This week Hardee’s introduced its Monster ThickBurger, which the company calls a “monument to decadence.” Ever on the look-out for decadent foods to condemn, the nutrition Nazis at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) immediately added the ThickBurger to its long list of “food porn.” In fact, Hardee’s has CSPI Executive Director Michael Jacobson so hot and bothered that he deemed the burger the “fast-food equivalent of a snuff film.” That’s right, a snuff film. This is hardly the first time Jacobson has delved into the moribund. Last year he warned ice cream eaters: “Just know that you’re going to kill yourself.“
Trying to resuscitate the media magic of CSPI’s infamous claim that Fettuccine Alfredo is a “heart attack on a plate,” Jacobson told NBC Nightly News: “This is a heart attack in a bun.” Also appearing on the Nightly News, Hardee’s head honcho noted: “If you’re the romaine lettuce, raspberry vinaigrette crowd, this is not your burger.” But for Jacobson, it’s not enough to belong to that crowd. He wants everyone in the crowd, whether we like it or not.
