Fast, Fat, and Naggy

Fast, Fat, and Naggy “McDonald’s operates more playgrounds than any other private entity in the U. S. It is responsible for the nation’s bestselling line of children’s clothing (McKids) and is one of the largest distributors of toys” (Schlosser 4). According to James McNeal, a marketer at Texas University, before the 1940’s, children were not even viewed as consumers, but as future consumers (10). After WWII, the baby boom occurred, and by 1950 the under-five population was 16,163,000 (McNeal 10). For the first time, children were on the marketing radar.

Meanwhile, well-known franchises such as McDonald’s were at their early stages of development. Up until the exhaustively researched work of Eric Schlosser in Fast Food Nation, the extent to which fast food corporations market to children was widely unknown. His work and others’ show that while fast food is convenient, it uses deceptive marketing tactics to lure children, and is incredibly unhealthy. The need for instant gratification, imbedded in our American culture, has paved the way for fast food corporations and their convenient style of food production.

The McDonald’s brothers, who developed the Speedee Service System in 1948, made all this possible (Schlosser 19). This system began the industrialization of the food industry; which essentially gave birth to a new industry, fast food. Now one person grills the burgers, another person “dresses” them, and another prepares the milkshakes (20). This system rapidly increases the rate of food production. According to the McDonald’s corporation website, McDonald’s operates more than 30,000 restaurants world-wide and serves more than 47,000,000 people every single day. The key behind all this success is the American ideology of convenience.

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When people feel a craving for food, a uniformly made burger, fries, and drink will materialize in minutes. The concept of fast food is exceptional because it creates a quick way to produce a sit-down meal. One could argue that food is no longer an obstacle within the fast food industry, but simply a means to an end, which is ideal for those that don’t have the time to sit down and enjoy every meal. However, fast food is incredibly unhealthy and supports an industry full of corruption. It is bent on lowering production and labor costs in order to create a high profit margin.

Due to the Speedee Service System, no job at McDonald’s requires any trained skill whatsoever (Schlosser 20). Therefore, the work force can be made up of young, unskilled teenagers as well as illegal immigrants that have a tenuous grasp on the English language. This in combination with a 90% annual turn-over rate, makes unionization almost impossible (160). While this is bad enough, what does it mean for our society when upcoming generations are being taught that McDonalds is a wonderland? Fast food corporations use highly deceptive tactics to market to children, setting them up to be lifelong customers of the fast food industry.

After World War II, the economy was on its way back up again and parents started spending more money on their children (McNeal 10). This caught the attention of fast food corporations, who then began to direct a lot of their advertisements towards children. All fast food corporations developed child focused marketing schemes at some point, but the pivotal creation was the campaign of Ronald McDonald. Advertisements featuring Ronald McDonald began in 1963 often set in a fantasy world known as “McDonaldland. With the help of the Hamburglar, Grimace, Birdie the Early Bird, Mayor McCheese, and the Fry Kids, he would lead all sorts of adventures. In 1986, a commercial starring Ronald McDonald aired which advertised the McDonald’s beach bucket, free with a McDonald’s Happy Meal purchase. The advertisement begins with Ronald pulling a rope. The camera view widens and a hot air balloon Happy Meal, with a personified burger, drink, and fries comes into view. The normally inanimate objects announce themselves and excitedly shout, “All regular size! ” The scene cuts to some children playing on the beach.

The boy, who has taken the position of king of the castle, gives one pail to each girl to his left. He then announces, “One for the King! ” and the commercial cuts to the offer of the beach buckets. One interesting aspect of this commercial is that two-thirds of it is cartoon based, having a very similar look to regular animated shows at the time. According to the Raising Children Network, children up until age 4 have difficulty deciphering between regular scheduled programming and commercials. By creating Ronald McDonald and Friends, McDonald’s can air small television like advertisements that seem similar to the currently aired shows.

Kids have a sense of trust for a character like Ronald McDonald. He is portrayed as a person that can do no wrong, that will always be altruistic, that lives to improve the lives of others. So when Ronald subtly tells kids to go eat at McDonalds, why wouldn’t they listen? Especially when yet another incentive is born: the Happy Meal toy. Another major issue with child focused advertising is the toys that kids can take away from Happy Meals. These toys are often campaigns surrounding popular culture amongst children. They often come with 6-8 different collectables, most of which are only available through the Happy Meal purchase.

The ads and toys encourage kids to pester their parents for frequent trips to McDonald’s in order to obtain as many Happy Meal toys as possible, as they are only available for a limited time. An organization known as the CAI (Corporate Accountability International) recently filed a lawsuit against child focused marketing, specifically the happy meal toys at McDonald’s. In their argument, the CAI asks McDonalds to "retire [their] marketing promotions for food high in salt, fat, sugar, and calories to children, whatever form they take - from Ronald McDonald to toy giveaways. The issue surrounding Happy Meal toys is that it gives children another incentive to want fast food. Kids are immediately drawn in by the taste of fast food, the cartoon characters on TV appeal to a young child’s mind, and now children get toys with their meals too. For decades fast food corporations like McDonald’s have paired up with major companies like Disney to sell toys. Often times, critically acclaimed and popular movies amongst children like Shrek, will appear with Happy Meal purchases. So not only do they get toys, but their favorite toys. In fast food commercials that advertise to kids, they will often express a sense of urgency.

