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.
Fast foods or snacks doesn't mean having them in such a amount that they simply becomes disastrous for your health. All of them can be made healthy. You can add glass of juices or fruits into your snacks to maintain good healthy. You can go for healthy juices like Acai Berry Juice, noni or goji berry juice and get proper health benefits out of them.
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