Charles Ramsey's interview with the Cleveland press corps following the rescue of three women kidnapped and held captive in a house for over a decade has become an internet sensation. Ramsey's enthusiastic interview, following the rescue of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight was marked by an otherwise mundane reference to "eating McDonalds".
Ramsey said he was enjoying a meal from McDonalds when he heard screaming coming from the house of alleged perpetrator Ariel Castro. Reacting to the reference of the fast food giant during his recounting of events, Oak Brook, Ill.-based McDonalds Corporation tweeted "We salute the courage of Ohio kidnap victims & respect their privacy. Way to go Charles Ramsey-we'll be in touch." The Tuesday tweet may just be a friendly shout out to a heroic neighbor, or it may be the beginning of a commercial relationship.
The Huffington Post's Seamus McKiernan wrote a column that condemned the mention of Ramsey by McDonalds. "The McDonald's tweet is inappropriate at best and, at worst, it capitalizes on the sensation of a tragic story. However, in turn, the mention could indeed just be a hat tip to a man that happened to name-drop a company as a reference to a particular item. Many Americans use popular brand names as nouns and verbs in their own right, whether it's "pass the Kleenex" (instead of using the term 'tissues'), "go WD40-it", or "I'm going to Clorox the sidewalk".
On the subject of a possible ad deal with Ramsey, a young Larry Bird, Justin Timberlake and a number of athletes and actors who are just beginning to make a name for themselves, have in the past been celebrity spokespeople for McDonalds. McDonalds Corporation, however, would not comment as to the depth of their offer, if any.
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