Commercials will often say things like “for a limited time only” and “while supplies last. ” According to Schlosser, this type of advertising appeals to the “pester power” in children (43). Now, when children bug their parents about eating fast food, they have more to say than, “I’m hungry. ” However, the issue of how fast food corporations are selling to kids only exists because of what these corporations are selling to kids. The problem with child focused marketing by fast food corporations is that children are too young to understand the implications behind the advertisements.

While these ads may seem harmless and innocent, they are actually marketing highly unhealthy products. Corporations dump millions of dollars into child advertising, a fund that Jim Skinner, CEO of McDonald’s. calls “an investment. ” According to McDonald’s nutrition facts the average happy meal contains 1,100 calories. The CDC reports that the recommended caloric intake by children up until age 8 should be 1,000 calories. Even if a child only has fast food once a day, they still surpass their recommended caloric intake in this one meal alone.

When this is combined with the other food a child consumes, their caloric intake is closer to 2,000 calories. This is the recommended number for an adult. Even though the food is unhealthy, children are drawn in by the taste. According to Shanthy A. Bowman, PhD, and member of the U. S. D. A, “The fats, sugar, and salt in fast food draw kids like a magnet, largely because they appeal to a child's ‘primordial tastes,’ this taste triggers more eating later in the day. And, because fast food doesn't contain much fiber, kids don't feel full afterward - so they eat more later. So not only do kids get too many calories from eating fast food, it teaches them to eat more at an early age. Kids do not get the required nutrition from fast food, so they must get it from other meals. The nutritional value of fast food is so unhealthy that it sets kids down the hard road of obesity at an increased rate every year. The 1950’s began the industrialization of food. Now burgers, chicken, fries, and buns are all frozen upon arrival. Coke and milk shakes begin as syrup (Schlosser 20). At Taco Bell, food is not prepared but assembled (20). One may be so inclined to ask how this affects the nutritional value of the food.

According to the McDonald’s nutrition page the ten-piece chicken McNuggets at McDonald’s come with 480 calories and 900 mg of sodium. A food analyzer noted that the Chicken McNuggets are more fattening due to the fact that they were once cooked in 90% beef tallow, or beef fat. (140). Since federal investigations, the chicken McNuggets are now cooked in oil, and use beef flavoring instead (140). However, many corporations continue to use this method. The newly introduced Angus Bacon ;amp; Cheese contains a whopping 800 calories, 2070 Mg of Sodium, and 39 grams of fat (McDonald’s Nutrition Page).

These foods are filled with empty calories, meaning they contain high amounts of sodium and sugars, and a low percent of the daily value in vitamins. The poor nutritional value in these meals has increased obesity all over the United States. What is even more shocking is the statistic regarding children. According to the CDC, “The percentage of children aged 6-11 years in the United States who were obese increased from 7% in 1980 to 20% in 2008. ” This 13% increase shows roughly a half percent increase per year, over a 28 period. Today the United States population is close to 350,000,000 people.

By these statistics, another 2 million people will become obese within the year. The percentage regarding teenagers is just as shocking. The CDC reports, “The percentage of adolescents aged 12-19 years who were obese increased from 5% to 18% over the same period. ” This number is a true testament to the efforts of fast food corporations. Not only is this increase staggering, but through the marketing to children throughout the 80’s and into the present day, the influence is clear. Fast food appears innocent and warm on TV, even in the eyes of adults. The prevailing advantage to fast food is its convenience.

For the most part, that’s really all they want you to see. The sad fact of it all is that these corporations really don’t care. They don’t care that their products create obesity, that they deceptively lure children or that they impede the lives of immigrant workers, often ruining them over a number of years. As long as the money is flowing, or over-flowing that is, change will not occur. It is very easy to put all this blame on the corporations, however it is important to consider the role that we as a society play as well. McDonald’s and all other fast food corporations alike can only exist because we purchase their products.

They may be evil, and money hungry, but Americans are still buying. And as long as that continues to happen, fast food as an industry will continue to grow.

Works Cited Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print. McNeal, James U. "From Savers to Spenders: How Children Became a Consumer Market. " Children as Consumers: Insights and Implications. Vol. 21. Lexington, MA: Lexington, 1987. 10-12. Print. Davis, Jeanie Lerche. "Fast Food Creates Fat Kids. " WebMD. WebMD, 5 Jan. 2004. Web. 13 May 2012. ;lt;http://www. webmd. om/parenting/news/20040105/fast-food-creates-fat-kids;gt;. "Ronald McDonald. " Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 May 2012. ;lt;http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Ronald_McDonald%20;gt;. Green, Martin. "Nutritional Value of McDonald's Food. " Livestrong. com. Livestrong, 8 Dec. 2010. Web. 13 May 2012. ;lt;http://www. livestrong. com/article/328385-nutritional-value-of-mcdonalds-food/;gt;. Maugh II, Thomas H. "Obese Kids Have Arteries as Thick as 45-year-olds'" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 12 Nov. 2008. Web. 13 May 2012. ;lt;http://articles. latimes. com/2008/nov/12/science/sci-obesekids12;gt;.

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