Folks, I have seen some dumb things involving the X-Men in my time. It is, in fact, my actual job is to see dumb things involving the X-Men on a fairly regular basis, and I have also seen more than my share of terrible ads over the years. This new ad from Hardee's and Carl's Jr. that makes an attempt to promote their Western X-Tra Bacon Burger, however, might just be the new gold standard for idiocy.

See, shapeshifter Mystique (not played by Rebecca Romijn or Jennifer Lawrence, mind you) is going to eat this burger, but it's just too much burger for a li'l lady to handle, so she turns into some scruffy bro because only men can fully enjoy the taste of fast food bacon. Seriously. That is what this ad is about.

Hardee's ads (which, from what I can tell, appear to be selling barbecue sauce and cleavage, two products that I wouldn't think would need that much help raising public awareness) have been pretty dubious for a few years now, but this one takes it to an entirely new level. A level that suggests a woman must literally transform into a man in order to eat this hamburger. Like, even if you think we're overreacting, there's no getting around that being the actual "plot" (such as it is) of this commercial.

Equally dumb, but significantly less sexist I suppose, is the follow-up encouragement to turn your #lunch into a #socialmedia #event on the chance that someone who went to college for graphic design and is now regretting their life choices will turn your Instagram photo into a picture of an X-Man eating a hamburger. What really sells it is this, a phrase that initially made me think that we might want to go ahead and shut the English language down, but that I know I will be using with decreasing irony from now on:

 

Hardee's and Carl's Jr. Ad For Burger Selfies
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