BS: BK and Cock Fights

26 Oct 04 - 08:52 PM (#1308183)
Subject: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: SINSULL

Tonight I watched in disbelief as a stereotypical Hispanic man encouraged us all to attend a cockfight. Two flavors of Burger King Chicken clawing each other for first place. Is this a sample of bad taste above and beyond the greasy chicken?

I lived in a NYC neighborhood where dead cocks were regularly found in our gardens on Sunday AM post Saturday PM cock fights. It is illegal isn't it?

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26 Oct 04 - 09:24 PM (#1308197)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Rapparee

It's illegal in 48 states.

I haven't seen the commercial, but it sounds like the typically stupid thing commercials often are.

While I disagree with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) on many things, I agree with them on this. Cockfighting, dog fighting -- anything that pits animal against animal for the "pleasure" of humans is cruel.

This commercial is supposed to culminate on November 5 with a match between the two men dressed as chickens.

If they're Hispanic-looking, racism seems to raise its head.

I'm glad to say that I rarely eat at Burger King.

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27 Oct 04 - 02:52 AM (#1308381)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: GUEST,jennifer

Don't you have an Advertising Standards Authority over there?

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27 Oct 04 - 02:53 AM (#1308384)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: katlaughing

Same reaction here, Sins. Never eat there, thank goodnes, but I still think folks should let them know what we think of the ad...it's terrible.

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27 Oct 04 - 04:49 AM (#1308433)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: JohnInKansas

Cockfighting is apparently still legal in Oklahoma, and I'm aware of one site where the "operator" has something like 80 cock pens (for raising them) and apparently stages events approximately weekly. I don't know whether there's a "season" for it, or whether it's all year.

This site is at least 70 miles from the nearest town with a population of more than 5 or 6 thousand people, and in fact is about 6 miles from the nearest town of any kind, so I don't know who his "customers" are. None of the locals will admit to attending, and there's no visible "out of town traffic," but rumor is that people do travel from rather large distances. Rumor holds that quite a few people raise "fighting cocks" in areas where the fights are not legal, and bring them there to fight. Bets are apparently in large amounts but small in number. "Publicity" for the fights is apparently entirely "word of mouth" between fans.

Even in this area where it's "legal," the people who participate are a rather "closed" group, and it appears that you have to be "one of the crowd" to be informed of when and where fights will be staged. I'm surprised that anyone would be "invited" by a stranger.

In Wichita, Kansas, where it is very much illegal, there have been repeated evidences of staged dog fights, but police have been attempting to figure out when, where, and by whom it's being done for several years now with no success. It is suspected that it was originally an activity of a particular "ethnic group," but now appears to have spread to "other cultures." There's no real evidence for it, but some have the opinion that the current activity has a "street gang" connection.

In Wichita, police and animal control officers have found a number (not large, but significant) of dogs that appear to have been bred and trained for fighting, but without actually catching them at a fight it is very difficult to prove intent. In some seemingly obvious cases they've been unable even to impound the animals. In the few cases where they've been able to take the dogs, it was based on the rather cruel conditions under which they were being kept. These are NOT house pets, and are often inhumanely treated in "training."

I suspect that the "dog" situation in Wichita is not unique; but it doesn't make the news, except locally, unless there's a successful arrest.

A few years ago a pet shop owner commented to me that a customer who had just walked out seemed to "replace his fish a lot." He walked out with a half dozen Betta Splendens and her implication was that she believed there'd be a "betting party."

My personal feeling is that it's something of a moral problem that local highschools all keep a few "pet halfbacks" that they train and send out to "perform" in activities with high likelihood of injury - "for sport;" but the culture at large doesn't seem to find it a problem.

John

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27 Oct 04 - 10:47 AM (#1308660)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: GUEST,Mingulay

I work in the same building as BK's UK head office and noticed a brown feather on the floor the other day. Could this have sinister overtones or was it just the poulterer next door.

Makes you think!

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27 Oct 04 - 11:49 AM (#1308722)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: GUEST,Laoise Feerick

have not seen said commercial, but I'm shocked that BK managed to go through all the typical planning and development of such an ad campaign without somebody having a stroke and saying "are we sure we want to do this?"

Of course, this is in a time when Abercrombie & Fitch have decided it's funny to sell T-shirts accusing west virginians of incest.

Howard Stern attacked Michael Powell, our FCC chairmen..the dude who's job it is to be outraged by ads that make light of cock-fighting.. and suggested his famous daddy goit him his job. Powell's response was the equivilent of yelling "did NOT!" across a playground.

Not that I think Howard stern is a hero ( he ain't) but he might have a point.

Are these ads national or regional? (I'm in LA)

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27 Oct 04 - 09:45 PM (#1309195)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: SINSULL

I assume national. The setting is a Spanish or Mexican town. A man shouts his support of El Rojo or something similar in Spanish. The final bout takes place in early November - without me. I rarely eat fast food burgers but preferred BK to the fried varieties. They do not accept emails and i'll be damned if I am going to waste a long distance call on them.

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09 Nov 04 - 04:03 PM (#1321839)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: GUEST,vicki

let the chickens fight!!!!!

