Free Essay

Fast Food Marketing

In: English and Literature

Submitted By dieflyer
Words 659
Pages 3
English 110

Fast Food Marketing
Starting from Disney’s success, the marketing targeting to children has exploded in recent decades. As another pioneer, McDonald, one of the biggest fast food manufacturers and advertiser, invests a huge block of fund on various advertisements every year. Children now live in these advertisements and become the members of their customer group. The fast food then brings high calories, causing them fat. Is the story simple enough to say that the fast food marketing should be banned? My view is, the responsibility is not only on the marketing, but mainly on the communication and education from the parents, and the response of the government to the endless marketing. In <Your trusted friends>, the author Eric Schlosser reports that “Many studies had found that young children often could not tell the difference between television programming and television advertising. They also could not comprehend the real purpose of commercials and trusted that advertising claims were true.” This is one of the most important reasons, according to him, that fast food industry should be banned to market at children. I don’t deny that children can’t protect them from ads, but they can be influenced not only from the fast food, but also a video game, a nice snack, or even the sex and violence( if nobody controls that). Why don’t parents tell them “this is an advertisement. It is not true!” just like that they tell kids the fire is dangerous? Why doesn’t the government show a health warning after each advertisement just like the tobacco ads? The fast food just acts what it should act as a business, like most other business does. Their responsibility is just choosing a best way to abstract customers, either children or adults. Furthermore, the parents’ should take the responsibility on supervising their kids. In <Your trusted friends>, a manufacturer of “playlands” explains the perfect synergy between McDonald and them: “Playlands bring in children, who bring in parents, who bring in money.” What are these for? Schlosser then answers, “As American cities and towns spend less money on children's recreation, fast food restaurants have become gathering spaces for families with young children.” McDonald builds their kingdom with such a lot of playgrounds and toys. However, as parents, why do they choose to spend time with their children here, instead of other meaningful places? The current status in the society is that most parents have to work, in which case they can’t have enough energy to think about how to educate the kids, which they have to. So they choose a simpler way—to satisfy their requirement that comes from the fast food ads: eat, eat, eat... they even have a playland and toys! What an amazing place to save time! Your kids can enjoy the food, play there, and get free toy—ignoring the calorie things for a while, we can spend more time on diet from tomorrow. Beside this, I am not saying that the fast food industry is so innocent and takes no responsibility on children’s obesity. The manufactures create a boundless marketing ocean in the fields among people’s life so that they can’t escape from it. As Schlosser reminds, “The competition for young customers has led the fast food chains to form marketing alliances not just with toy companies, but with sports leagues and Hollywood studios. McDonald's has staged promotions with the National Basketball Association and the Olympics. Pizza Hut, Taco Be IL, and KFC signed a three-year deal with the NCAA. Wendy's has linked with the National Hockey League.” In this case, wherever the parents take their kids to is in the marketing ocean that they can’t jump out of. In conclusion, my view on the fast food marketing to kids is, they should not be banned, but should be control by government. Meanwhile, parents should be more responsible to their kids to help them create a correct outlook on life.

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Fast Food Marketing

... Children and teens see all different kinds of fast food marketing strategies everywhere. From television ads, internet ads, cell phones, magazines and so many other ways it’s astonishing. Fast food restaurants make sure that they use toys that are popular at the time to market to children so that they will want to get the happy meal with the toy like a doll or an action figure. If a new movie is coming out then the fast food restaurants make sure they get the toys for that movie. They have both girls and boys toys. Fast food restaurants also like to use flashy ads to draw kids to want their food. Over 10 billion dollars are spent on advertising to children. Fast food places need to cut back on the advertising would be very beneficial. They know that children are a big influence on what their parent buy for food. On average children view over 40,000 commercials a year, which are mostly for candy, cereal, toys, and fast foods. A lot of the time parent will not object to the idea of getting something fast and easy so that they do not have to cook themselves. Interview with Shannon Brownlee According to Shannon Brownlee, who is a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, at Washington, D.C. that it is hard to really say that fast food places are encouraging unhealthy eating habits, because you have to know how people respond to the advertising. She says that it is very clear though that the amount of fast food which people are eating has gone up in the last...

