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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Opinion Piece


Kentucky Fried Chicken and a Pizza Hut!

“Fast Food Rockers” fast food song; Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut a pizza hut a pizza hut, Kentucky fried chicken and a pizza hut McDonald’s McDonald’s. Have you ever heard this song?
Advertising campaigns for fast food restaurants have changed over time. Marketing young children toys that are based on restricted movies and mature rated video games is a common industry practice. In recent years, the fast food industry in the United States has viewed children and teenagers as a foremost market force. Experts in advertising campaigns focus in youth because they are easy to influence. Several techniques and media are used to influence children to consume junk food. Fast food advertisement ranges from in-school marketing, television advertising, the Internet and toys.  Marketers have discovered something about children, they love to collect things. Kids' collections used to consist of marbles, stamps or coins. But now, thanks to our consumer culture, kids amass huge collection of store-bought items such as Beanie Babies, Barbies or Pokémon cards and figures, as well as countless Happy Meal Toys advertised. The marketing strategy behind the Pokémon was simple and lucrative—create 150 Pokémon characters, then launch a marketing campaign called "Gotta Catch 'Em All," to encourage children to collect all 150 of the cheaply made, overpriced figures.



                     

Focusing on children and teenagers as a target in advertisement campaigns is simply wrong. Toddlers, especially the little ones, may not be able to distinguish advertisements from regular programs and have little perceptive of their influential intent. According to Schlosser (2002), “Not satisfied with marketing to children through playgrounds, toys, cartoons, movies, videos, charities, and amusement parks, through contests, sweepstakes, games, and clubs, via television, radio, magazines, and the Internet, fast food chains are now gaining access to the last advertising-free outposts of American life.” Using kids’ favorite characters and involving products with concepts such as fun, happiness and well-being, food advertisements can effectively attract children to consume their products.

Gallo (2005) states, “The U.S. Department of Agriculture spent $333.3 million in fiscal year 1997 on nutrition education, evaluation, and demonstrations. This is approximately what the food industry spent on advertising just for coffee, tea, and cocoa, or for snacks and nuts; slightly more than half (60 percent)…” The government is making an effort to regulate media advertisement; however I believe it is not enough. The government is coming up with new policies and laws, but I think they are too generalized, when they should been strongly strict and specific.

The government wanted to take action against false advertisement by creating some policies. One of these policies is that if fast food advertising is false or materially deceptive then laws of the state govern penal action.  Additionally a complaint may be filed with Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In filing a complaint with FTC you have to show that advertisement is false and misleading. However, the fast food industry protects itself in every possible way. For example, if a person wants to sue a fast food restaurant because she/he saw an advertisement where a burger looked way different than it actually is, the restaurant would win the case. In this case if the complaint pertains to claim for making burgers, it may be difficult to classify, as false claim because taste by person differs consequently exact nature of claim and how it is misleading must be shown.

On a study made by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, Powell (2007) says, “Food ads made up over one quarter of TV ads viewed by adolescents with the most commonly viewed products of fast food, sweets, and beverage products well within the reach of their own purchasing power.” By these words we can assume that television advertising contributes to obesity among children and teenagers. I believe government should take a major action to regulate this massive wrong advertisement. The government should regulate fast food, because obesity and other diet-related health problems affect a wide range of government concerns. I do believe that fast food has become so prevalent, and is so unhealthy, that government should start regulating it. Millions of people eat fast food every day, which exposes them to many unknown and potentially harmful or even fatal consequences. Each person has the right to eat at safe establishments that are licensed to be open by the government. We all need to be more Socially Responsible!















References

Gallo, A. (2005). America’s eating habits: changes and                    consequences.

Powell, L. (2007). Adolescent exposure to food advertising on television. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33(4), s251.

Schlosser, E. (2002). Fast food nation: the dark side of the all-American meal. New York, NY: Perennial.



3 comments:

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