McDonald's Goes Gay ... For France

You've seen the fuss the gay McDonald's ad has caused over here, right? It's shown only in France, and the COO of the fast food giant issued a slightly garbled statement about cultural values and him being a Christian and not pushing his values on other people etc. etc. I.e. perhaps he's being homophobic or perhaps he just needs a better PR person.

But the ad itself is really interesting and really sweet. Does the dad know? The son clearly doesn't think so, as he hangs up on his boyfriend when his dad comes back, but his dad has that extra little pause and smiles when he says "too bad your class is all boys." Are there nuances in French, here? Has the son taken him to McDonald's to come out? Maybe we're overly sentimental fools, but leaving aside the notion of any self-respecting gay wanting to eat at McDonald's (please ....he'd have chosen Le Pain Quotidien if he had to go to a chain), the moment is one of those that could go either way, and cement a dad and his son for life or see them grow apart. We're likin' it. We're not lovin' it, but likin' it.

Previously > An Open Letter to Belarus