Words: 3778 - Pages: 16

Premium Essay

Marketing Proposal - Fast Food

...Company Summary 2 1.2 Company Ownership 3 2 Five Forces Model and Analysis 4 2.1 Barriers To Entry 5 2.2 Supplier Power 8 2.3 Buyer Power 10 2.4 Threat of Substitutes 11 2.4.1 The Threat of Substitutes are High 11 2.5 Rivalry among Existing Firms 12 3 Conclusion 17 INTRODUCTION House of Kebab is a locally owned fast food outlet that will be positioned as an international franchise through our creative approach to the company's image and detail presentation. House of Kebab will provide a combination of excellent food at value pricing, with fun packaging and atmosphere. House of Kebab is the answer to an increasing demand for kebab and shawarma fast food. In today's highly competitive environment, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate one fast food outlet from another. Our main priority is to establish one outlet in Kuala Lumpur, preferably in one of prominent housing estate. Later, our effort will be a further development of more retail outlets in the surrounding area. House of Kebab will entice youngsters to bring their friends and family with our innovative environment and our main focus will be serving high-quality food at a great value. COMPANY SUMMARY House of kebab sells specially made shawarma sandwich-like wrap usually composed of shaved lamb, goat, chicken, turkey, beef, or a mixture of meats and kebab which consist of thin slices cut from a cylindrical block of minced and seasoned meat or chicken, eaten in a roll of unleavened...

Words: 4548 - Pages: 19

Premium Essay

The Marketing of Fast Food and the Rise in Health Problems

...The Marketing of Fast Food and the Rise in Health Problems As we know, globalization of fast-food and processed food corporations have become somewhat of a problem for various reasons. While many countries have the same choices Americans have, it is easy to see that over advertising of fast and processed foods causes Americans to be lazy in food preparation, which causes health problems, which is why large food corporations should limit their advertising. This chain of events is all too familiar in modern American culture, but not necessarily exclusive. Through research, it has been found that Americans are more susceptible to marketing and advertising of this type of food than most countries. Many ask, “Why?” While there is no precise answer everyone can agree on, we can point out 3 defining factors as to why Americans are more likely to purchase fast food rather than having a home-cooked meal. Compared to the rest of the world, Americans consume more fast food than even China which has almost as many fast-food restaurants as America does. The fad of fast-food can be explained as something that has gained momentum over the years of economic downfall, apathy towards health, and a collective divide on what we has humans should eat to stay healthy and live longer. Advertising is at an all-time high for not only fast-food corporations, but for processed-food companies such as Kraft or General Mills. The “evil genius” mentality behind their marketing is in that their target markets...

Words: 1541 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Fast Food Promotional and Advertising Strategies

...Fast Food Promotional and Advertising Strategies xxxx BUS 508 – Contemporary Business xxxx xxxx Strayer University Fast Food Promotional and Advertising Strategies The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the promotional strategies of two quick service restaurants (QSR), McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza, which both sell fast food. The paper will also recommend two ways in which a company within the fast food industry could use marketing information to differentiate itself in the marketplace to gain an advantage over its competitors. Two uses for consumer-oriented promotions that could assist a fast food company in both the short and long term are proposed in this paper. The leading fast food company, McDonald’s, has made pricing decisions to meet their competitors’ prices so that price is a nonissue and focus rather on adding value to attract customers. When their prices are equal, fast food companies can take alternate actions in order to differentiate themselves and gain competitive advantage. Lastly, the most effective advertising medium for a company in the fast food industry, which is television advertising, is examined in this paper. Promotional Strategies: McDonald’s vs Domino’s Pizza McDonald’s is the largest global fast foodservice retailer with more than 35,000 restaurants in over 100 countries offering a substantially uniform menu with some geographic variations. McDonald’s restaurants serve about 70 million people each day (Fast Food Industry...

Words: 2775 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Mc Delivery Service

...this year. With such high demands for fast food and minimum competition in the market for low cost convenient food services McDelivery looks to be a successful and profitable service on introduction to the Australian society. This marketing plan assesses the internal and external environment in which the service will be a part of and how it looks to be a highly sought after service in Australia. Through the research displayed and signs from overseas the McDelivery service looks to be a highly profitable commodity for the McDonalds giant and looks to be a very fast growing and unstoppable service. McDonalds looks to attain market dominance with the introduction of this service. Situational Analysis - Demographic: In regards to the demographics of this particular service it would only be feasible to function in areas of a population density that is of a high level. In order for this service to be a success there needs to be population density and large demand for the product. If introduced to a low density area the service wouldn’t be profitable. - Legal: Legal forces that would affect this service would be fairly standard procedure such as insurance, licensing of drivers, using qualified staff and meeting laws with regard to delivery. There was also be that of ensuring there are no breaches with the transportation of foods and delivery times with regard to the Food Standards Code. All practices of food delivery must comply with this Food Standards Code and any breach in these...

