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Big Mac Essay

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Haley Spencer
Professor Flood
English 101
20 October 2014
Big Mac with a Side of Apples and a Diet Coke
For decades the fast-food industry has supplied Americans with tasty, comforting food, quickly and for a low cost. It was not until recently, when the health craze first hit America in the late 1980’s that corporations developed a new approach to marketing health food products to fit their customer’s wants. Fast Food companies trick their costumers into believing the fast-food is healthier by fancy advertisement, using descriptive words such as fresh, and not providing enough nutritional information.
The advertising technique of persuasion leads to false impressions of a product, much like the advertisement claims of selling healthy …show more content…

Consequently, this exposure provoked McDonalds to change their image and began advertising healthier products such as yogurt, apple slices, and salads. Melanie Warner who is a writer for the CBS health column exposes health precautions fast-food leaves out of their advertising. Subway may advertise “healthier” food than McDonalds but with their meats consisting of artificial ingredients, bulking agents, filler, processing aids, and even preservatives the alleged “fresh” food is hardly nutritional (Warner). Comparatively McDonalds draws in a lot of criticism for poor quality meats but examining the ingredients within Subways food there is relatively no difference (Warner). Though it is nearly impossible for fast-food to stop adding artificial preservatives, by becoming aware of the health content can significantly reduce calorie and fat intake.
In the article "The Biasing Health Halos of Fast Food Restaurant Health Claims: Lower Calorie Estimates and Higher Side–Dish Consumption Intentions." Authors Chandon and Wansink study the underestimation of calories in fast-food restaurants and the consumption of higher calorie side-dishes. Their article, discovered with a 1,000 calorie meal consumed at both Subway and McDonalds the customers estimated their calorie intake to around 585 calories at Subway and 744 calories McDonalds. That is 21.3% fewer calories than are actually being consumed which is one of the biggest causes

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