Celebrating the 20th anniversary of McDonald’s in the Philippines, the “Kay Sarap ng Ngiting McDo” (loosely translated, “How Delicious the McDonald’s Smile!”) TV commercial ends with a little girl offering a birthday cake to a statue of Ronald McDonald, which springs to life and, wordlessly smiling, accepts the cake with a cuddle for the little girl.

Is anyone else bothered that this is an allusion to pagan idolatry, or am I just being a hyper-reactive fundamentalist? I can’t seem to shake the idea of a heathen food offering being made to an anthropomorphic wooden idol. Or a red-headed clown mascot.

Oh, well. I will ruminate on that over a Filet-O-Fish and small french fries.