Thursday, May 19, 2011

Does Ronald McDonald Have Buddha Nature?

.
Bodhisattva Ronald

McDonald's was the major corporate sponsor of last weekend's Annie Malone parade. They put up this huge inflatable Ronald in Kiener Plaza to make the point inescapable. I was wandering around it, taking random shots, when it hit me: he's sitting in the lotus position. And he's got his left hand on his thigh and is raising his right hand in benediction, not exactly in one of the Buddha's traditional hand gestures (mudras) but pretty close. Why?

Unbeknownst to most of the world, Ronald may be a bodhisattva, an enlightened being who remains on earth to help others reach the same goal. But then Ronald pushes Big Macs and super-size fries, which promote clogged arteries and diabetes. That doesn't help Buddha's intent of eliminating suffering. Umm. Better revise my theory.


6 comments:

cieldequimper said...

He looks old. Maybe the Sepia?

Re. the shops in Versailles: partly due to the economic crisis, partly due to the fact that apart from locals, there aren't many people who go to St Louis neighbourhood where I imagine rent is huge...

Nathalie H.D. said...

Brilliantly figured out, Bob.

I would be as sarcastic as to say the position was carefully chosen by the marketing dept. These people know what they're doing and nothing is left to chance. The pose reinforces the company's image as a benevolent one. How clever.

Stefan Jansson said...

I'm sitting in the lotus position as I'm typing this. And I haven't been to a McDonald's since 1987.

cieldequimper said...

I've just realised today is Thursday...

Virginia said...

HA, you're on it B. With my bad knee, I can now only do half of the lotus position!
V

U "R" Us AKA Captain Crowe said...

I love this! Great photo and observation. I feel like this could be good fodder for one of your wacky photoshoppings...

I saw one of those "how it's made" shows about these giant inflatables. The process is surprisingly complicated and painstaking.