Case Study : ' Happy Family, Happy Me

The site encourages kids to send Ronald an email revealing their favorite menu item at Mcdonald's” (Schlosser 45). “ Today’s market researchers not only conducts surveys of children in shopping malls, they also organize focus groups for kids young as two or three”( Schlosser 45). Children’s clubs have for years been an attraction to target children ads.

“Congress should ban advertising that preys upon children, it should stop subsidizing dead-end jobs, it should pass tougher food safety laws, it should protect American workers from serious harm, it should fight against dangerous concentrations of economic power (Schlosser). People must wonder how is it that a fast food company has so much customers. Advertising is the answer. The power advertisers have to be able to influence so many people 's decisions and affect people’s lives especially the lives of young children is incredible. Advertisers know just who to target and they research how too. In Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation, Schlosser explains to the readers how advertisers use techniques to draw in customers. A technique used is the “cradle-to-grave” which focuses on children to make them lifelong consumers. Like many researcher, Schlosser, has found that advertising to children when they are younger makes them be loyal to the company, and a child 's “brand loyalty” may begin as early as the age of two (43). Fast food advertising reaches out and harms families everywhere. This is why it is crucial that the people to make changes in their lives and change the way fast food is affected us.

The way fast food advertises is extremely popular with the media. Children are targeted through this because they are the ones who watch a lot of television. Great advertising techniques such as flashy colors and celebrity figures are luring children to try their product. One of the most popular out there for kids is Ronald McDonald. When it comes to

I understand a working parent has barely enough time to watch over every little detail in the kids life, but an effort should be made not only by the parent, but also by the fast-foods to take at least some of the responsibility for making schoolchildren, and not to mention Americans in general, overweight. Advertisement towards children should be to promote healthy eating, which it currently is, however not so much back in 2003 where, according to David Barboza's article “If You Pitch It, They Will Eat”, “Product tie-ins are everywhere.” This holds true to this day, McDonalds has toys with their happy meals from two popular kids shows. Power Rangers and My Little Pony, which appeal to young boys and girls who know of or watch the show. It is a marketing strategy, the kids see the toys and watch the show, which in turn makes them want the toys, making them want to watch the shows. Continuing in an endless loop that only benefits the shows and most of all the fast-food companies like McDonalds.

According to the article, “If You Pitch It, They Will Eat It,” by David Barboza, toys are are used to market fast food, in such ways as food companies using strategic placing of popular characters to lure in children. Barboza states, “...call it a blitzkrieg that perverts children's eating habits and sets them on a path to obesity.” What the author is saying is that these companies use toys in marketing to exploit children's interests just to make some money. Children do not know any better when it comes to healthy eating, so when they see their favorite characters like Spongebob or Barbie in a Happy Meal or on candy, they will instantly want the product. Sales go up when children see popular toys used in marketing, so food companies make

To brainwash an innocent child with the advertisement of a new Fast Food Franchise is beyond cruel and diminishing to their health. As most American’s know, Ronald McDonald is a well-known character from the legendary McDonald’s company. With their golden arches and tasty treats, McDonalds has become the most identifiable company in the world, not only by

They see it; they want it. Advertising to children is turning a want into a responsive nag to a parent, like a reflex. Every media outlet advertises, and companies like popular fast food restaurants target children. In the process of fattening the children, will their reflexes get slower? At some point in every kid’s life, they see an advertisement for a food or toy they want. This want leads to nagging of the parent until they give in. Although it is highly effective and profitable, fast food companies should not be able to have aggressive advertisement campaigns targeting children because it corruptly brainwashes them and promotes unhealthy life choices.

