Food Ads aimed at kids : Emotional Much??

Mc Donalds will make you stronger. Reeses Puffs cereal will make you a rap star. Ring Pops will make you a celebrity. Lies. At least those who create these false advertisements know that that the above statements aren’t true but by golly they want their best customers to believe that they are. Those great customers, the vulnerable youth are paying the price for it. Food advertising aimed at children manipulates

 the emotions of children to now only get them buying junk food but to keep them buying junk food while simultaneously sending a message to parents that getting their child the fast food will make them a better parent.

A young man eats his Recees puff cereal in the moring. All of a sudden he is on a stage in the middle of his kitchen rocking out to a catchy tune with his favorite rappers “ I want ,my r double e e s es “ Reeses Puffs, Reeses Puffs, peanut butter chocolate flavor” What kid wouldn’t want to be him? Poised, hip and full of swag, he is the ultimate in cool. Many times while growing up children can be insecure and will do anything to fit in or appear cooler and that’s what these food companies count on. Building on that, “emotional appeals of social enhancement and peer acceptance were found in 34% of food advertisements, in general, and 54% of fast food ads.” (Arch Pediatr)

 Although it seems low down to prey on a child at their most vulnerable stages  it works and these kids will come back like lost sheep and graze again ( well buy again)

Every child wants a good relationship with their parent and every parent wants a good relationship with their child (or at least that’s how it should be) According to these food advertisements aimed at children, so it can be. At least under one condition.. You eat their food.                      

Take this commercial for example

Mom goes with her son to  Mc Donald's, and they have a sweet bonding moment. How nice.. Not to mention that the food is “healthy” ( only if chicken nuggets made from cast away meat scraps can be considered healthy).  If I didn’t know any better I would want to bond with my mom at Mc Donald's too. They already knew that “the ads aimed at 'minivan parents' would carry an unspoken message about taking your children to McDonald's: 'It's an easy way to feel like a good parent.” (Schlosser, Eric) And let’s just say these other food giants have a similar thought process.

So what have we learned today? Well, food advertisement aimed at children are EVIL . Okay maybe not evil, but not only does it toy with their emotions but the emotions of their parents in order to sell food. Although a genius strategy well employed by Ray Kroc of Mc Donald’s fame, it is wrong. Unless something is done, children will end up in this foolish food fantasy that is well; fake.

                                                                        Citations

"Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med -- Trends in Exposure to Television Food Advertisements Among Children and Adolescents in the United States, September 2010, Powell Et Al. 164 (9): 794." Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, a Monthly Peer-reviewed Medical Journal Published by AMA. Web. 27 Mar. 2012. <http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/164/9/794>.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LzMtL6cT4I

Food advertisements aimed at children

A young child sits waiting patiently for their favorite show to come on. It’s the new episode that they just can’t miss; all of their friends will be talking about it tomorrow. While they wait patiently for the show to come back on the child is bombarded with advertisements for food. From Wendy’s to Fruit Loops to Juicy Drop Pops the food advertisements are inescapable. Ooops.  Did I forget to mention that this child was overweight like so many Americans are? Wait. The shows back on. But the damage has already been done.  Having food advertisements aimed at children only helps further the childhood obesity epidemic.

            Between ages 8 to 18 children spend an average of 44.5 hours a week watching television, on the computer or behind some kind of screen. This is the most time consuming activity children have besides sleeping. (American Psychological Association) So it’s no wonder that the food industry aims their advertisements at children. The fact that kids want what they see is nothing new, especially younger, more impressionable minds. These food companies make sure that they are visible. “Food ads on television make up 50% of all the ad time on children’s shows. These ads are almost completely dominated by unhealthy food products (34% for candy and snacks, 28% for cereal, 10% for fast food, 4% for dairy products, 1% for fruit juices, and 0% for fruits or vegetables)” ( American Psychological Association)  Zero percent advertising for fruits and vegetables. Seriously?? If all kids see are ads for soda and candy and fast food, surprise surprise, they’re going to crave soda and candy and fast food. The correlation between the rising obesity rates and these advertisement are pretty direct. For example, “Other research has found that children who watch more than three hours of television a day are 50 per cent more likely to be obese than children who watch fewer than two hours.” ( American Psychological Association) . Point blank, the more t.v a child watches the more likely they are to be obese, especially with all of these food ads.

So are the food industry and their advertisements completely to blame for childhood obesity? Certainly not. A lot of it also has to do with the dynamic in the child’s home. Are they a large part? Definitely so.

"The Impact of Food Advertising on Childhood Obesity." American Psychological Association (APA). Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.apa.org/topics/kids-media/food.aspx>.

Barfblog ( Don't worry; this isn't a blog about barfing just about a website on barfing

Cheese with listeria that can harm pregnant women. Yum. A catering company for kids that gave their customers salmonella. Great. Just when I thought that food couldn’t get any shadier after reading Fast Food Nation; there it went. Barfblog, where all this wonderful information came from uses an interesting mix of statistics  and stories  that not only inform readers but scare them into reconsidering how safe their food is.

