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McDonald's makes a fashion statement

Stay Free! correspondent Alexandra Ringe (right) and Baby Radosh model one possible McDonald's uniform design.

From Advertising Age:

McDonald’s is recruiting Russell Simmons, P. Diddy and Tommy Hilfiger to perform a miracle makeover: Turn its employees' mundane uniforms into hip street wear.

As it attempts to change its image from a fat purveyor to phat icon, the world’s largest youth employer is turning to these style-setters for what could be an $80 million makeover for its army of workers. The idea is to turn employees into walking brand billboards as they circulate among their peers.

Great. As if working at McDonald's isn't humiliating enough, now you gotta show your friends some flair.

I don't know many teenagers now but when I was 16, I got a job at a McDonald's several miles away from my house to make sure my friends never saw me there. I was a burger-flipper and if I wanted to go out after work, I had to shower first. The most diligent scrubbing couldn't combat the stench of fried patties on my person. Even my hair smelled like burgers.... and that was after showering! If I actually wore my uniform out to, say, a club, I probably could have cleared a room with the odor.

Good luck to the marketing geniuses that came up with this one. I can't think of better advertising for jobs at Burger King, Pizza Hut, or KFC. (Filthy whores, painful itch and nausea etc.)