Just a few decades ago, the theme of being environmentally friendly was not well accepted by the world. To the general public, this concept was portrayed as being a hippie “tree hugger” sitting in sketchy places smoking some marijuana and playing guitar. However, in today’s society, being environmentally sustainable is one of the biggest trend. As intelligent marketers, most companies now somehow involve themselves with the theme of being “environmentally friendly” to attract the present “tree huggers”.

Shopping for groceries are not the same as many years ago either. As has the environmentally friendly trend has evolved, trends for being healthy, educated, and ethical has also entered our society. With more conscious customers, marketing has become a much more complicated job. Not only do marketers have to somehow appeal to their targets with the products, but they also have to appeal to social trends and personal beliefs. As mentioned in Vincent Lee’s blog article,

McDonald’s – Retailer of Burgers, Fries and… Books?

 (https://blogs.ubc.ca/vincentl/)

even McDonald’s felt the need to adapt to the “healthier” trend by providing books that are actually good for them. Just as Vincent said, the product is what should really matter, but due to these trends, we can see that not just the product matters anymore. As much as I agree with Vincent’s view about how this is just another McDonald’s scheme to cajole consumers into purchasing more “McMeals”, social forces now seem to have more weight on consumer’s buying decision.