Fast Food Industry Bristles At Suggestion That K-Fed Is Qualified To Work Drive-Thru Window
When he isn't feverishly scribbling lyrics onto cocktail napkins for his planned sophomore release, "No Longer America's Most Hated Since My Ex-Wife Set Off On Her Cooter-Flashing Bender, Yo," aspiring RnB-chart-cracker Kevin Federline has been keeping himself busy, most notably by starring in his very own Nationwide commercial set to air during the Super Bowl. (Enjoy this behind-the-scenes footage of K-Fed laying the dopest insurance-related rhymes since M.C. Hammer's "Prudential in the Mix" was in regular rotation.) Federline just can't seem to catch a break, however, as his biggest gig since, well, ever, is now under fire from a restaurant association that takes issue with the commercial's implication that a fate of flipping burgers was somehow less desirable than, say, spending your days getting baked in your birthday Lamborghini:
"An ad such as this would be a strong and a direct insult to the 12.8 million Americans who work in the restaurant industry," wrote [National Restaurant Association's Steven] Anderson, head of the association that represents 935,000 U.S. restaurants. "Developing creative concepts that accomplish the marketing strategies for a product should not require denigrating another industry."
But Nationwide spokesman Eric Hardgrove defended the ad, called "Life Comes At You Fast," saying it was designed to be entertaining with Federline poking fun at himself while reinforcing the company's role of meeting the financial needs of consumers. [...]
"The intent of the ad isn't to offend or insult the many fine individuals who work in the restaurant industry. The focus of the ad is the element of surprise, not the setting of a fast food restaurant."
While the National Restaurant Association surely only has the best interest of America's Fry-Portion Upsellers at heart, we're disappointed that the manufactured controversy could now mar what would otherwise have been the proudest addition to Federline's ever-growing reel. Besides, if the intention of the commercial were to truly position Federline in a humiliating work environment, Nationwide had plenty of more appropriate occupations to choose from over drive-thru attendant—though the average American might not have been able to immediately identify a deskbound, headset-wearing K-Fed as an agency assistant.