Words: 2018 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Mcdonald

...McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is the largest fast-food operator in the World and was originally formed in 1955 after Ray Kroc, which pitched the idea of opening up several restaurants based on the original owned by Dick and Mac McDonald. McDonald's went public in 1965, which introduced its flagship product, the Big Mac, in 1968. Today, McDonald's operates more than 30,000 restaurants in over 100 countries and have one of the world's most widely known brand names. McDonald's sales hit $57 billion company-wide and over $25 billion in the United States in 2006 (S&P). The main target customer for McDonald's includes parents with young children, young children, business customers, and teenagers. Perhaps the most obvious marketing for McDonald's is its' marketing towards children and the parents of young children. Ronald McDonald was first introduced in 1963 and marked the beginning of their focus on young children as a critical part of their ongoing business. Parents like to visit McDonald's because it is a treat for the kids, and the kids enjoy the cartoon like atmosphere. McDonald's also targets business customers as a part of their core business. Business customers may stop during the workday and can count on fast service, and consistently good food. Another major target of McDonald's marketing is to teens. Teens find the value menu especially appealing and McDonald's markets their restaurants as a cool place to meet with their friends and to work (The Times 100)....

Words: 1407 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Write an Operational Plan for an Non Existing Company

...Situation Analysis The “Holy Crepe” is a QSR, that resides somewhere between a fast food restaurant (FFR) and a sit down restaurant. This category is growing quickly, as people adjust to paying a little more than they would for typical fast food. While the differentiation between QSR's and traditional fast food may be transparent to most consumers, there has been a conscious shift in purchasing towards FFRs and QSRs that provide innovative menus and a selection of custom or customizable menu items. Albert Park is a rich market for QSRs. The “Holy Crepe” will bring new lunch choices to the market. Market Summary Albert Park has been transformed into a magnificent recreational asset that is home to the Melbourne Sports & Aquatic Centre, a golf course, soccer stadium, over 20 sporting ovals as well as several sailing clubs. Each year, the road around the lake is transformed into the racetrack for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix. The market consists of the residents, and hundred thousand of visitors from other areas. There are about 8500 people living and working in Albert Park. If just 15% of those people buy “Holy Crepe” sandwiches or crepes twice a month, the company will sell 30600 sandwiches/crepes to that market per annum. Add that amount to 20% of all tourists to the Albert Park area, and those two segments alone will buy 70000+ meals. Market Demographics Our marketing efforts will focus on the following groups of people: 1. Residents. This includes all the residents...

Words: 1952 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

In-N-N-Out's Marketing Strategy

...Marketing strategy In-N-Out’s marketing strategy will involve developing a unique “more for less” positioning based on the quality of their products, their excellent service, and quick but comfortable atmosphere. The company will establish differentiation from its competitors by offering a good quality and healthy veggie patty option for the non-meat eaters segment of the fast food market. The veggie patty will focus specifically on the vegetarian/non-meat eater market which includes all ages. Subsets include health conscious and socially responsible eaters, as well as vegetarians and vegans. In-N-Out is positioned on an “more for less” proposition. This differentiates it from its competitors by emphasizing its great quality at low prices....

Words: 1054 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Marketing Plan

...Meal: Marketing Plan Group 1 Christopher Odiah Michele Parker Caratrella Woodberry Marketing Management: MKTG-522 Professor Yabs Semester: Summer B 2012 Table of Contents 1. Executive Summary 2.0 Situation Analysis 2.1 Market Summary 2.2 SWOT Analysis 2.3 Competition 2.4 Product (Service) Offering 2.5 Keys to Success 2.6 Critical Issues 3.0 Marketing Strategy 3.1 Mission 3.2 Marketing Objectives 3.3 Financial Objectives 3.4 Target Markets 3.5 Positioning 3.6 Strategies 3.7 Marketing Mix 3.8 Marketing Research 4.0 Controls 4.1 Implementation 4.2 Marketing Organization 4.3 Contingency Planning 5.0 Conclusion 2.0 Situation Analysis McDonald’s is a late entrant to the healthy food choice market for kid’s meals, even though they have added healthy food items like premium salads and wraps to their menu for adults within the last five years. Competitors like Chick-Fil-A, Arby’s and Subway have made more penetration into this market by offering kid’s meal choices to its customers that are lower in calories and fat content. McDonald’s can leverage the prime position it occupies in the $236 billion fast food industry in the US to strategically position itself to compete for this market through innovation and creativity. It is currently re-branding as part of a marketing initiative...

