Through the popularity and variety of social media platforms there is a transparency among individuals and businesses that did not exist before. The transparency within businesses allows brands to engage with their consumers, which makes it easier to establish a connection and makes it difficult for businesses to cover up unethical dilemmas. As a result of increased transparency among business practices, consumers want to shop from companies who build ethics into their brand. This trend can be explained by social influence and social media’s ability to communicate norms, how emotions dominate decisions and the motivation to see oneself as good.
Along with transparency within businesses, studies by Forbes and Morgan Stanley have found that
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In 2014 Netflix added several documentaries that shed light on the corrupt practices of the fast food industry. Food Inc. and Fed Up shows how animals are treated in the farms McDonalds owns, shows how the animals are induced with hormones which reduces the quality of the meat and sheds light on the brutal chemical filled process of how their food is created. Also during this time, McDonald’s, around the world were facing multiple health concerns including contaminated chicken and beef according to the Economist. Word began to spread through social media about McDonalds poor practices and how they put their customers at risk to save money. The tone of the brand had become negative on social media and other major news outlets which caused the masses to conform to the negative perception of the brand. What McDonalds was doing was not ethical and their profits dropped as a result. Bloomberg in December of 2014, reported that McDonalds had the “lowest sales decline in more than a decade”. McDonalds has since made effort to rebrand the company, by offering healthier alternatives, using safer production practices and partnering with ethically trusted brands like Chobani to gain back the trust of its millennial consumers. Bloomberg has reported that although McDonald’s numbers have not completely improved, sales did get better as a result of …show more content…
A neuroscience professor at USC made the argument that when consumers are faced with a dilemma, they use the emotion from past experiences to “create preferences” to determine the solution for the issue at hand. This argument is proven by the effects of a recent twitter outburst involving President-Elect Donald Trump. December 6, 2016, Donald Trump went on a twitter rant bad mouthing Boeing. According to tweets, Trump was under the impression that Boeing had been commissioned to design two new air crafts for future presidents and that the cost of the project was four billion dollars and because of the increasing costs he wanted to cancel the order. Trump also implied that Boeing was purposely overcharging the American government. Trumps claims questioned the moral integrity of Boeing placing the brand in an ethical dilemma. Because of the social influence Trump carries, immediately after his tweeting spree according to MarketWatch.com, the stock price of Boeing fell 1%. MarketWatch.com reported that the stocks fell a total of 1.6% costing Boeing shareholders over $550 million. The consumers who panicked and sold their shares of Boeing only did so because of emotional triggers. At the time of the tweet spree, there were no facts presented to back his claims. It was later revealed that Trumps claims were not true and Boeing was able to increase
Fast food, while a quick alternative to cooking, has always been known to be less healthy than traditional preparations, but the extent of its health benefits or detriments was not known until a lawsuit came out which inspired documentarian Morgan Spurlock to engage in a 30 day experiment. The resultant documentary specifically targeted McDonald’s, the largest fast food chain in the world, which also happens to be a major recipient of lawsuits linking obesity and their food. Spurlock endeavored to spend a thirty day period eating nothing but food that came from the golden arches, with the rules that he would supersize only when asked, and every time he was asked, and that he would have everything from the menu at least once. In the 2004 film Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock explores the concept that McDonald’s contributes to the nation’s obesity problem through the utilization of statistics and scientific evidence as a logical appeal, comedy and repulsive qualities as an emotional appeal, and s...
