An empowering sign of modern day society includes the famous golden arch symbol of the grand francise, McDonalds. According to an article, McDonald’s spent over $978 million on advertising in 2013 (Statista, par. 1). McDonald’s is just a big chunk of the 40,000 advertisments that children and adolescents see on TV in a year alone (Strasburger, par. 1). Advertisments have been essentially known as a marketing strategy to improve sales, but has now become a way to mask away the reality of issues. Research shows that, “markets spend over $500 billion a year towards advertising… The average 65 year old in the U.S. would have seen an estimated two million television commercials within their life span” (“55 Interesting Facts About… Advertising”). …show more content…
Thomas N. Robinson conducted an experimental study to test if fast food branding has an influence towards young children’s taste preference. His study found, “Branding of foods and beverages influences young childrens taste perceptions. The findings are consistent with recommendations to regulate marketing to young children and also suggest that branding may be a useful strategy for improving young children’s eating behaviors” (Robinson, par 8). The significance of this study shows how advertisments have control over young children’s minds and diet. The effects of these poor decisions can carry onto adulthood, leading up to an unhealthy lifestyle that can result into obesity. These children being targeted by McDonald’s advertisement eventually become a lifelong customer. Although, Robinson did open up the idea that if advertisments were used for the right products, a better and healthier influence could be the …show more content…
“The usual depiction of food and obesity in television has many documented negative consequeces on food habits and patterns” (Caroli, par. 4). In a personal standpoint, children are the biggest victims of advertisments because of their easy appeal and attraction. Children do not know better, they do not notice that the advertisement serves as a curtain for businesses. McDonald’s does not show the effect that can lead up to long-term consumption of their products. Pasting an oversized man eating their fries and burger on a billboard is not on the top of McDonald’s priority list because that image does not sell. Advertisment is meant to attract customers in order to bring in more sales, and the truth behind it all does the complete opposite of what they
Obesity in the United States, which the media has labeled a national crisis, has also been connected to poverty rates. Big fast food industry’s target poor communities, and spend millions of dollars each year to create advertising that appeals to these specific areas. These industry’s also target naïve children when advertising because they know that eating habits developed in childhood are usually carried into adulthood. Children who are exposed to television advertisements for unhealthy food and who are not educated well enough on good nutrition will grow up and feed their families the same unhealthy foods they ate as kids. A big way fast food giants are able to make certain young people have access to unhealthy food is by strategically placing franchises in close proximity to schools. They will often place three times as many outlets within walking distance of schools than in areas where there are no schools nearby. The way fast food advertising is targeted towards children is very alarming considering how important good nutrition is for young people and how a child’s eating habits can affect their growth and
Youth obesity is an escalating problem which causes harmful, unfavourable effects and can intensify and become fatal when it is carried on into adulthood (Chou, Rashad & Grossman, 2005). Such harmful effects of obesity include various cancers, cardiovascular, orthopaedic and metabolic diseases and several other disorders such as psychiatric complications (Lobstein and Dibb, 2005). From this, it is undeniable that identifying the relationship between the advertising of junk food and the increased rate in youth obesity is essential in order to generate suggestions or methods in which this may be prevented or reduced significantly. Advocates of health have been attentive towards the obesity epidemic and have been meticulously focusing on advertising as a causative factor as advertisements are consistently promoting junk food on television (Harris, Bargh and Bronwell, 2009). Suc...
Any agency that uses children for marketing schemes spend hundreds of billions dollars each year world wide persuading and manipulating consumer’s lifestyles that lead to overindulgence and squandering. Three articles uncover a social problem that advertising companies need to report about. In his research piece “Kid Kustomers” Eric Schlosser considers the reasons for the number of parents that allow their children to consume such harmful foods such as ‘McDonalds’. McDonalds is food that is meant to be fast and not meant to be a regular diet. Advertising exploits children’s needs for the wealth of their enterprise, creating false solutions, covering facts about their food and deceiving children’s insecurities. It contains dissatisfaction that leads to over consumption. Children are particularly vulnerable to this sort of manipulation, American Psychological Association article, “Youth Oriented Advertising” reveals the facts upon the statics on consumers in the food industries. The relationship that encourages young children to adapt towards food marketing schemes, make them more vulnerable to other schemes, such as, advertising towards clothing, toys and cars. Article writer of “The relationship between cartoon trade character recognition and attitude toward product category in young children”, Richard Mizerski, discusses a sample that was given to children ages three to six years old, about how advertising incurs young children that are attracted too certain objects or products on the market.