            To be completely honest, some of the statistics and stories Barfblog used completely scared me out of my mind. For example, after reading some of their blog post I found out that “gastroenteritis-associated deaths from all causes increased from nearly 7,000 to more than 17,000 per year.”, and that even rain could be a factor in causing salmonella. Nice. I have to worry about the rain getting me sick. But on Barfblog that wasn't the fact to shock. Stories of students getting violently ill due to salmonella at a New York restaurant and people barfing after getting sick at a Detroit High School hockey game all added its unique brand of nauseating but informative information.

            While I had been aware of some of these issues before hand I never knew that

they were to such a great extent. Even though the news reports about these

microbial outbreaks, they only report the major things such as the listeria in

cantelopes or mad cow disease. With Barfblog I was able to see the things that

affect others and I everyday like that restaurants may not be as up to code as

they should be ( celebrity Aubrey o day was able to put her TWO dogs on a restaurant table in LA). Most importantly it drilled into me that these bacteria that I only heard about and never thought twice about were mostly affecting my grandmother, my little nieces and nephews and I and others like us because these bacteria like the young and elderly. Although a bit scary to think about; it’s true.

            In sum, there are germs and bacteria on fruit, there are germs and bacteria on meat, there are germs and bacteria in our lunches, there are germs and bacteria everywhere. For the most part you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. Barfblog gives everyone an incentive to remember that fact just when we think our food is completely safe. I just know that as long as the gears are still turning in my head I will never look at food the same after Barfblog. For the better… possibly; for the worse… definitely not.

                                              Citations

"Food Poisoning, Foodborne Illness Information and Research | Barfblog." Web. 16 Mar. 2012. <http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/barfblog>.

Outsourcing Blog part tres

Imagine this. All of a sudden, your culture was slowly slipping away. Every shirt you wear, and the language you speak is of some one you don’t know. Scary huh? Well in Egypt, that is a reality due to outsourcing. Now, especially since call centers are moving there, in Egypt its becoming somewhat of the norm for all of their students to learn English from a young age. Dr. Hanan Khalifa from the University of Cambridge ESOL examinations put this clearly when he said “School programmes where different subjects are taught in English are increasingly achieving high standards in Egypt which is really encouraging. English Language learning is high on the agenda for the Egyptian government and through these programmes students can increase their education, employability and mobility. This all plays a huge part in raising the standards of English in Egypt and across the world.” ( News) For their generation that might be the quickest way to get a job in the future since many jobs continue to get outsourced to Egypt from the west. One other big cultural issue that arises due to outsourcing is the clothing. While one of their main exports is cotton and other textiles, much of what’s sold in malls is the same as what’s sold in America. Stores like Aeropostale are popular with the teenage crowd. As the country is 90% Muslim, that can represent a problem. (CIA) I can see this from personal experience with the female host students that visited from Egypt.  For the most part, they were excited and shopped till they dropped in the Trumbull mall here in Connecticut (the same clothes are cheaper here than in Egypt) and wear the same “Modern Clothing” that they wear back home but they also wore the hijab as a sign of respect for their religion. The younger generation has to learn how to balance clothing from the west that may not be particularly modest with their religious values because they have few other choices besides traditional garb.

            Issues of inequity between Egypt and other countries and between Egyptians themselves are rising due to outsourcing. There are issues of inequity between Egypt and other countries because they are so dependent on them due to outsourcing. For example, the U.S is Egypt’s biggest trading partner and they receive food, clothing, wood, money and such from them, necessities in other words. This is extremely evident from a quote by Ahmed El Sayed El Nagar (Chief Economist for the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies) said in an interview with Frontline reporter  Amanda Pike “The second source of incoming foreign currency into Egypt was from the United States (also remittances), which represented 32 percent of the total incoming funds”. (PBS) It just means that they have to pay greater attention to what the U.S and their other suppliers say, especially with that much money coming in. Also, with youth unemployment around 25%  ( The Economist) and the little outsourced jobs tricking in ( and not very well paying ones at that) ; it just means that there is greater competition between those looking for and that have jobs and tension can even come between family members (mainly youth versus adult). As Ahemd El Sayed El Nagar also said “The young population of the middle, educated class is made up of liberal arts graduates and is unable to earn a decent living. So they become a burden on their families, who have to support them since we do not have unemployment benefits.” (PBS) Although it is sad, it is true. Families have to take care of educated youth that should have but can't get jobs. ... Shocking             

                                                                     Works Cited

"News." Egyptian Schools Are Raising English Language Standards, Says Cambridge ESOL. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.cambridgeesol.org/about/news/2011/esol-egyptian-schools.html>.

PBS. PBS. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/egypt804/interview/extended2.html>.

"CIA- The World Factbook." Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/eg.html>.

The Economist. The Economist Newspaper. Web. 01 Mar. 2012. <http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2011/02/youth_unemployment>.