Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #935 - Burger King explains Net Neutrality

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #935 - Burger King explains Net Neutrality

Hi Mom,

So, this is original: Burger King is speaking out against the Net Neutrality repeal with a hilarious, satiric "commercial" for explaining what the effects Net Neutrality repeal would be for users using a supposed new method for buying whoppers as an analogy.

The people affected in the video supposedly are unaware that they're on a kind of "Candid Camera" for a commercial until after the process has played out.

For anyone who doesn't fully understand the impact of Net Neutrality, and even those who think they do, this is a great short piece that cuts right to the heart of some of the issues of access and corporate control.

Also, it's hilarious.

Is Burger King just trying to sell more Whoppers?

Sure, but you have to applaud a company that's making a political statement to gain more visibility and to do a good thing by raising awareness with humor (one of the most powerful weapons of protesters) for an important issue.

I have written (and shared content) on this issue a few times already:

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #684 - Anti-Net Neutrality and Networked Protest Movements

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #795 - Fight for Net Neutrality - FFTF - September 2017

Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #861 - Big companies want to ELIMINATE privacy online

Here's the video followed by some news coverage and then the FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE campaign rally for support and protest.

Make your support official with at least a petition click.

Force the government to void the Net Neutrality repeal or at least aim for more state governments to block the legislation in their states.

SIDENOTE: Don't be fooled by AT&T's new, seeming support for Net Neutrality as it has been one of the strongest proponents of the repeal and has recently taken to a new tactic to appear supportive after funneling millions into the campaign for the repeal last year. CHECK OUT THIS, which links to THIS.




SOME OF THE NEWS COVERAGE

LAUGHING SQUID ON WHOPPER NEUTRALITY

WASHINGTON POST COVERAGE - with background

BUSINESS WIRE - NET NEUTRALITY

EMAIL FROM FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE: 

Now I know what you’re thinking. Burger King only did this to gain attention and get some free advertising.

And you know what? You’re absolutely right.

But that’s exactly what makes this so significant. Burger King is a massive multinational corporation that only cares about one thing: its bottom line. And its executives signed off on this ad because they know the overwhelming majority of people—regardless of their political beliefs—support net neutrality.

That’s huge. As our friend Craig Aaron from Free Press said, “Net neutrality is so popular it’s being used to sell hamburgers.”¹

Now, we need every member of Congress to realize what Burger King does: supporting net neutrality is the only way to go. Click here to check out the video and tell your lawmakers to vote to restore the free and open Internet.

We remember when net neutrality was a wonky tech issue that only geeks and DC journalists talked about.

Together, with your help, we’ve educated hundreds of millions of people about the dangers of allowing companies like Verizon and AT&T to control what websites and apps we can use with censorship, throttling, and new fees.

The Burger King ad is perhaps the strongest sign yet that we’ve succeeded in making net neutrality a mainstream issue. Now we need to leverage that popularity into political power by getting Congress to block the FCC’s repeal using the Congressional Review Act (CRA).

Click here to check out the video and tell your lawmakers to vote for net neutrality!

As someone who is critical of both government and corporate power, I would be remiss to send this email without noting that Burger King has terrible workers’ rights policies,² pays poverty wages,³ and lobbies against environmental protections.⁴

But all of that just underscores how major this video is. A company like Burger King doing this shows that we have resoundingly won in the court of public opinion.

Now we need to win in Congress. The future of the Internet depends on it.

Thanks for all you do,

-Evan at Fight for the Future

P.S. The dig at Ajit Pai is worth watching to the end for ;-)

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Footnotes:

1. Free Press: https://www.freepress.net/blog/2018/01/24/burger-king-loves-net-neutrality-and-other-whoppers

2. Willig, Williams, & Davidson: https://www.wwdlaw.com/blog/2017/04/06/nlrb-finds-burger-king-violated-workers-rights/

3. The Daily Northwestern: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2016/05/01/city/workers-protest-mcdonalds-burger-king-over-minimum-wages/

4. The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/mar/01/burger-king-animal-feed-sourced-from-deforested-lands-in-brazil-and-bolivia

Fight for the Future works to protect your rights in the digital age.

• Click here to learn more
• Donate $3 to keep us going

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Reflect and connect.

Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.

I miss you so very much, Mom.

Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.

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- Days ago = 937 days ago

- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1801.26 - 10:10

NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.