Grub Hub

     When I began this post, I searched for images of GrubHub ads and almost immediately I found the collaborative blog Big Other's post "The Semiotics of GrubHub" by A D Jameson.  I had never seen this site before but it seems like it would've been a great source for people in the Visual Culture class to refer to during the semester.  The writing is solid and the topic are interesting.  At first, I wanted to discard my idea for this post because Jameson had already done it so well.  Then again, he and all of the other contributors to Big Other are real writers, with multiple Masters degrees and published books.
     Jameson focuses on decoding the (hidden and not so hidden) sexual messages in the ads.  Something else that I can't escape is the way that the ads use language and images to make the service seem absolutely effortless.  What I mean is, having a service online does not change the fact that your order is still being faxed to a real restaurant with real kitchen staff and real delivery people.  The language of ease is all over- in phrases like "summon food" and "eating made easy."  As well as GrubHub's repeated theme of ordering and eating food naked.  
     Seamless web is a similar service that emphasizes the ease of the experience.  Their tag line is "Your food is here," and nearby they claim to be "The easiest way to order.  Maybe even easier than eating."  However, their website and ads are far less humorous than GrubHub's.  They don't have cute paper-collage characters and inside jokes.  Seamless is straightforward and no-nonsense, while GrubHub celebrates entertainment and nonsense.
     If you have never worked in a kitchen, especially in New York City, it is no exaggeration that a huge percentage of the staff are Hispanic males, many of them illegal or with questionable immigration status.  Even in nice restaurants and those owned by non-Hispanic minorities.  In addition, it is common practice to pay them poorly, often in cash, because they have no better alternative.  This may seem like a stretch to associate this sad state of affairs with the politics of GrubHub's ads, but I'm not the only one.  On the opposite side of the "ease" coin, I see a lot of racist comments online about a) why Grubhub is great because you don't have to talk to someone who "doesn't speak English" and b) commenting on the "inaccurate" graphics of the ads, for example, a white delivery guy.  See howzyafatha.com for an example.  It's true that no matter what language is spoken, GrubHub is convenient because it is in writing, but is eliminating verbal communication going to make any of us better at it?