MY GRADE: 
As I dialed past Sarah Palin on her 39th talk show appearance of the day (plugging her new book The Palin Vampire Diaries) I couldn’t help but develop an appreciation for those in the past who have taken the less-is-more approach to product hawking.
Of course, I’m talking about the McRib.
Would anybody care about the McRib if it was available to us on a constant basis? Would there be websites devoted to tracking it?
Here are other things that were really big the same year the McRib launched — 1981:
Juice Newton, Christopher Cross, Cheryl Tiegs, Margaret Thatcher, big hair, My Pretty Pony, The Delorean.
Where are they now? Is anyone clamoring for more Christopher Cross? How badly does Juice Newton wish her music had the staying power of the McRib?
The McRib has had a truly impressive shelf-life (and I use that term literally and figuratively) — probably because it asks as many questions as it answers:
- Can a rib sandwich truly be considered a rib sandwich if it has no ribs?
- What exactly is the McRib made of? Do I want to know? (The answer to those questions, from back to front is “no” and “Pork, water, salt, dextrose, and citric acid/BHA.” You know, the five basic food groups.)
- Why, no matter how hard I try, am I not able to successfully recreate the McRib in my own kitchen with a hamburger bun, an ounce of BBQ sauce and four inches of styrofoam board?
- And (most intriguingly) why can I only get the McRib for a limited time???
This “McRib dance” is not a new thing. America’s favorite pork-esque, sandwich-esque, food-esque delectable has been coming and going, teasing and taunting, for nearly 30 years now. Here one day, gone the next, like a lover who can’t commit.
I think what it boils down to is this: we crave the McRib because it gives us a glimpse into our own mortality. After all, aren’t we all just here for a limited time?
Aren’t we all the McRib?
Strangely enough, after I began writing this blog entry I discovered that, yes indeed, the McRib will be back at the end of November — for the first time since 2006!
Bon apetit!
Well maybe you should just move to germany: 28 fully paid no-work-days per year, fully paid sickdays as much as you want (because ou have to have an insurance over here) and what’s best: The McRib is available throughout the whole year (except at breakfast time). Wooohoooo! Germany rules!