So this week, McDonald’s attempted to host a stream in which it would be giving away 50 custom PS5 controllers. These were dubbed the McDualSense controller, and they are hideous. Unsurprisingly, McDonald’s hadn’t asked Sony about this, and the platform owner stepped in to stop all of this from happening. It should seem like a good example of a corporate entity overstepping because it wants to squish the little people for as much money as possible. In reality, Sony is protecting its brand from what is an absolutely disgusting example of what people will do when given the power to customise their own stuff.
The McDualSense is branded around McDonald’s food. So there are fries, a burger, the logo, and the awful combination of white, yellow, and red, that someone high up at the fast-food chain seems to think always looks incredible. In the UK, there is nothing stylish about McDonald’s. Every color the company uses is bad, and together they look ever worse. That’s not why I think it’s a good thing that Soy stopped this controller from being given out though.
I think that this controller would have sent out a powerful message, that it’s okay to eat rubbish while sitting down doing nothing. Gaming is already pretty bad for your health because you’re sat in one position doing nothing for long stretches of time. Combine that with unhealthy food, and you have a combination that will kill you quickly. I think that Sony stopped the controller from being given away because there are a bunch of laws surrounding this stuff that McDonald’s ignored. However, I also think that the company should work with a health food company to promote healthy eating on controllers.
Despite it being more of a high profile subject than it ever has been today, people still choose to eat unhealthily and be inactive for most of their days. It’s worse in games because companies partner with brands that will do your body actual harm. Fast food, junk food, and sweet drinks are all putting your body under unnecessary strain, and that’s what we need to be concerned with. Hopefully, Sony does partner with a good brand in the future.