Ketchup On A Hotdog Research Paper

In the article “America and Americas: Is the American Dream Even Possible?”, written by John Steinbeck, he uses a series of paradoxes and generalities to show how Americans themselves are paradoxical and how they are never happy with what they have. For example, the author states “We fancy ourselves as hard-headed realists, but we will buy anything we see advertised, particularly on television, and we buy it not with reference to the quality or value of the product, but directly as a result of the number of times we have heard it mentioned” (Steinbeck). With the use of this paradox, Steinbeck is demonstrating how Americans claim to be realistic people, yet they will buy something that is unrealistic without even questioning it. “One of the

In “Swollen Expectations”, the authors describe their theory that the population of the United States has become more and more greedy since the simpler times of the late 1950’s. They claim that houses, vehicles, and even food have been victims of our “virus”. While agreeing that our expectations have been swollen, especially when compared to life in the late 1950’s, we think we “need” more things, but we really only want the convenience.

Nearly 50 billion cheeseburgers/burgers are eaten per year, which means on average an American eats three burgers a week. My favorite meal would have to be a homemade cheeseburger with mash potatoes, fruit (strawberries and honeydew), and to top things off a fresh glass of sweet tea. All foods have their healthy and non-healthy factors but do you really know how your food is really affecting your body?

Cheeseburgers are better than hot dogs. Cows are uglier than pigs. They just have that flavor, that when you taste it,you start jumping up and down with joy. They are way more fun to make. We should save the pig for bacon. Cheeseburgers are amazing!

In the article ‘Why Stuff in not Salvation’, Anna Quindlen is suggesting that the people are out of control with consumption of products. She writes, “addiction to consumption, so out of control that it qualifies as a sickness” which is validated by the death of the Walmart employee, the debt the country is in, as well as the ungrateful spirit in humans.

In our human culture, desire has always been prevalent in our lives, as humans always strive for that longing or want for something. William R. Leach takes the time to explain the type of desire that changed America's views on consumption in his novel Land of Desire. In Land of Desire, Leach conveys his main point that during the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era, American society significantly transformed on a consumer basis. Leach believes that the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era gave birth to consumer capitalism. Consumer capitalism puts the advantage in the sellers hands rather than putting the advantage in the consumers hands, which has many negative affects for the people of America. Throughout the book, Leach has a negative view of consumer capitalism, but makes the point that the consumer capitalism we know today started in the early 1900s, and he discusses why it happened in the first place. Leach answers his two-fold argument of when and why consumer capitalism came to be by explaining the events that led up to the rise of this new consumer ideology, and explaining the people's desire for goods.

The Ketchup Conundrum By: Malcolm Gladwell • Reading this article was interesting to me. What surprised me was the way the author describes the taste of the Heinz ketchup, it was almost perfect, but we know nothing's really perfect, perfect. Also, I learned that it took a while to come up with the brand name and the taste, which was confirmed due to a tasting

With an end to the First World War, Americans at long last were able to concern themselves with personal matters, needs, and desires, as opposed to those of the country’s in wartime t. This development of a high value placed on self-treatment resulted in the rise of a consumer culture that entailed the rise of industry and the manufacture of goods. Consumerism and industry go hand-in-hand at the time, with consumer products becoming “symbols and proofs of excellence” (Doc. 1). The desire for new products and purchasing goods initiates the rise of a new religion in America, replacing

Naturally, the author begins by questioning why are there so many different types of mustard, before discussing ketchup. To respond to this query, Gladwell views the question through the perspective of Howard Moskowitz, an American market researcher and psychophysicist. During the late 90s and the early 2000s, he tried to explain to the food industries his idea about plural nature of perfection when it came to food – so rather than creating a single type of sauce fitted for a “universal” consumer, create variations to appeal to each group of consumers. However, the industries were indifferent towards his knowledge, “but he [Moskowitz] could think of nothing else. ‘It’s like that Yiddish expression,” he says.

Hunger for luxury items and people’s strife for the brands and items they associate with being beyond reach is paramount for this system. It is this drive for items one can’t have that the author feels is one of the benefits of consumerism. He declares, “…the aspiration of the poor to

Instead of one focusing on a single issue, such as money, we focus on items to simply make everyday life easier. American Consumers lack to focus on the overall effect of the products they buy will have in homes, not to mention in our community. This is one reason we have a consumer based country that leads to many other problems of various origins within the economy. However the controversial topic being determined is whether or not consumerism is for the best. This can be addressed from two views, for instance Juliet Schor speaks of the recent struggle in debt our country has throughout her writings, which in return asks the question, should we really be spending? Schor doesn’t think we shouldn't and it’s been proven that shoppers today may consume as much as twice as of what people only 40 years ago may have. Schor views consumerism to be okay when moderated because you have to buy and sell to create newer societies with a modern appeal. Although this doesn’t mean take away some of the wonderful moments in life, just to go shopping. For instance, four billion square feet of America’s land is simply shopping centers, making it almost impossible to live and teach an independent lifestyle that is necessary when explaining how our country was

This realisation changed consumerism forever and was the start of a consumer culture, which was to spread rapidly. In the 50s it was for the most part an American phenomenon due to the fact that they had the money and manufacturing productivity to make it possible, for example, “the affluence of America meant that almost every family owned a car” and food rationing was unthinkable while in Briton the opposite was

Consumerism is the center of American culture. Americans tend to confuse their wants with their needs. With new advances in technology, as well as the help of advertisers, people are provided with easy access to new products that seem essential to their everyday life, even though they have survived this long without them. People cannot live without food, clothing, and shelter. But realistically, according to people's different lifestyles, more than food, clothing, and shelter are needed. Most people need to work to survive. Unless a job is either in their own home, or within walking distance, a means of transportation is needed. Whether it be a vehicle, money for a taxi-cab, or a token for a ride on the subway, money must be spent

The American Dream itself has come to contain consumerism as one of its most important elements. As a consequence, many Americans believe that communism represents a threat to achieving the American Dream. A society where consumerism would no longer be present is, in the eyes of many,

As Austrian writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote,“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” History and literature have established that the ideal goal every American has wanted is for his thirst for material possessions to be reached, but even then, the individual isn’t truly happy. Money, and the things it can get you, have long been a part of American culture and the materialist culture of society have been examined in numerous ways from novels to the art of those like Andy Warhol. A life free from the economic woes that plague almost everyone seems like the quintessential existence, but material wealth is not a way to mend issues.