Paul McCartney "Meat Free Mondays" vs Ringo Starr's "No More Fan-mail" videos

Quite weird to play these at the same time

Macca's is annoying. So's Ringo's, but less so.

The context you need for Ringo's video is that he at some point made a big deal out of replying personally to every piece of fan mail, this is for example one of the main plot points of his Simpsons episode, and this was him finally crashing out and stopping this impossable task. The problem was that most people watching didn't know about this, and without the context it looks like utter self-absorbed madness.

Taking on gigantic unfinishable tasks, burning yourself out on them and crashing out, failing to get your point across... does Ringo have ADHD?

In my experience, the trait is not rare among drummers!

It's difficult to know what is true, but I heard that Ringo was infuriated that items that he signed were immediately appearing on eBay at inflated prices.

He did seem to be going through a slightly rough time around this time. IIRC it was this year he slagged off Liverpool on a tv chat show saying he missed nothing about his old town, failed to apologise, and in response the Ringo part of a Beatles topiary in Liverpool was decapitated.

Never ceases to amaze me how often someone thinks that if you want people to change an ingrained habit they've shown no inclination to change, the way to convince them is come up with a slogan and a marketing campaign like "Meat-Free Mondays", because, face it, who can resist a catchy slogan that tells you how to run your life?

When Ringo went in to do the voice over for that Simpsons episode, he had a no-autographs rule while he was there. A writer got an autograph anyway. This was mentioned on the dvd commentary track.

vote Peace and Love, obv.

never saw the macca video before, a great time capsule of the 2010s irrational faith in the power of online petitions. "we'll send all these pledges to the politicians and they'll do something about it." about what? meat?

gotta vote for the Ringo vid though, its just iconic, friends and I still quote it all the time

FWIW, I've eaten less and less meat in my adult years, and while it was never under the conscious influence of McCartney's campaign, I'm pretty sure it helped in substantial if peripheral ways. The arguments for meat-free days never moved me instantly to adopt that practice, but I never doubted the reasons for doing so. When I refrain from eating meat now, it's not because I'm trying to set aside a day for it, it's me making the effort to eat less meat overall, maybe even phase it out altogether, for all the reasons McCartney et al have espoused for years - to help the environment, to eat healthier (it's really lowered my cholesterol for starters) and to simply not eat a formerly living thing that had to be killed for a meal. That last point isn't something I gave much thought in my youth, so a lot does change over time. If there's anything that ever acutely pushed me towards vegetarianism, it's Le Sang des bêtes, the 1949 short documentary by Georges Franju - I was already refraining from a lot of meat, but it definitely raised my commitment after I saw it. (I stopped ordering beef hamburgers after that - the only times I've had one is if I had no other choice, and those instances are generally rare.)

Also, I just realized both of their appearances on The Simpsons are completely based around the same subject matter as those videos. A hundred years from now, Ringo will be defined as the one who answered a shit ton of fan mail and Paul as the committed vegetarian.

similarly I've been making an effort to sign less & less Beatles memorabilia over the years

FWIW, I've eaten less and less meat in my adult years, and while it was never under the conscious influence of McCartney's campaign, I'm pretty sure it helped in substantial if peripheral ways. The arguments for meat-free days never moved me instantly to adopt that practice, but I never doubted the reasons for doing so. When I refrain from eating meat now, it's not because I'm trying to set aside a day for it, it's me making the effort to eat less meat overall, maybe even phase it out altogether, for all the reasons McCartney et al have espoused for years - to help the environment, to eat healthier (it's really lowered my cholesterol for starters) and to simply not eat a formerly living thing that had to be killed for a meal. That last point isn't something I gave much thought in my youth, so a lot does change over time. If there's anything that ever acutely pushed me towards vegetarianism, it's Le Sang des bêtes, the 1949 short documentary by Georges Franju - I was already refraining from a lot of meat, but it definitely raised my commitment after I saw it. (I stopped ordering beef hamburgers after that - the only times I've had one is if I had no other choice, and those instances are generally rare.)

