Let’s play: Ironic? Or Not? (part iv)
In a story almost too bizarre to be true, a man suffered a heart attack after eating a “triple bypass burger” at the Heart Attack Grill in downtown Las Vegas, local affiliate Fox5 reports.
…you can’t blame patrons for being caught up in the overwhelming sense of irony. Not only is the restaurant named the Heart Attack Grill, but its sign tells prospective diners that anyone “over 350 pounds eats free.” There’s even a tongue-in-cheek warning sign at the restaurant’s door stating that the offered dining fare is a health risk.
What do you think? Ironic? Or not?
Our answer: of course not. They tell you their food is a heart attack waiting to happen. Ironic would be having a heart attack at a free-trade tofu shop, or a vegan eatery.
Um…is there such a thing as a vegan restaurant? Lord, I hope not. I have enough trouble sleeping as it is.
But wait: maybe it is ironic. Because the restaurant’s name and motif are themselves ironic: the Heart Attack Grill, which serves burgers “rated on an ascending scale of one bypass to the quadruple bypass burger.” See, nobody would ever eat at a place that would actually, literally give you a heart attack. It’s an ironic play on the “healthy eating” lifestyle that pervades American culture, and which we all at least claim to want.
And because the restaurant so ironically puts their non-healthiness right in your face for you to gleefully ignore, the resulting culture of the Heart Attack Grill is exactly the opposite of what its name and thematics convey. Thus: actually having a heart attack while eating a triple-bypass burger at the Heart Attack Grill is ironic.
It’s ironic because of the intentional irony. Sort of a double-reverse ironic twist. With extra whipped cream on top.
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