(2012). Fast Food Advertising is linked to Rising Childhood and Teen Obesity. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Retrieved: April 24, 2014 from http://ic.galegroup.com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/ic/ovic/ViewpointsDetailsPage/ViewpointsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&mode=view&displayGroupName=Viewpoints&limiter=&u=asuniv&currPage=&disableHighlighting=true&displayGroups=&sortBy=&source=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE%...
The issue of children being more attracted to the shape, colour and features of a toy as opposed to what the meal beside it looks like, is expressed in this article. The children are far more interested in the paraphernalia that they are given with their meal, that what they are with the actual meal they are being served. Studies have shown, that children are to a large extent influenced by what they see and hear in the popular culture that what they are told at home, this indicates that they may suffer from peer pressure and do not have much of a home life if they are always involved in what is going on outside of their homes. Most of the advertisements that McDonalds and Burger King send out to be aired, are mainly targeted at children, they do this by making the packaging of the meals look inviting as well as the portion size is directed to them. Dr. James Sargent who is a paediatrics professor at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, says that these techniques used by McDonalds and other fast food brands are misleading. This technique also means that children make lifelong emotional connections to the fast food brands and will always remember them and long do what they can to always have something from the fast food restaurants. Children under a certain age, mainly the age that the advertisements are targeted at, are unable to purchase these poor nutritional
In “Happy Meals and Old Spice Guy”, Weiss argues that advertisements are influencing the public in a way that is making them blindly accept or be attracted to the information that is being presented to them in an aesthetic or convincing manner. Weiss implies that due to the fact that the advertisements produced by large corporations are being manipulated and conveyed through forms of social media, these corporations are able to reach out to a variety of people and attract a larger audience. It is important that she states that not only adults are affected by advertisements, but that children are as well. In her statement, “McDonald’s is buffeted by market forces,” Weiss implies that McDonald’s justifies their advertising choices based on what seems to be popular in the marketplace (224). In pointing this finger at their advertising choices, she is saying that McDonald’s is just putting a healthier face forward for the media and popularity, but is really maintaining their same “association with fatty food” (224). It is this association that is changing how society sees McDonald’s and also why parents would opt to not allow their children to consume food that would easily be seen as unhealthy for them.
This article is published on the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation website; which is dedicated to increasing the knowledge of health problems and obesity. There is no specific author, but this article helps the website based on the new studies that have been found. They have percentages of children seeing ads each day and a follow up from the studies in 2010; which increases the liability of the website and the information on it. Some of the main points would be that the epidemic is decreasing. Children see many fast food ads every day and they stick in the child’s mind; which is how the producers grab the children’s attention, by having the best and most exciting advertisement. Restaurants should provide healthier options when one would like dine out. The circumstance is the obesity epidemic, but how it is slowly becoming better. The purpose of this article to is make people more aware and make thei...
The role of media is listed as one of the many reasons of obesity particularly in children (Boyce, 2006). A study by Dietz & Gortmaker (1985) suggests, for each additional hour of television children aged between 12 -17 viewed, the prevalence of obesity increased by 2%. On the other hand, food being the most advertised product on children’s television, advertisements make quite an impact on unhealthy consumption (Boyce, 2006). Children who watch this advertisements are more likely to choose the foods advertised compared to the ones who don’t (Coon & Tucker, 2002). The image of body presented by the media is expectable, obese characters are commonly portrayed as unattractive, unpopular and unsuccessful (Brown & Witherspoon; Parallel as cited in Boyce 2006). This portrayal or image of obese people can be harmful for their self-esteem and can cause stress, anxie...
Commercials make the viewer think about the product being advertised. Because of the amount of television children watch throughout the week, it allows the children to be exposed to the information over and over again. Per year, children are known to view thousands of fast food commercials. On a daily basis, a teen will usually view five advertisements and a child aged six to eleven will see around four advertisements (Burger Battles 4). Businesses use this strategy to “speak directly to children” (Ruskin 3). Although the big businesses in the fast ...
