is expensive and deadly. It kills more people each year than breast cancer and HIV/AIDS combined (source). Why would someone think it would be funny to make a joke about that? Children die because they aren't diagnosed in time. Diabetes should be taken seriously because it is serious.

5. It is insensitive.
Last year, an acquaintance of mine made a joke at a club meeting. She told the club members that there wasn't a lot of food because "we wouldn't want to give you diabetes." Even though I was there the joke was still made. I was hurt and deeply offended because these people knew I was diabetic and they knew that those jokes made me uncomfortable. MacFarlane's tweet did the same thing. It made me, and I'm sure many others, uncomfortable. When jokes like that are made, it creates a disconnect between the disease and the people who have it. People with diabetes are real people and they aren't just their condition, and that is an important thing to realize.


While it can't be expected that all people will take the time to go out and research diabetes and become experts on it, it would be nice if people would stop making jokes about something that spreads misinformation and myth.

I'm looking at you, Seth MacFarlane.