McDonald's is one of the multiple fast food restaurants that serve greasy and oversized meals that are harmful to the human body. Throughout a thirty day McDonald's only diet, Spurlock surrounds himself with logos, ethos, and pathos to impact the viewer's opinion on the true cost of eating fast food
Spurlock also shows that Americans have become increasingly dependent on fast food. Demonstrating how fast food has become a fixture in our country’s culture. Fast food companies start by advertising to children in school. They want to make school kids addicted to their products for life. Fast food companies want to teach children to associate fast food with comfort and warmth. So much that these eating habits can be continued as they become adults. Unfortunately these associations can lead to addiction to junk food. Since most fast food contains a chemical that kids aren 't capable of resisting. A child 's brain no match for the combination of caffeine & opiates in food. The documentary also showed that the same can be said for adults. Just like a drug, fast food contains an opiate that gives the consumer a short-term feeling of satisfaction. So it 's easier to influence people when they are constantly being offer refined carbohydrates everywhere they go and don’t have many alternatives. The habits that they normalize can affect their well-being as adults. McDonald 's has even admitted that the dangers of their food are well known worldwide. This is due to the fact that processing all the food they serve food makes them more harmful. Regardless of the statement made, people still choose to go to McDonalds to get greasy hamburgers and fries. Despite people
Throughout the film, various companies are exposed for promoting products in a manner that depicts the products as a healthy alternative. The ultimate exposing is done on the government and the USDA. The government is exposed for making deals with food companies to not demonize companies that sell unhealthy food. Even Michelle Obama 's "Let 's Move" campaign against childhood obesity started out bringing unhealthy companies to the light but died down by emphasizing exercise and not talking about food.This is largely in part due to a deal made with major corporations who weren’t too pleased with the original approach of “Let’s Move”. In addition, the USDA is exposed for promoting products such as cheese, milk, and high fructose corn syrup in a fictional way. They provided no information that they were unhealthy in the
McDonald’s is killing Americans, at least that is what Morgan Spurlock believes. In his documentary Super Size Me he embarks on a quest to not only describe and use himself as an example of the growing obesity trend, but to offer the viewers with base-line nutritional knowledge that will allow them to draw their own informed conclusions. Spurlock's primary intention is to prove through self-experimentation that eating solely McDonald's food is dangerous. His secondary intention is to denounce the rising obesity rate in American by using statistics, his own research, and the opinions of experts. His broader message is for a general audience while he tailors select chapters towards more specific demographics such as parents or McDonald's themselves.
The article selected for this assignment is entitled The Virtue of Business: How Markets Encourage Ethical Behavior by Rachel Kotkin. A summary and discussion of the relevance of the article will be presented.
The United States of America has long been considered a “big nation”, whether is has the biggest cities, houses, and on a negative note, biggest people. In 2003, Morgan Spurlock, a healthy-bodied film director, set on a quest to show America the detrimental effects of the fast food industry and raise awareness on the controversial issue. He produced the documentary “Supersize Me”, where McDonald’s meals were consumed for every meal of the day for thirty days. His film was released to movie theatres so that people could understand the devastating effects of McDonald’s on his body in a very short time span. At the end of his experiment, Morgan gained twenty-five pounds, developed a thirteen percent body mass increase, cholesterol skyrocketed immensely, and fat accumulation in his liver rose to. He became depressed and he only felt happy and in no pain when he was eating the fast food. By using ethos, logos, and pathos, “Supersize Me” became one of the most watched documentaries in the United States. Without these appeals, this documentary would not have developed the effect that it did.
One example of how the food industry is ruthless is when one of the CEOs of a fast-food chain states they are part of the problem is hired immediately. Though I don’t not find this wrong because if I was a stock-holder with my life savings invested within his company I would without a doubt have him fired for placing my money at risk. That is the harsh reality of economics, you cannot place you company in shock by either a damaging statement or bad executive move. I found most disturbing about the movie was how a case was being made against McDonalds that two obese teens did not know fast-food was unhealthy (Spurlock). Regardless of how they lived word of mouth had to have taught them fast food is not healthy, and if that didn’t health education has been in place for years now teaching us
First, my personal reaction to this is documentary is an eye opener. I knew McDonalds was more harmful to than other fast food places, but I never knew about the lawsuit between McDonalds and it consumers. I never saw McDonalds as having big impact on my life; this is probably because the McDonald’s in my hometown never had a super-size option. In the video, Spurlock conducted interviews to gain ...