According to Ken Yeager, a county supervisor, 2 "it is unfair to parents and children to use toys to capture the taste of children when they are young to get them hooked on eating high sugar, high fat foods early in life." Santa Clara is not alone though. San Francisco is joining them with the ban of toys in the meals. With an out of the ball park vote of 8-3 by the city's board of supervisors, Happy Meals in San Francisco will also need to meet a certain standard in order for a toy to be added to the meal. And not to mention, there would also need to be an additional serving of fruits or vegetables. Aside from marketing toys to children restaurants have tried to hop on the health and nutrition band wagon and improve their menus. Wendy's has added mandarin oranges to their side items, both McDonald's and Burger King offer some sort of apple slice side served with a dipping sauce, and all three restaurants offer milk as a drink instead of soda. It seems to be that the more and more parents and advocates approach a restaurant with the nutritional value of the food offered at their establishment; the more a restaurant feels obligated to improve their menu Even with the improvements in the menu the advertisements continue to be the same. According to fastfoodmarketing.org in 2009 restaurants spent over $4.2 billion for television ads.

In recent advertisements, Chipotle emulates the Ronald McDonald Campaign, by the appearance of the characters and scenery as something from a children’s book. This sentimental appeal seeks to connect the audience to their childhood, recalling a time in which all was right with the world. Specifically in Chipotle’s “Scarecrow” advertisement, Chipotle associates a children’s character with their product.

McDonald's marketing targets everyone in every age,gender,races and does not have a select audience. The company claims that their restaurants offer meals for youngsters, a serene place to relax with free wi-fi for adults, and a quick delicious breakfast for those in a hurry in the morning.

Fast food advertisement agencies take advantage of the ignorance of children to scam them into wanting unhealthy meals. Each year, the fast food industry spends over $3 million of advertising targeted towards children. Half of television advertisement is used during children’s shows and with cartoons. Out of all the factors

Much like a smile, the “Golden Arches” can be understood in any language. The McDonalds brand is the most well-known, internationally embraced fast food empire. McDonalds operates over 31,000 franchises throughout the world, with the United States leading the way with a whopping 13,381outlets as of May 2009 [1]. McDonalds has the fast food market cornered, offering an increasing variety of food of beverages, marketed to people of all ages to eat at any time of the day. However, being a corporate giant has its issues. McDonalds has faced a lot of criticism for its high-fat, high-sugar, potentially addictive menu. While the corporation is not likely to outright admit responsible for its actions, McDonalds has seen some changes to address

We see advertisements and commercials all the time in our daily lives. Sometimes, though, more often than not, we over look things that might be presented to us, without even realizing it. A McDonald’s advertisement is something everyone is familiar with. Whether we are ignoring the subtleties that are hidden in the advertisements message, or we are paying attention to the tricks that are being used to draw us in, McDonalds knows how to make an effective ad.

The commercials feature animated characters selling fast food kid meals. Children relate with the cartoon characters and want to eat the foods that are being promoted. Children receive the message that fast food is good for them, and do not understand that eating too much fast food can be unhealthy for them. Unfortunately the message from this type of advertising is geared toward the child thinking I need to have the fast food. This is a bad message to leave in children?s minds, because it can also cause problems with their health. The obesity rate in young children has risen drastically over the last twenty years. Health reports have attributed this to the continuing increase in the amount of fast food children are consuming. Television commercials for fast food are on every channel, and the number of channels has risen over the last twenty years. Children who watch television are exposed to a non-stop borage of commercials. This continual exposure promotes a cycle of the child always wanting to go to the fast food restaurants. Parents also are affected by the commercials. Their children want to eat fast food, and the fast food is very convenient for busy families. It is much easier to go through a drive-thru and order the food, then to cook the meal at home. This can be a harmful pattern for the family to establish. Convenience over a more healthy home cooked meal adds to the childhood obesity

Furthermore, the corporation was heavily condemned by the public for exploiting children market and causing childhood obesity. Indeed, McDonald’s has been using advertising which mainly targeted children. As a result, according to the survey to American school student in 1996, 96 percent of all children could identify Ronald McDonald (Cohen, 2011, p8-5). How was McDonald’s able to achieve the above result? McDonald’s children marketing strategies were very simple but extremely effective--to give small toys as a treatment to children in order to appeal to their interests. With the repeated uses of this psychological influencing tactic, children would subconsciously make a connection between McDonald’s and toys. Therefore, children, who were under the influences of McDonald’s marketing strategies, could not help to think of McDonald’s whenever thinking of toys.