Fast Food Marketing
In one study, children were asked to rate healthy foods. Some of the food was branded as from Mcdonalds and the other food wasn't branded. The children in the study were in the 3-5 year old range.
Roughly ¾ of the children rated the Mcdonalds food as superior in taste. The food was exactly the same. This shows a strong branding preference that is very effective for even young children.
Dollars Spent
Think of all the junk food and fast food companies and the amount of dollars spent on advertising. Then, think of all the advertising spent on eating healthy foods.
The fact is that there is a jillion times more money spent on advertising and marketing of unhealthy foods. For example, the federal budget for food advertising is simply a drop in the bucket compared with fast food companies.
Marketing Effectiveness
Many of us remember the Wendys commercial with the old lady asking, “Where's the beef?” Fast food marketing has simply been extremely effective. We remember lots of “good things” about fast food from all the marketing. In fact, some of us can even recite the Mcdonalds jingle about what is on a big mac.
In contrast, how many healthy food marketing campaigns can you remember? Many of us remember to eat five servings of fruits and vegetables a day or we may also remember to eat whole grains. However, the marketing dollars spent to get you to change your actions is not nearly enough to combat professional advertisers with lots of money.
Food marketing may be another reason why those that watch the most television get the fattest.
How to Avoid the Marketing
One way to avoid fast food marketing is to use Tivo. You can record the shows you want to watch and simply skip past the commercials. This may become increasingly important for young children that are more susceptible to brand advertising.
You might also go to the post office and request to be taken of the junk mailing list. This will keep many of the direct mail fast food ads from getting to your door.
Living in the country is another way to avoid the marketing. Fast food companies have a goal of being highly visible and close to you. Their visible locations are a constant reminder to go and eat there.
Make Up Your Own Slogans
One doctor from Florida was fired from the public department of health when he came up with catchy food slogans against donuts and other unhealthy foods. Some of the local donut shops were angry enough to get rid or him. The business owners didn't feel like it was fair to name their business as unhealthy.
In your own life, you might make up slogans for foods that are bad that you know you shouldn't eat. It will help you remember the ill effects and what foods to avoid. For example, a soda a day will cause obesity right away.
Defensive Posturing
Don't think that you are immune to the effects of advertising. We all think we can resist ads, but the fact remains that they are effective and work on all of us that think it doesn't. Try combating them by watching less television, avoiding places that have fast food restaurants, and coming up with our own slogans in our homes.
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