McDonald's is the world's leading food service retailer with more than 30,000 restaurants in 118 countries serving 46 million customers each day. It is one of the most well-known and valuable brands and holds a leading share in the globally branded quick service restaurant segment of the informal eating-out market in virtually every country in which it does business. Problems Faced By McDonalds And The Public Opinion Of McDonalds For many years, McDonalds enjoyed worldwide success built on a few well-known, highly standard conditions. The company with the Golden Arches served a simple menu- hamburgers, French fries, and milkshakes or soft drinks. The food was priced low, its quality was consistent, and it was served speedily from establishments that all looked alike and were extremely clean. However in recent years, McDonalds has seen its growth rate slow down and its dominant market position slip. There are various reasons for this. The main reason is the several allegations made against them by environmentalist and health experts. These allegations are: Destruction Of Rain Forests McDonalds sells beef. Many beef suppliers get their beef from Central and South American countries. These cattle farms are usually placed on rainforest land that had been cut and cleared. The poor soil of the rainforest can only sustain life (grain for the cattle to fed upon) for up to a decade (although the mean is 2 years). The beef suppliers must move their farms every few years and consequently destroy more rainforest. Rarely does the forest re-grow, even if replanted. 70% of the moisture that makes a rainforest a "rain" forest originates from the transpiration of the leaves on the vegetation. Once that vegetation is removed for a few years and...
When researching McDonald’s through online sources, it is clear that nutrition is a major concern of the public visiting the fast-food chain. Secondary research conducted shows that there are several case studies and other secondary source searches around the same topic. McDonald’s has often been the center of nutritional attention within the fast-food industry. Secondary research shows that the restaurant has recently made changes to the American Happy Meal to reduce the amount of French fries offered and replace the portion with fruit (Strom, 2011). In a study conducted by McDonald’s a secondary source reports the meal cuts calories by 20% for the children’s meal (Strom, 2011). This is a critical move by the organization on children’s obesity is currently a hot topic within food chains and attention is driven by the Obama administration. Secondary research also shows that although the public has major health concerns with the food chain, profits are increasing during a high point of an economic recession (Dahan & Gittens, 2008). Acco...
Sometimes the best way to see if your business needs help with social media is to get your hands dirt with a social media evaluation. Although you might not be a social media expert...yet, you can still use these questions to see how to improve your presence.
Gómez and Assaad (2011) in their article posed some challenges faced in social media marketing. The article argues that as much as users and customers can praise and share the good of the company, they can equally share the bad (pg.20). There is so much competition among businesses today. While they are trying to reach brand awareness, they are also on the lookout for loop-holes in other companies. Consumers want to be satisfied and anything less than that is a breach of their satisfaction. They comment and share their experiences as it is. It also points out that privacy and personal issues have to be dealt with. These are challenges that can be dealt with by the businesses that are involved in the marketing. They may not entirely be solved but they can be managed from the companies
Communication is now instantaneous. Electronic communication has come a long way in the past century. It started with person to person communication via the telegraph, eventually evolving with devices like the telephone. Communication became quicker and the ability to mass communicate became available to a select few. In recent years further development of the internet has made it possible for an individual or a business to mass communicate on its own. Started as a way for individuals to communicate and connect with one another over the internet, social media has evolved into a valuable tool for business. Social media is not only beneficial to modern business, but necessary.
Social media is a form of online communication channels devoted to society input, intercommunication, and cooperation. In social media, people can talk and interact without restriction, exchange and debate information with each other about their lives by using many different combinations of the words, personal multimedia, photos, and videos. Also, in social media, individulsa and groups can create, edit, comment on, and engage in personal conversations. There are numerous types of social media, for example, wikis, blogs, social network site, micro blogging services, and sites sharing media. At the beginning, social media was limited to a few networks sites, for instance, Bulletin Board System that allows people to communicate with each other and post a comment. Today, social media has transformed from ineffective sites to more useful and effective websites, for example, Facebook, and MySpace. Some companies are using social media to achieve their goals which is attracting more customers to company website. Three advantages of using social media in business are: raising brand consciousness, building customer relationships, and increasing performance measurements.