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09 Nov 04 - 07:32 PM (#1322024)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Peace

At first I was afraid to visit this thread. My filthy mind conjured up pictures of--well, it's like this. Did you ever see old pirate movies when they had the 'boarding' of another vessel and the ensuing sword fight? Now, imagine . . . .

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09 Nov 04 - 08:41 PM (#1322103)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Once Famous

It's much more fun to see 2 women fight.

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09 Nov 04 - 10:03 PM (#1322170)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Ebbie

I've never understood the idea that it is legal to raise something but not legal to use it.

In Oregon, up in the hills and other rural areas, there are a number of back yards filled with small coops, each one holding a single rooster of the fighting cock species. You can't mistake them, they're very different from the meaty rooster bound for your table.

It seems disinguous beyond belief to pretend that they're being raised because of their prettiness.

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10 Nov 04 - 10:52 AM (#1322384)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Grab

Erm, have people actually *seen* this advert?! The chickens (well, guys in chicken suits) are got up as boxers, doing the whole Rocky thing. The advert doesn't show the chickens fighting each other, just shows them beating up human sparring parters.

And the advert is saying something like "Two flavours of chicken. Which one will win? Come to BK and decide."

So that's encouraging cock-fighting, is it? Yeah right.

Graham.

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10 Nov 04 - 11:29 AM (#1322416)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: wysiwyg

Was it Firesign Theater-- "I was a cockteaser at Roosterama". Amazing how people have NO idea how to respond when one says THAT!

~S~

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10 Nov 04 - 12:12 PM (#1322461)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: PoppaGator

Cockfighting is legal in Louisiana. In the recent election, the leading Democrat, Chris John (endorsed by the outgoing incumbent, John Breaux) was lambasted in repeated negative TV ads for having gone on record as a supporter of cockfighting. (He argued back that he supported "state's rights," the right of localities to decide for themselves what to legalize.)

John lost to ultraconservative Republican David Vitter.

I have to wonder how much the cockfighting controversy might have contributed to the outcome of this election. It would ceratinly be ironic, or at leat unusual, if the sympathetic-to-animals contingent contributed to the victory of a right-winger.

I've never been to a cockfight, but I've encountered members of the chicken-fighting subculture at the "chicken drops" that were popular in local barrooms a decade or so ago. At a chicken drop, the floor of an enclosure about 8-10 feet square is ruled off into 100 numbered squares (10 x 10). Spectators buy numbers (squares) for a buck apiece; when all 100 are sold, a chicken (or rooster?) is released into the pen, and the square upon which he/she, er, defecates determines the winner of the $100. Since the "house" (the bar) does not take a cut, this is not illegal gambling.

Numerous shady-looking characters wearing T-shirts and/or "gimme" caps extolling the pleasures of cockfighting always seemed to be in attendance at these events. I assume that they were there to recruit some of the most enthusiastic gamblers to move up to a more exciting poultry "sport."

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11 Nov 04 - 02:06 AM (#1323172)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Nerd

Thanks Grab. I just saw the ads today, and couldn't believe the fuss that was being made here. This is a pro wrestling "steel cage" match between two guys in chicken suits, for God's sake, it's not a cockfight!

Would it be child abuse if they were two adult men in diapers? Wife-beating if one of the men was in drag?

Now, I'm not going to argue that this is culturally edifying, or in good taste. But it's certainly not illegal for two men to fight in chicken suits, Sinsull.

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11 Nov 04 - 01:28 PM (#1323463)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: open mike

"You can't mistake them, they're very different
from the meaty rooster bound for your table."
i do not think that many of the foul prepared for consumption
are of the male persuasion....might be capons...."altered" males,
but roosters are more likely to end up in the stew pot than on the
table, me thinks...but then i am a vegetarian so may be mis-informed.

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11 Nov 04 - 01:53 PM (#1323494)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: SINSULL

Not encouraging cock fighting but making a sick joke of it. Maybe I am too sensitive since finding a dead cock torn to ribbons and rotting in a plastic bag in my front yard.

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11 Nov 04 - 03:00 PM (#1323584)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Once Famous

Yech!

You do mean like a chicken don't you, and not someone's dick?

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11 Nov 04 - 03:51 PM (#1323690)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Georgiansilver

My cock has never had a fight in its life.

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11 Nov 04 - 04:51 PM (#1323778)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Little Hawk

I think the idea of men dressed in chicken suits wrestling one another is a splendid one. I think they should have done this with Bush and Kerry at the debates. Now just imagine William Shatner dressed in a huge gaudy chicken suit, advancing confidently into the ring with a big grin on his face. Yowsa! You can't beat that for entertainment. Just sit back and watch the feathers fly! Howard Dean would be great for this too. He could let out that stupendous screech when charging his terror-stricken opponents. Shatner versus Dean would be awesome. Let's set up a League and do it!

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11 Nov 04 - 06:05 PM (#1323891)
Subject: RE: BS: BK and Cock Fights
From: Folkiedave

This is supposed to sell food?

Dave Eyre
www.collectorsfolk.co.uk

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