The Decade Of The Child Consumer

“Cradle to grave” and “Brand loyalty” these slogans are the goal of many companies which target our kids to get us to spend our money on unnecessary things. The article “Kid Kustomers” by Eric Schlosser, an American award-winning author and journalist. He studied in both Princeton and Oxford. One of his most well-known writings is “fast food nation” and the other is “Kid Kustomers”. “Kid Kustomers” published in is one of Schlosser’s best articles, he discussed the fact that there is a market targeted exactly and specifically to our children, and this is not a new phenomenon, this way of marketing has been invented and followed for at least 25 years. Schlosser’s Kid Kustomers is a very good essay published in 1959, it has many ups and

“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.

In the article kid kustomer by Eric Schlosser published in “2011” in the United States of America, the author argument shows that advertising companies in 20th century have changed throughout the years. Today companies direct marketing towards children, because children will then be drawn to a product and ask their parents for it, which often times can lead to nagging. It is evident that Schlosser’s purpose is “to change the way you eat and the way you spend money, as well as the way you think. Eric Schlosser graduated from two universities, he graduated from, Princeton University and Oxford University. Schlosser was born in Manhattan, New York; he spent his childhood there and in Los Angeles, California. His parents are Judith (née Gassner)

The way that Burger King and other fast food restaurant chains do business and markets their products to consumers is due to the change in our society to where the consumer wants the biggest, fastest, and best product they can get for their money. This change in society can be attributed to a process known as McDonaldization. Although McDonaldization can be applied to many other parts of our society, this paper will focus on its impact on Burger King and Taco Bell restaurants. My belief is that the process of McDonaldization has lead our generations toward a more a much more efficient lifestyle, with much less quality. From my observations and studies of these fast food resturants, several themes have become

The McDonald’s “Speedee Service System” launched in 1948 and made meals terribly cheap and fast. In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser wrote, “The McDonald brothers’ Speedee Service System revolutionized the restaurant business… as word spread about the low prices and good hamburgers.” (20) For the first time, working-class families could afford to buy their children restaurant food. Customers were purchasing their “Pure Beef Hamburger” for 15 cents, and “Tempting Cheeseburger” for 20 cents.

Eric Schlosser’s essay, “Kid Kustomers,” concludes and makes several strong points about the marketing on children. He starts his essay with a brief comparison that “twenty-five years ago, only a handful of American companies directed their marketing at children,” whereas today, “children are being targeted by phone companies, oil companies, and automobile companies…” He emphasizes and stresses the importance of having “Kid Kustomers,” because one important marketing strategy is to aim to “increase not just current, but also future, consumption.” Schlosser learns that ad agencies target children because they make up a majority of their sales. Throughout the essay, Schlosser not only gives marketing tips but also discusses the 7 different types

Now, in 1954, a man named Ray Kroc joined McDonald’s and helped create it into a fast food empire by spreading the idea of the Speedee Service System nationwide. He had originally went to McDonald’s to convince the brothers who owned to by his milkshake machine, but fell in love with their Speedee Service System. He convinced the brothers to let him buy the franchise and helped developed the business nationwide. After finalizing the agreement, he wrote to his old friend, Walt Disney to ask if he (Kroc) could place a McDonald’s in his amusement park, Disneyland. Disney forwarded the idea to the executives over the park and in return the executives demanded that Kroc raise the prices on the food so that they could make a profit off of it. Kroc refused.

Many Fast food companies target children because they are young and are good at persuading their parents to get what they want. “It’s not just getting kids to whine” (Schlosser 43). Fast food companies target kids based on what they are looking for which is money. “The decade of the child consumer” (Schlosser 43). Americans need to pay close attention to how their children spend their money. As more kids visit fast food restaurants, companies will come out with more items for kids to purchase as time goes along. More companies in America will keep targeting kids because they see an advantage in it that the reader does not see. “We see this as a great opportunity” (Scholosser 48). In the meantime, an employee at a fast food restaurant will sell fast food items to kids because they want their money in order to increase the business. As more fast food companies make sales, this will create a dynamic bond between parents and their children because the reader ponders how the fast food industry is affecting their children. As more kids leave after school to go and have something to eat with friends at a Taco Bell, or Pizza Hut, kids will buy food based on what they may be craving during lunchtime. “Research has shown children are more likely to choose foods with familiar logos” (Heyes). At some point in time, there will be millions of parents who will talk to their kids about their active interest in visiting fast food restaurants after school all of the time. The reader may

Fast-food industries may try to “target children in their ads”, but it ultimately comes down to the adults-the parents- choosing to dine at these places and pork up their kids on the high-sugar sodas, salty French fries, and greasy burgers. If they would just take the time to look out the window, they would see the healthy alternatives to fast-food, and how the alternatives are literally right in front of

Marketing styles is not the only element Ray Kroc and Walt Disney can be linked through. Both of these entrepreneurs changed American culture through their businesses and set building blocks for the industry. Although they were influential, marketing to kids can be turned into a form of brainwashing. Thousands of children get hooked on fast food and other products that are unhealthy. Once hooked at a young age, these children grow up never changing their habits. This leads to dangerous lifestyles and the amount of obesity that is in our society. But is taste and familiarity the only factors kids are hooked on fast food? Have you ever noticed that McDonald’s is the only carrier of Disney products as toys in the Happy Meal? Kroc and Disney grew up together and had similar ambitions, which led to their empires helping one another out. (Schlosser 184). Staying friendly with

From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating customers.

In recent years there has been a growing epidemic of obesity, especially in America. According to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey posted on the Center for Disease Control website there are 12.5 million children from ages 2 through 19 that are obese. Many people are starting to complain that the commercials and ads for these restaurants are the result of such an incline in obesity. Although there have been current ad campaigns aiming at children to live a healthy life style there are still hundreds of advertisements that are putting restaurants in a sort of ultimatum position. Either restaurants change their advertisements or they improve their menus. In 1979 McDonalds debuted their world famous Happy Meals to the

McDonald's has had a global impact on the food industry. McDonald's developed a revolutionary idea known today as fast-food. This impact began in 1930 when Maurice and Richard McDonald left New Hampshire seeking to make a fortune in Hollywood, started up a drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino. Unlike so many other food-service operations at the time, McDonald's came up with new ideas that turned the usual slow paced dinner into a finely tuned engine.

Food advertisements, if focused at the right people and in the right places, are a complete success. These features, some of which are commercials, seduce society into buying food that we necessarily do not need. Many advertisement companies, especially those about food, are directed to children because they know that if you grab the kids you have their parents. While brands are using fun cartoons like “Trix Rabbit” and “Toucan Sam” (Green, 2007, p. 49) supermarkets are taking these items and placing them right in front of the children, at their level, advertising the “Fun foods” (Elliot, 2008, p. 259-273). They do this so the kids will use their, “pester power” (Scholsser, n.d., p. 2) to get what they want. A series of studies have been performed on children and television advertisements. An article states, “These studies have generally linked children's television viewing to negative health effects” (Korr, 2008, p. 451). Amongst these negative effects is a higher level of childhood obesity (p. 451). Similarly, in another study performed by a group of researchers, kids were asked to explain the television commercials that they remembered the best. The answers given were then compared with their diets. Interestingly, the items those children remembered best, chips, sweets, and sodas were a huge part of what they ate (Hitching & Moynihan, 1998, p. 511-517). However, some authors argue that television producer’s, even though their

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.