Fast food marketing to kids skewed
Obesity in children is a growing epidemic in the United States. Fast food companies use everything from celebrity endorsements to direct media advertisements to promote their products. The influence they have on what children choose to eat is tremendous. This begs the question, when does corporate responsibility stop and personal responsibility begin? Should fast food companies be responsible for the influx of advertisements highlighting bad products or is it a matter of common knowledge that such foods are dangerous?
Fast food companies take advantage of their targeted audience. By failing to disclose detrimental effects of eating their food, they set children up to make poor choices. The naïve child’s mind is no match for the tantalizing image of a burger or a Happy Meal toy. McDonalds’ advertisements preach for one to eat with them every meal of the day. How can a child’s cognitive ability allow for them to think otherwise? However, since marketing directly connects with the public, to what extent should it be honest and transparent? By preying on the minds of children in not fully making them aware of the harmful effects of their food, an ethical climate cannot be created. According to the American Marketing Association’s code of ethics, advertising needs to be transparent and honest, while also accepting responsibility of all consequences. Fast food marketing clearly complies with none of these requirements.
Why should fast food companies want to change? They want us to use their products simply because that’s how they generate revenue. The promotion of shoddy products allows them to make millions, even at the expense of consumers. At the end of the day, their loyalty is to their stakeholders. It is up to consumers to exercise personal responsibility to look for healthier options. It all depends on who consumers want to see go first, them or the companies.
One reply on “Mommy look at at that, I wanna be fat!”
I agree with Kevin that lots of consumers, especially children don’t have the ability and developed mind to yet understand what all those bubbly, colored and seemingly legitimate labels mean that are trying (and succeeding) to make fast-food more attractive to them.
Unfortunately, a lot of the time in business, the bottom line is all that counts. If the profit is high, the company is happy. However, not disclosing the real effects that fast food has on its consumers as well as its ingredients etc will have a long-term negative impact on America’s population. As mentioned, obesity is already a problem and I believe that fast food companies are contributing their fair share to keeping that problem alive.
Unlike Kevin, I do believe that it is not solely the consumer’s responsibility to exercise a healthy lifestyle. People tend to follow the crowd, and if the crowd goes to McDonald’s for breakfast, KFC for lunch and eats pizza in front of the TV, that thus seems the normal thing to do. I think, as part of corporate social responsibilities, companies should use marketing to promote a healthier lifestyle. Just because they are selling a somewhat unhealthy product does not mean they cannot vouch for a healthier lifestyle and engage people to get out of their comfort zone. In the end, marketing is all about positioning your product in peoples’ minds, and, if a company does that well, people might even associate the foods with a healthier lifestyle and as a result revenue might go up.