McDonald’s was riding the huge success of the movie, Minions, by rolling out their Happy Meal minion toys early this month. Now, they are taking the defensive as customers have complained that the toys are cursing at their children.
Some parents hear the minion toys saying expletives, “What the F-” followed by “All be damned.”
Fox News interviewed parents who were adamant about what they language they heard. There are scattered reports that customers heard the toy say “What the f–” and others also heard the phrase “All be damned.”
There are dozens of YouTube videos posted of parents demonstrating how they think the toys are swearing. One video posted by a man on Wednesday has gotten 1.8 million views. The man said he made the video after his wife After getting the minion to speak, the man said “something didn’t sound right. Seriously, out of a McDonald’s toy.”
McDonald’s says the language is nonsense and only contains the phrases: “ha ha ha,” ”para la bukay,” and “eh eh.” The fast food chain doesn’t plan to recall the toys.
The Associated Press offers a possible explanation that the human mind will try to find patterns in language it doesn’t understand. “The brain tries to find a pattern match, even when just receiving noise, and it is good at pattern recognition,” says Dr. Steven Novella, a neurologist at the Yale School of Medicine. “Once the brain feels it has found a best match, then that is what you hear. The clarity of the speech actually increases with multiple exposures, or if you are primed by being told what to listen for.”
This phenomenon of hearing or seeing things as meaningful from random noise, known as pareidolia, has given rise to other popular culture rumors and beliefs. For example, pervasive rumors began to circulate that special messages were heard if a music record or tape was played backwards.
Sightings of the Virgin Mary in a tomato or Jesus embedded in a piece of toast are other examples of this curious phenomenon.
Whichever the reason, these phenomenon cannot be unseen or unheard. For the customers who hear the cursing, then it is so.
