McNews?

Like most bloggers (I imagine), I begin each morning with a click-through of the on-line versions of all Canada's major newspapers, beginning with The Star and The Globe and working my way down. So this morning I reach Canoe (The Sun chain--we're pretty close to the bottom now) and the screen comes up covered in Golden Arches with little red maple-leafs in the center. After a few seconds, today's top stories appear, with the arches relegated to the borders of the page, but already my screams have woken the wife.

Obviously, Canoe is doing some kind of cross-promotion with McDonald's.

But what does this kind of marketing say about The Sun newspaper chain? What is the message being conveyed? Here's my stab at some quicky hermeneutics:

An hour after reading this, you'll have stomach pain.

This paper contains nothing of informational value.

The Sun: small children love it.

Our columnists are like a whack of greasy fries, moldy at the tip.

All across this great land, our papers meet the same low standards.

The Sun vs. a Happy Meal. About halfway through, they taste pretty much the same.

Our newspapers are run by a clown with a thing for small children.

The Sun: like a McDonald's burger, it too is made from recycled paper.

The Sun: like a quarter pounder of raw meat.

As more possible interpretations occur to me, I shall make note of them. But in general I can't see how this does much for The Sun's credibility. Or the credibility of McDonald's, frankly; its kind of lose-lose.