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title: McDonalds: Addresses Kanye West&#x27;s Poem in Frank Ocean Zine
description: The poem featured lines like &quot;I don&#x27;t trust no food that smells that good man.&quot;
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author: Ashley Hoffman
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article:published_time: 2016-08-22T20:50:27.000Z
article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:40.177Z
og:title: McDonald’s Has a Response to That Kanye West Poem About Its Food
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twitter:title: McDonald’s Has a Response to That Kanye West Poem About Its Food
twitter:description: About that beef
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# McDonald’s Has a Response to That Kanye West Poem About Its Food

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fvtDSOpO.m3u8" -->
## Video: McDonald's Removing High-Fructose Corn Syrup from Buns

[Watch (HLS stream): McDonald's Removing High-Fructose Corn Syrup from Buns](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/fvtDSOpO.m3u8) (0:46)

![McDonald's Removing High-Fructose Corn Syrup from Buns](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/fvtDSOpO/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2016-08-02. McDonald's appears to be headed in a new, healthier direction after listening to consumer demands to remove artificial ingredients from its food._


by 

[Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/)


## Ashley Hoffman


Aug 22, 2016 8:50 PM UTC

by 

[Ashley Hoffman](https://time.com/author/ashley-hoffman/)


## Ashley Hoffman


Aug 22, 2016 8:50 PM UTC

[McDonald’s](http://time.com/4453092/mcdonalds-rio-olympic-village-2016-olympics/) responded Monday to a poem “The McDonald’s Man” presented as Kanye West’s work in Frank Ocean’s zine “Boys Don’t Cry,” [released Saturday](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/21/arts/music/frank-ocean-new-album-blonde-boys-dont-cry.html) at pop-up stores in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and London.

The poem featured lines like “I don’t trust no food that smells that good man,” and “Even the McRib was jealous of the fries. I could see it through his artificial meat eyes.”

Reached via e-mail, Terri Hickey, a spokesperson for [McDonald’s](http://time.com/4453092/mcdonalds-rio-olympic-village-2016-olympics/%20at%20the%20Olympic%20village%20in%20Rio), addressed West’s criticism of the chain’s meat in a statement released to [TIME](http://time.com/4453092/mcdonalds-rio-olympic-village-2016-olympics/).

---

> “”

---

West’s poem about the fast food chain [was presented](https://twitter.com/KimKanyeKimYeFC/status/767286310507864068?ref%5Fsrc=twsrc%5Etfw) along with Ocean’s long-awaited new album “Blonde.” The prose, which appears in the zine on the restaurant’s drive-thru order board, personifies several McDonald’s items in an imagined political coup scenario.

Read the full poem below.

“The McDonald’s Man”

---

> “”

---

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