Mmmmm... Lion Burgers

Here kitty kitty kitty…

As a tribute to the World Cup and its 2010 location in South Africa, a restaurant in the Phoenix area is temporarily serving lion burgers. Some of the details of this can be found here. Nothing about this story disturbs me except the part about animal rights activists being bothered by it. This isn’t the only restaurant in the world currently serving exotic animal meat in hamburger form. In fact, another restaurant in the Phoenix area, Stax Burger Bistro in Scottsdale, has a regular “Exotic Burger of the Day” which rotates from a long list of animals such as ostrich, kangaroo, boar, rabbit, and antelope.

After doing a few quick searches, I have found that Stax has never been threatened by animal rights groups for their use of exotic animals as menu items, so why are people outraged about the lion burgers a few miles away? I have no idea. If someone could please enlighten me and help me understand why protecting a lion is different from protecting an antelope or a kangaroo I would be greatly appreciative. Also, if a person truly loves animals and wants to protest to protect them, why do it only for a lion? Why aren’t these protesters complaining about average restaurants serving beef burgers and chicken sandwiches? Why aren’t they camped outside of fast food restaurants? Why single out one animal as being more deserving of protection from being served between buns? It is true that in our culture, beef and chicken are very popular and accepted as being food products, but does that change how the animals feel? It seems to me that consistency is the issue here. Animal rights activists have good intentions and I support their beliefs as I, too, passionately love animals. But why worry about one animal more than another?

Golden Arches’ Happy Meal Lawsuit

According to this news story, McDonald’s is being sued over their use of toys to lure children into eating Happy Meals. The Center for Science in the Public Interest is claiming that using toys as bait in order to gain young customers and establish a fast food habit at a young age is wrong. Well, yeah, they are absolutely right! This is just like a tobacco company using a cartoon in its advertisements! And we all know that happened to that smoking dromedary. There is absolutely no difference between a tobacco company using a cartoon to seduce children into the world of lung cancer and a fast food restaurant promising toys to invite children into the world of heart disease! On that note, should breakfast cereal companies be held accountable for the diabetes risks that befall children who succumb to the allure of the toys offered in high- sugar cereals? Taking a step further, should candy be packaged in bright colors with happy characters depicted, cheerfully enjoying the inside product?

Really, should the companies offering anything that is bad for us be allowed to use marketing to gain customers? Or should all products that have negative effects on the person ingesting it be only packaged in plain brown wrappers? Where should the line be drawn?