The amount of money that is spent marketing to children is outrageous. Companies purposefully market to the young children's tastes in a variety of ways through package design, typefaces, pictures, and content. Key elements for successful marketing to young children are carefully and thoughtfully planned by companies. The entertainment, fast and friendly service, immediate gratification, familiar brand-names fun-to-eat, reasonable prices, value, and quality time are all fundamental basics. Companies justify their marketing as a "public service, expression of freedom of speech, and argue that the advertised foods are not inherently unhealthful, and emphasize that exercise "not diet" are the key to weight control. Company's claim that advertising contributes to nutrition education and argue that the primary responsibility for determining dietary intake rests with parents and caretakers." Unfortunately children are not with their parents or caretakers every minute of the day thus leaving time for them to fend for themselves while in school.
The rate of childhood obesity “has grown significantly in recent years and many have argued that this is partly the result of unregulated advertising to children” (Maria and Carter). Young children that watch television do not fully comprehend the importance of the subliminal messages companies are employing: cartoons and catchy songs to hook the child into demanding unnecessary products. According to Punyanunt-Carter, studies have demonstrated that “children under the age of eight are not cognitively and psychologically competent enough to discern media messages”. It is not acceptable for corporate moguls to take advantage of children, who cannot comprehend the severity of the situation. Children strive for the instant gratification they are promised from the ads they see on television, which cause children to become restless. This restlessness directly affects parents, as the constant pestering from the children is tiring for an adult and leads them to give in to the child’s temper tantrums and buy the product. This cycle of behavior causes children to see fast food as an award and not be educated on the truth of what they are consuming–both physically and
In the documentary Killer at Large, former Surgeon General Richard Carmona remarked that “Obesity is a terror within. It’s destroying our society from within and unless we do something about it, the magnitude of the dilemma will dwarf 9/11 or any other terrorist event that you can point out…” Carmona is indeed right, with the rapid increase of obese children, America is on the fast track to producing a generation with a life expectancy shorter than their peers. One of the main factor is the media representation of obesity (Greenstreet 2008). In today’s society parents are not only worrying about televisions influence on their kid’s behavior but their weight and health, too. According to study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, that researched the role of media in childhood obesity, stated the obesity increased by 2% for every hours of television in adolescent’s ages 12 to 17. The advertisement of food and beverages present a very strong influence on the children. Most of the products being advert...
Food advertising contributes to childhood obesity in many ways. One of them being that the food advertised is unhealthy. “The mechanism of effect of media exposure on obesity may also operate through the extensive advertising messages for unhealthy foods targeted at children.” (Agarwal, Dhanasekaran) The food advertising geared towards children makes them develop unhealthy eating habits, and choices. The advertisements are usually advertising unhealthy foods, never healthy ones. “When children watch television, they cannot escape food advertising. “Sugared snacks and drinks, cereal, and fast food advertisements respectively comprise approximately thirty-two percent, thirty-one percent, and nine percent of all advertisements marketed specifically to children.” (Termini, Roberto, Hostetter) Due to limited cognitive abilities, children view many food advertisements, and don’t really have the knowledge or capability to comprehend that the food being advertised is not healthy.
One way that fast food effects obesity is by advertising their products to children (Miller). In her article Food Advertising Contributes to Obesity, Patti Miller explains that the fast food companies are targeting kids and teenagers by advertising on television. The fast food advertisements are promoting unhealthy products as acceptable food which influences children to choose those meals. The American Psychological Association, an organization focused on improving the lives of individuals, expressed that with the exposure of different fast food commercials, children request to purchase these unhealthy products and cause the parents to be influenced by these requests. This concludes the idea that once children are encouraged by the commercials, they opt to consume the fast food advertised on television. Today, fast food companies are even advertising through schools by offering pizzas and burgers as school lunches, which consequently becomes a daily meal for children and teenagers to consume (Wadden, Brownell,
As a little girl I loved watching television shows on Saturday mornings. I’d get upset when a show would proceed to commercial. That is until I watched the shiny new toy being played with by the girl my age and of course the cool new one that came into the happy meal, then I’d forget. After seeing the appealing commercial I’d run to my mom and try to slickly mention it. “You know McDonalds has a new Monster’s Inc. toy in their happy meal. Isn’t that great? “Now I realize that back then I was targeted by big companies to beg my parents for things that I didn’t need or that wasn’t good for me in order to make money. Advertising today is affecting the health of today’s children because they eat the unhealthy foods advertised to them on: television, the internet, and even at school. Therefore, an impassioned discussion of possible solutions has been brewing.