Quickie Burger

Quickie Burger

Eric Scheie over at Classical Values is in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and reports on a local burger joint called "Quickie Burger." Their symbol is a cowgirl riding a gigantic hamburger. Okay, there is some double entendre involved with the name, and it might not have been my first choice for that reason. The logo is perfectly wholesome--and there was a time when the logo and the name of the place would only have suggested (in all but the most dirty-minded) that this is a place for fast food.

There are people upset about the name, however, and the cowgirl riding the hamburger. Is it a bunch of narrow-minded fundamentalists? No! Eric links to this news account from the March 21, 2008 Michigan Daily of who is upset:

When the owners of Quickie Burger and Dogs chose their logo, they thought it would make patrons crave an order of chili cheese fries. But the logo, a busty woman in a tight shirt straddling a hamburger, has drawn criticism from campus groups.

...

The Stonewall Democrats, a lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender caucus of the University's College Democrats chapter, has taken offense with the restaurant's logo and recently began circulating a petition to sway the owners to change the logo.

LSA senior Kolby Roberts, a member of the Stonewall Democrats who has led the effort, said he finds the logo's message inappropriate and offensive.

"I have a problem that you take a women riding a hamburger and you put it next to the word 'quickie,' " he said. "It just seems like it's not putting a good message out there for the objectification of women."

Maria Arman, whose family owns the restaurant, said the logo was meant to invoke a cowboy theme.

"We were thinking beef, rodeo, so instead of putting a cowboy, we just picked a cowgirl," she said. "It's a rodeo-style cowgirl riding a bull, but instead, it's a burger. It was put together to be funny and different. No offense was meant to anyone."

Now, there are traditional morality groups that, if they complained about this, I would say, "Guys, I see your concern, but you are grasping at straws on this. This is writing parking tickets while ICBMs re-enter the atmosphere." But when a gay and lesbian group gets upset about insulting objectification of women, I can only say this: Why aren't you complaining about drag queens? My wife finds the entire insulting parody of women that drag queens do insulting, and I can see why, and agree.

One of the commenters over at Classical Values catches it very well (although you do need to have read George Orwell's 1984 to appreciate the wit of it):

"In a related story, gay campus activists today announced they were organizing a Junior Anti-Sex League to 'combat doubleplusungood expressions of sexism.' The activists also issued demands for U of M to include Newspeak in its core liberal arts curriculum, imposition of mandatory 'Two Minutes Hate' at noon each day, and the creation of a 'Vice-Provost of Love' to oversee student sexual activities, suppress vice and propagate virtue."