― birdistheword, Thursday, October 22, 2026 10:25 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Great post. I think moving things in "substantial if peripheral ways" is the best outcome of most protest. There is very little instant adjustment of any position, anywhere. I have seen that happen, but it is rare.

You can dooeeet rightnowplease

similarly I've been making an effort to sign less & less Beatles memorabilia over the years

I assumed Ringo was just being miserable joyless old git he's been since he gave up the booze.

How dare he forego the joy of beating his wife half to death

I think it's kind of sad that either of these videos were made, so I won't watch them. People shouldn't need Paul to encourage them to forego meat, nor should they bother Ringo with fan requests.

Ringo's often a trip on talk shows and in interviews -- he's still quick-witted. I don't see joyless git at all.

Had he lived George might have been.

who can resist a catchy slogan that tells you how to run your life?

I think it is a mental wedge for people who are sympathetic to a plant-based diet but are afraid to commit: "one day a week, that sounds handleable!" It's not a slogan designed to appeal to Mr. Steak.

The Franju documentary was one of the steps towards veganism for me as well.

never saw the macca video before, a great time capsule of the 2010s irrational faith in the power of online petitions. "we'll send all these pledges to the politicians and they'll do something about it." about what? meat?

Also his boomer concern that we're not going to remember the URL. Quick, get a pen and paper and write it down! No, you can't just Google "paul mcarty meat peition".

If anyone has earned the right to say "no mas," surely Ringo has. And Paul's earnest nature was always baked in.

Pointless anecdote: In about 1994 I was editor of a magazine for an animal welfare organization.

One piece of mail I got was a record review of a vegan hardcore record that began "The problem with most vegan hardcore bands is..."

That a band or artist might be an animal rights supporter, and say so, was not new to me. Mccartney, the Smiths, etc. These were not, apparently, artists who did advocacy as a sideline; the advocacy was the entire message of every song.

I was surprised at the idea that "vegan hardcore" was a whole genre, in which one could discern trends. I joked about, say, pescatarian reggae, ovo-lacto-disco, carnivorous jazz.

I did not publish the piece, as I suspected that the target audience for it was narrow (and did not align with my readership). But I do wonder if there are still acts whose entire catalog is promoting veganism. Even McCartney had silly love songs.

Think this Tom Hibbert encounter with Ringo did a lot to dispel the lovable moptop myth:

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-the-oyster/713110142487576576

He doesn't come across as unpleasant there, just PR-cossetted to death, idk.

I do love the line "we're gonna send all the signatures to all the politicians and they're going to do something about it"

A bit like when John and Yoko sent all those acorns to world leaders and ended the Vietnam war.

Or when The Beatles sang about wanting to hold my hand and they did.

it always amused me that the entrance to the smith & wollensky steakhouse in boston was (and very possibly still is) dominated by a wall-size photo of macca.

Meat the Beatles

maybe paul didn't die in '66 but just had a psychotic breakdown after the yesterday and today photo shoot

it always amused me that the entrance to the smith & wollensky steakhouse in boston was (and very possibly still is) dominated by a wall-size photo of macca.

Immortalized on Yelp. (Ten year old photo though.)

the zoom-out at the beginning of no more fan mail cinches it

everybody watchin'... my...... update right now

Think this Tom Hibbert encounter with Ringo did a lot to dispel the lovable moptop myth:

https://www.tumblr.com/i-am-the-oyster/713110142487576576🕸

oh that takes me back—I was first introduced to Alan Partridge through that column, and for a while didn’t realize he was a character.

and fondly remember jobs on David Crosby, Marco Pierre White, etc

everybody watchin'... my...... update right now

I am WARNING you with PEACE and LOVE

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

just breaking

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Completely missed this thread. Meat Free Mondays was robbed.

Went down a Tom Hibbert rabbit hole: had no idea his life ended so tragically (four months in an induced coma, unable to work afterwards, splits from wife, drank and didn’t eat, died alone)