In 1995, McDonald’s released arguably one of the greatest commercials of all time featuring Larry Bird playing Michael Jordan in a friendly competition of HORSE for Jordan’s Big Mac.
As the video shows, the shots became more and more preposterous, all for the simple hamburger that has the extraordinary secret sauce. Yet while they were playing for that one Big Mac, Wisconsin native Rob Gorske was well on his way to a ludicrous milestone accomplished last night – eating a lifetime worth of 30,000 Big Macs.
Gorske started eating Big Macs in 1972. “At the time it was the only McDonald’s in town and I had just gotten my driver’s license,” Gorske told KVOA. As for the taste of his 30,000th Big Mac, Gorske had nothing but praise.
“This one is a biggie for me, something I have been looking forward to,” said the 64-year-old retired prison guard.
Perhaps more astonishingly, he is doing fine health wise. “People make fun of me, but it never bothered me…At my last medical check-up I had low cholesterol and my blood pressure was perfect," he told the media.
Gorske chooses to eat a gross amount of Big Macs. But, it works for him. Probably due to a combination of his genes and his exercise habits, he maintains his health because he chooses to do so and knows his limits.
These health results are actually not all that uncommon. Some readers may remember the 2004 movie, "Super Size Me." Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonalds for 30 straight days. The results, he claimed, made him lethargic, over weight, and unhealthy. Many in government used the film for proof that McDonald's and other corporate food behemoths needed regulation because they were killing Americans. Limited government citizens such as Tom Naughton sought to prove that was not necessarily the case. In 2009, he recreated the "Supersize Me" premise to test Spurlock's results. In his documentary called "Fat Head," he found that his health simply came down to a matter of personal responsibility. He ate McDonald's for 30 straight days, but maintained normal caloric consumption of 2,000 calories. Naughton's health actually improved in many categories after following the same plan as Spurlock. No body was forcing him to monitor his calories, but he did so because he practiced self-governance.
To be clear, this article is not suggesting that fast food is healthy. Nor is it to suggest that zero regulation is needed. It simply is to serve as a reminder that folks such as Gorske and Naughton prove that the government does not always know best. More often than not, the health of Americans comes down to personal choice; what we choose to put in to our bodies and how we choose to take care of ourselves. Gorske, like Naughton, worked out a system where he can eat all the Big Macs he wants. Is he the healthiest individual around? Probably not, but it is not government's job to regulate his consumption. The trailer for "Fat Head" can be seen below.
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