Dick Cavett, Meet Homer Simpson. Homer Simpson, Meet Dick Cavett.

Yesterday, on my way to Grand Central, I passed the 7 Eleven on 42nd Street. Only, it wasn’t a 7 Eleven, and I thought, “well, that was quick – it just opened a few months ago – and now it’s a “Kwik-E-Mart.” What’s a “Kwik-E-Mart?” On my way home last night, I got it. 7 Eleven has transformed itself into a “Simpsons” inspired “Kwik-E-Mart,” complete with Buzz Cola, KrustyO’s cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees. Cute, great marketing idea, and just one more opportunity for high-carb, high-fat, low-cost food to become even more desirable and harder to resist. Especially for the growing population of those who have less disposable income. (The American middle class may be shrinking, but its waist line is not – same for the poorer classes.)

Dick Cavett, in Talk Show, his New York Times blog, poses this question: Is Bigger Really Better? Bigger, as in, weight. His proposition is that advertisers and the media are silently condoning America’s growing girth, by increasingly including the obese in advertising. “Fat people, the commercial-makers may feel, are entitled to representation.” He disagrees, and writes,

“Television comedy, in particular, has become an equal opportunity employer of the gigantic. It seems as if nearly every sitcom has a requisite fat, sassy black lady (or man) or a fat, avuncular white Uncle Jim large enough to absorb the scripted fat jokes. I have yet to see one of those Comedy Central shows with multiple standup comics that doesn’t include someone the size of the Hindenburg. Frequently the comic is black or Hispanic — the two groups, according to many studies, currently bearing the brunt of the obesity plague.”

Commonly accepted thought currently is that lower-income people are the hardest hit with that very American of diseases: obesity. McDonald’s and the other fast-food entities are significant contributors to the problem. But not the only ones. Look at New York City’s most recent weekly-media offerings:

New York Magazine, Adam Moss’ up-and-coming, soon-to-be bastion of hip-defining middle-aged New Yorkers (and New York wannabees,) ran their version of “Cheap Eats” this week. Time Out New York beat them to the punch, running their “Cheap Eats” edition last week, and “The Real Homer Simpson” this week. Add in factors like it’s summer, and no lunch program for kids, a heightened sense of national political and terrorism-related stress, and yes “The Simpsons Movie” does open tomorrow. New York City residents probably will put on an extra summer-fun and stress-related pound or two, by the end of the month.

But, back to Mr. Cavett. Should the media’s products and advertisers’ products reflect the way it is, or the way it “should be?” Comments on his article, which number 158 currently, seem to be running about 50 – 50: 50% are abhorred that Mr.Cavett would choose to be so mean, and 50% commend him for saying what others might not. (Surely there is the basis for a psycho-social study in the making here.)

We also learn, via The Times and CNN, that your friends can make you fat: “Study Says Obesity Can Be Contagious.” I know I’ve had friends with whom I tend to eat, friends with whom I tend to go to the movies, etc.

So, say what you will. And I see both sides. But I’ll agree with Mr. Cavett. The results are ours to bask in or hide from. We are what we consume, be it Homer Simpson’s donuts or a low-fat, low-carb alternative. And, this being the greatest consumer society ever, what we’re consuming is not only food. We are consumers of media, also. We are shaped and defined and influenced by our surroundings, our friends, and our choices. But, it would appear, we are what we consume.

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