In what strikes some commentators as a curious move, McDonald's is apparently asserting a new gay-friendliness...in France. A new French TV spot shows a male teen chatting via cellphone with his male lover before digging into a McDonald's meal with his dad, who seems oblivious to his fast-food-loving son's sexual orientation. The ad concludes, "McDonald's. Come as you are." While it's "commendable of McDonald's to display their inclusiveness," says Nicholas Graham at the Huffington Post, "it's unclear why they felt the need to air such an ad at all. Were French gay people previously feeling unwelcome in McDonald's?" Maybe McDonald's is gauging reactions before airing it in "somewhat riskier" markets like ours, suggests Meenal Vamburkar at Mediaite, a theory that is "somewhat underscored by the ad's limited release in France." Watch the spot with English subtitles:
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