Advertising can many times be misleading. The creators of advertisements

Transcription

1 Jordie Newton English 103 Making Meaning 11/6/08 The Power of McDonalds Advertising can many times be misleading. The creators of advertisements persuade the listener or viewer into feeling or thinking how they want you to. Values and morals can be lost or altered when a commercial is played. McDonalds portrays their company as a healthy restaurant that appeals in particular to children and adults; the truth is that through their commercials they are deceptive because the food is not healthy and creates an image that makes it acceptable to eat the food. McDonalds created a commercial in 2007, which clearly demonstrates the image of how they are trying to associate McDonalds with happiness, family, and a healthy lifestyle. In my opinion, McDonalds makes the target audience children through advertisements that correlate to children, becoming an easy alternative to the typical home cooked meal, and being portrayed as healthy when it is not. One McDonalds commercial shows a family that was sitting down to their dining room table ready to consume a McDonalds meal. As they were seated, the son came walking in, dressed in a tracksuit with his hat cocked sideways while carrying a boom box. It was playing the song the Cha Cha Slide. Dancing his way to the table he proceeded to dance and eat, to the rhythm and beat of the song. At first the family, who consists of two parents and an older sister, is utterly shocked and in a state of bewilderment. As the song continues the family begins to move along to the beat and end up enjoying themselves as much as the son is with his food. I find it

2 concerning for the child to be so happy and excited about his food because of the dance. Children are a perfect target audience for companies because kids are too young to recognize the possible negative health affects fast food can have on them. McDonalds is a perfect example of a company whose target market is children. An associate professor of pediatrics at Stanford University, Dr. Thomas Robinson stated, "Children under the age of seven or eight really do not have the ability to understand the persuasive intent of advertising and marketing so the justification for marketing, which is to inform a consumer, doesn't really hold for them, because they can't understand that advertising is biased." The McDonald s corporation is world renowned. Children know the famous golden arches better than they do Santa Claus. McDonalds has made the arches such a world known symbol, but kids should be relating things more important than a fast food restaurant. Most of their commercials involve advertising techniques that do not have anything to do with the food, such as this commercial with the song and dancing. In the commercial, it appears to be that the boy is having a good time dancing and grooving to the music while enjoying his food. It would be easy for other children to find this commercial fun and enticing to try out themselves. I know when I was younger, I went to one of my friend s birthday parties, and I will always remember it because we went to McDonalds and we got the chance to meet Ronald McDonald. At the time I thought it was the best thing in the world. It is sad now

3 because Ronald McDonald should be no one we look up to, but rather frowned upon for putting a false idea into what McDonalds is. For the majority of children when they think of McDonalds they are happy and associate it with happy thoughts. Fifty years ago, sitcoms associated a happy meal with sitting down with your family enjoying a home cooked meal. Also the song in the commercial the Cha Cha Slide has become a big hit with today s youth. Many children not only recognize the song from hearing it, but many have participated in dancing to the Cha Cha Slide. I know that when I went to my younger cousins birthday party at the roller skating rink they played the Cha Cha Slide and had the kids do the dance moves out on the rink. A generation ago, three quarters of the money used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home. Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants mainly at fast food restaurants, as written by Eric Schlosser. Families will turn to fast food because it is inexpensive and convenient. In most towns, you cannot drive more than ten miles without embarking on a McDonald s restaurant. The service is quick and it has amenities for children and adults inside that make it appealing to all ages. It used to be that eating at fast food restaurants was looked down upon as tacky and cheap, and now for many it is an everyday meal. In the commercial, the family is clearly upper middle class. They are all seated and dressed nicely, except for the son who is dancing with his tracksuit on. McDonald s is trying to show the viewer that McDonald s brings the family closer together, and is a meal that should be viewed more than just something you eat when you are out, but something you

4 can sit down with your family at your dining room table to eat. Eating habits have become very unconventional ranging from homes to public school systems. In my high school, when we were upperclassmen we were given the privilege to go off campus for lunch. Unfortunately, with the small amount of time given to students they only had enough time to get fast food. It was really unhealthy because we would speed there, and then quickly eat our food. With children getting older and schedules conflicting it is hard to find a time where the whole family can sit and enjoy a meal together. I have seen many times where parents were rushing to get their kids to practice and grabbing them a burger along the way. Through this commercial they show that even if you do have time for a family meal, McDonald s is a good choice because it makes everyone happy. This is falsity because in reality it is unhealthy, and really doing damage to their bodies. McDonald s claims to be converting to a healthy fast food restaurant, but in reality the changes they have made to their menu are still unhealthy. According to the McDonald s Nutrition facts on their website, the salad with the lowest amount of fat is the Premium Southwest Salad (without chicken) with 4.5 grams of fat and 140 calories. Out of all of their salads their most unhealthy is the Premium Asian Salad with Crispy Chicken, with a total of 410 calories and 31 grams of fat. In comparison a salad without chicken from Subway, has 322 calories and 1.0 grams of fat. Also with new labels such as Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips, you d think it would come with new nutrition facts but in all actuality it is still very unhealthy with 660 calories and 40 grams of fat.

5 In the commercial the boy is even trying to show the healthy side to McDonald s by eating the apple dippers, but he taking the healthy apple slices and ruining them while he dunks them in the sugary, 70 calorie and.5 gram of fat sauce. In the movie Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock created an experiment to see what would happen if he only ate McDonald s for all of his meals, for thirty days. Over the course of the experiment he gained twenty five pounds. It is evident through this experiment that McDonald s has a negative effect on your health. McDonald s is not a bad restaurant to eat at every once in a while, but it is sending a negative image out when it is effecting the youth at such a young age. It is vital that we help our child and future generations acquire healthy eating habits rather than teaching them its okay to eat in a vehicle. Obesity is becoming a large factor in the United States, and most of the fast food restaurants contribute to it greatly. Some restaurants do have healthier options available, but there are still many preservatives and additives that are in the ingredients. There are definitely better options out there to eat that truly are healthy.

6 WORKS CITED Park, Alice. Hooked on McDonalds at Age 3. Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine. (August 2008). Time. 5 Nov < html>. Schlosser, Eric. The Dark Side of the All American Mean. Fast Food Nation (2000). The New York Times. 5 Nov < fast.html> Supersize Me. Morgan Spurlock. Morgan Spurlock. May 7, 2004 (DVD Sale). IDP Distribution. Sep. 28, 2004