Marketing for food has always been around with ads being pushed to a certain demographic. Still, leading up to today’s age, it’s harder and harder to ignore some of the unethical practices companies use. With many of today’s companies learning how to manipulate the consumer easily this is done by hiring psychologists and specialists on human emotion, why has who they market to change? Most big companies try to sell to kids in some way or another by using fun mascots, bright colors, relating to kids, running ads before and after school hours, etc. Kids are the future consumers of America, and “ if kids like it parents buy it”.. Everything from fast food to vapes is getting marketed directly to kids.
The ads being targeted at kids can give an overwhelming feeling and can influence how a consumer feels about a product. Young kids don’t understand the manipulative or persuasive purpose of ads as they are too overwhelmed by the short rushes of dopamine. Fast food companies spend around five billion dollars on marketing/ads and that number increases each year to try. Big companies get consumers to buy their product not only once, but as many times as it takes to become a repeat buyer.
What’s the harm? Every company markets its product if it wants it to sell, but it becomes a problem when they are causing extreme health issues or are marketing to people who may not know better. Some of the extreme health problems that this can cause in kids are childhood weight problems, malnutrition, and addiction to substances like tobacco and alcohol.
Why is marketing to kids bad?
Marketing to a younger audience is not always bad if your product is meant for child use or consumption. What makes marketing to kids bad is when it becomes harmful. For example, with substances children shouldn’t consume, like a vape, or if the product is considered “ inappropriate.”
The vape is one of the main products that has come under fire for misleading marketing, and because of this, they have been given new flavors, brighter colors, and inviting images on the front that cigarettes never had. The new products come in many flavors to get kids hooked on nicotine. Some of the flavors that market towards kids are cherry slush, blue razz, strawberry watermelon, or any flavor that is reminiscent of candy. Only recently were some of the brighter colors and kid-enticing flavors taken away by the FDA because the number of kid and teen usage has been increasing every year. The company Juul was taken to court over its direct selling and marketing tactics to kids. The company lost and had to pay a large settlement and finally stopped “prioritizing its profits over kids’ health and safety”.
The harmful marketing for fast food and “junk food” (food that has low nutritional value, and is high in salts, sugars, and fats) is just as bad, with creators who make content for kids and cartoons being pushed into their branding. The promotional ads are shot with celebrities to influence especially young kids and teens to buy the food or get parents to buy it for them. The watching of manipulative ads can increase cravings for fast food even if you have never had the company’s food before. Some of the tactics they use are texture of the food to make it more appealing and use them shown in ads with overly bright colors, oftentimes using inedible items such as glue as milk in cereal and cotton balls to puff up a hamburger, all of this to make their food look more appetizing. Once you try a brand’s food, they hope to build “brand trust”. So you will keep coming back to their company and spending your hard-earned money.
The main marketing difference between fast food and junk food is that junk food is normally pre-packaged in a wrapper or box, while fast food is frozen and heated up on-site before being served. The big junk food companies’ marketing does differ a bit from fast food. Fast food is marketed to the consumers as convenient and accessible a hot meal ready to go, and junk food is a treat to take with you or a snack to keep you when it’s needed. However, both use the same bright colors and mascots to encourage customers to buy and have very low nutritional value.
One of the major contributors to the overcompensation of both fast and junk foods is the growing number of food desserts all over the U.S. Food desserts are described as “an urban area in which it is difficult to get affordable or good quality food” by the Oxford Dictionary. Because of the low quality of food and being able to access it more and more people are ending up in food deserts. The people who normally get pushed into food deserts are low-income families. The problem with this is that constant eating of fast food can increase inflammation and blood pressure from the high amount of salt and sugar that is in processed foods. It can also cause slower digestion, weight problems from the empty calories in fast food, scurvy (a vitamin C deficiency normally found in 18th-century sailors but recently coming back), and the increased craving for any fast food or sugary food and drinks.
What is ethical advertising and why is it so important?
Ethical advertising is the practice of transparent and honest advertisement to the consumer. It is important because ethical advertising helps the consumer of the product make informed choices without any form of persuasion or manipulation.
In the end, advertisements can be manipulative to make you want to buy a product, and the ability to access the product and information about it also plays a major role in convincing you to get said product. Many companies like to market towards certain people more than others, mainly kids because they are more impressionable than most adults. The most important thing is moderation. Feel free to continue to eat your favorite fast food brand, but realize the marketing is trying to get you to buy more than you might even want.
