The Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America

In what appears to be a case of real life imitating The Simpsons, the McDonald's corporation had its advertising agency create a fake organization, The Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America, as part of an effort to get the public to petition to save the McRib sandwich. As you may recall, in the episode "I'm Spelling as Fast as I Can," Krusty Burger released a "Ribwich" sandwich, but only on a temporary basis:

Krusty: Listen, about the Ribwich. We won't be making them anymore. The animal we made them from is now extinct.
Homer: The pig?
Otto: The cow?
Krusty: You're way off. Think smaller...think more legs.

The farewell tour for the fictional (and presumably insect-derived) Ribwich was 'borrowed' by McDonald's for its viral marketing campaign to create buzz about the McRib. It was a surprise to me to learn that the McRib sandwich, with its pressed-on 'bones', really does seem to have a cult-like following. There's a pretty interesting article in the Columbia Missourian (here) speculating about what's in the McRib and addressing its mysterious appearance and disappearance, in case you want to know more. A blogger "deconstructs" the McRib here, with photos and ingredient lists. Finally, if you are really bored, the BPFAA has a myspace page, with suspiciously few friends. Perhaps the McRib isn't really all that popular, or, alternatively, its consumers aren't online all that much. I, of course, can't believe I just spent fifteen minutes of my life writing about the McRib...