McDonald's "You Better Don't" (lost "Defend Your Chicken Selects" commercial from fast food franchise; 2004)

The logo for the McDonald's brand.

Status: Lost

In 2004, Mcdonald's had a commercial campaign to promote their Chicken Selects called "Defend Your Chicken Selects". These commercials were then aired starting in August 10 of that year, up until October of 2004, but there are more commercials that have aired from McDonald's that features the 'McDonald's Chicken Selects' from months after its campaign have ended These commercials follow a series of people trying to defend their chicken selects by either saying "no" or confronting people, with most of these commercials following a person talking to themselves.

However, one commercial from this campaign is currently missing due to its strange and stereotypical mocking of black people and was also quoted to be pulled off from television after its airing.

The "Plane" Commercial

These commercials follow the same as the rest: a person defends a certain someone (sometimes, no one) of having their Mcdonald's Chicken Selects eaten. However, this specific commercial follows a flight attendant collecting trash, the flight attendant then gets to the black woman eating their chicken selects thinking its trash, before the woman responds with "You Better Don't", before it ends.. The commercial received negative attention and believed that whoever wrote this went for a stereotypical black American dialect.

Recollection

Several users on the internet have recalled this commercial in multiple threads and websites. One Reddit user who saw this commercial, u/Senor_Buttons, claims that he and his roommate were more confused with the phrase then offensive. Others on the other hand saw this commercial offensive and were completely or mildly mad. One user when discussing what is the worst Mcdonald's commercial describes a language that disrespects black people if not versed, quote:

Historically, the African Diaspora has created its own language based on the language of the enslaver. Commonly called creole, in the late 20th century America, the term Ebonics became fashionable. There are linguistic patterns that are valid, though non-standard. “…better don't…” violates the rules of creole/ebonics and standard English. Only someone (think white person with no black friends) not versed in Creole would disrespect black people like that.

Availability

After the negative reception, the commercial was pulled and never aired again. Even though people and users talk about the commercial and how bad it was, no photos or footage of this commercial exists. The possibility of the commercial not from McDonald's is possible as one Google Groups post claims it as a "KFC" ad, but is highly unlikely due to McDonald's having more mentions in various websites and threads

As of 2024, the commercial has not resurfaced online in any form. Most commercials from this series are compiled by the Lost Commercials Foundation, fortunately.

Video

Lost Commercials Foundation's video compilation of the commercials in the "Defend Your Chicken Selects" campaign.

See Also

• The Incredibles (found full version of McDonald's Happy Meal commercial for Pixar animated film; 2004)
• McDonald's "Archy Dancing" advertisement (lost commercial from fast food franchise; early 1960s)
• McDonald's (found "New Slang" commercial from fast food restaurant; 2002)
• McDonald's (partially lost early Japanese TV commercials for fast food chain; 1973-1976)
• Mcjuniorclub TV (partially found Nickelodeon Netherlands/McDonald's live-action short series; 2008)
• Ronald McDonald and the Adventure Machine (found McDonald's animated video; 1987)
• YumChums (partially lost British McDonald's TV commercials; 2004)
• Valerie's Family Fire Prevention (partially found McDonald's sponsored TV ads; 1987)

External Link

• LMW Forums thread on You Better Don't