maybe it was the fast food that did him, in the end
For Supersize Me, notably Mr. Spurlock failed to disclose to his doctor or viewers his drinking habit, which more likely contributed to his abnormal blood panel readings, not the fast food. The whole thing was propaganda that the public ate up. It's hard to overstate how big of a deal that movie was in 2004-2005. Colleges organized group screenings of it. The ensuing bad press from Supersize Me forced McDonald's to discontinue its eponymous meal upgrade option.
I dont understand this recent talking point. Surely eating a "supersize me" multiple times a day is going to cause an increase in fat, weight, cholesterol etc. We know this.
Plus the fact that the whole documentary was intentionally extreme: no one eats mcdonalds 3 times a day. Its sorta pointless to begin with.
Pointing to his alcoholism to dismiss the health concerns, which are obviously true, seems very odd to me.
>Pointing to his alcoholism to dismiss the health concerns, which are obviously true, seems very odd to me.
The very doctors talking to Spurlock in the documentary told him that what they saw of his liver should be impossible if he wasn't an alcoholic, thirty days of eating 5000 calories a day or not. It takes a significant amount of time to do that kind of damage to your liver.
Turns out he was an alcoholic.
SuperSize Me wasn't "about" "hey did you know if you eat a lot of fast food, it's bad for you?", the thesis of the production was that thing that America loves to ignore: A company wants you to buy more of their products and services, and will happily sell them and push them to you, no matter how much it hurts you.
"SuperSize me" was about how McDonalds had their cashiers push supersizing at every single purchase, as if it was Gamestop pushing their magazine, despite that empirically not being something the vast majority of purchases SHOULD do, because it's profitable.
Like christ folks, it's the damn title!
The "it made me unhealthy" portion of the movie was basically fraud though, and quickly called out as such. But it wasn't there to "prove" anything, but rather because American Documentaries from the period (and probably still now) view themselves first and foremost as "shock" entertainment, second as spectacle, and only have meaningful content if there's some spare room in the runtime. Documentaries "compete" with action movie schlock in the US
The point of the documentary is to track how his health is affected by the food. Consuming a lot of alcohol is a relevant, major confounder. It discredits the work.
I can believe it back then, when the big mac was either on the dollar menu or very close to value prices. I wouldn't believe it in 2024 where the sandwich alone is $5 + tax (disclaimer: high CoL area).
Big Mac is probably the worst burger because of that stupid middle bun, but it's not awful by itself to eat. 700 calories or so. It's the drink and soda that double that and really puts you over.
You're saying that the results of the experiment would be "obvious", so what's the reason for doing the experiment at all? If you're going to do the experiment, why do it with an alcoholic?
Far from being odd, his alcoholism was almost an ideal way to dismiss any concerns about fast food. Having a reasonably healthy non-alcoholic go to McDonald's when they are hungry, and still doing the gimmick of accepting "Super-sized" when offered, would be what you should do. The problem is that the effects of that wouldn't be very dramatic. McDonald's isn't a magical gypsy curse, it's rich, high-quality food with too much sugar (in the soda.) You can do the same thing to yourself cooking raw ingredients at home and drinking sweet tea. If you're an alcoholic, you can fuck up your liver without eating a thing.
For Supersize Me, notably Mr. Spurlock failed to disclose to his doctor or viewers his drinking habit, which more likely contributed to his abnormal blood panel readings, not the fast food. The whole thing was propaganda that the public ate up. It's hard to overstate how big of a deal that movie was in 2004-2005. Colleges organized group screenings of it. The ensuing bad press from Supersize Me forced McDonald's to discontinue its eponymous meal upgrade option.