Words: 1672 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Gap Analysis

...reflect on who it is and ask who they want to be in the future. Where is your company now? Burger King Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1953. Burger King is the world's number 2 hamburger chains after McDonalds. By the early 2000s Burger King is a little left behind. Years of under-investment left it struggling in its rival's shadow by the early2000s. Although a lot of consumers agree that it meals taste better than McDonald ones but it doesn't have the excellent perception created the administrative power and the aggressive marketing of his main by concurrent. It was freed in 2002 from Diageo the number one in wine and spirit drinks, which owned it since 1997, after a merger with Guinness. Although owned by Texas Pacific Group for US$2.26 billion, it recovered its latitudes of the sixties. The number 2 in hamburger fast food came back progressively in the fight with McDonalds. Since 2004 their performance constantly increased. In their intensive marketing campaign it targeted particularly core young male market. Advertising Age estimated global measured advertising expenditure of US$356m in 2007; making Burger King the world’s number 95 advertisers. Burger King in Malaysia came in December 1997. To date, there are 20restaurants in Malaysia. Look out for more outlets in the near future. There are currently, 3...

Words: 1021 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Fast Food Advertising and Childhood Obesity

...Fast Food Advertising And Childhood Obesity A rise in obesity has been observed in the United States in the last two decades. Obesity is one problem that gives birth to numerous fatal diseases, including but not limited to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducted a survey and found that, “More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2-19 years are obese” (Ogden, Carroll). One of the main reasons behind obesity is the American’s love for fast food. Fast food contains only a small proportion of essential nutrients, and is loaded with unhealthy and non-essential nutrients which do nothing but contribute to obesity and resulting diseases. An equally increasing trend has been observed in the openings of new fast food locations. The fact sheet issued by National Restaurant Association shows that “970,000 new fast food locations were opened in year 2012 and the restaurant-industry share of each food dollar spent stands at 48%” (2012 forecast). Those parents who know about the adverse effects of fast food consumption try their best to keep their children away from it. But no matter how hard they try to shield their children, some negative forces like advertising provides them a complete exposure to such unhealthy food. A kid may never have eaten a McDonald’s hamburger, but he/she definitely knows what it looks like, thanks to the power of...

Words: 1870 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Veganburg Marketing Plan

...Marketing Principles, Product Marketing Plan Executive Summary 1. Introduction 2.1 Company 2.2 Brand 2.3 Product 2. Internal (Micro) Analysis 2.1 Customer 3.External (Macro) Analysis 3.1 Political 3.2 Economic 3.3 Social 3.4 Technology 3.5 Environmental 3.6 Legal 3.7 Demographic 4.Marketing SWOT 4.1 Strength 4.2 Weakness 4.3 Opportunities 4.4 Threats 5. Marketing Strategy 5.1 Segmentation 5.2-1 Measurable 5.2-2 Accessible 5.2-3 Substantial 5.2-4 Differentiable 5.2-5 Actionable 5.3 Targeting 5.4-1 Importance 5.4-2 Distinctiveness 5.4-3 Preemptive 5.5 Positioning 5.6 Recommendation 6. Marketing Mix 6.1 Product 6.2 Place 6.3 Price 6.4 Promotion 6.5 Recommendation 1.Introduction: Company, Brand and Product 1.1 Company The company chosen was Veganburg, which was conceptualized and opened its door of its first outlet to consumer on 10 October 2010. Veganburg works on fast food concept and tries to recreate a new concept out of the term: fast food –  serving tasty vegan meals that is great in taste and nutritional value. 1.2 Brand Veganburg is set on making plant-based diet inspiring and exciting. Veganburg had also played a part in the global restoration by going meat-free. A meat free diet will in turn not only be beneficial to the consumers but also for our mother Earth. Animal agriculture accounts for some of the most pressing environmental problems we are facing today, such as greenhouse...

Words: 3463 - Pages: 14

Premium Essay

Analysis of Super Size Me

...gathered would be unsupportive or too broad for the audience to understand. The interviews alone would have only portrayed assumptions and not proof to back up his thesis. If Spurlock solely relied on the experiment, individuals could question the probability of the results happening again or to other people. Interviews are conducted with average Americans and experts to medically explain and prove how fast food meals contribute to the U.S. obesity epidemic. The experiment is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the fast food industry’s influence to encourage poor nutrition, and to physically show the correlation between fast food and an unhealthy lifestyle. Both methods serve to validate one another because the responses from individuals supply the audience with data and information to better understand Spurlock’s experiment, while his personal experience provides data to support the information the interviewers give. Throughout the length of his experiment, experts are interviewed multiple times, which is crucial to reveal and explain the negative effects of fast food to the human body. As Spurlock prepares himself mentally, he sets appointments and interviews with a cardiologist, gastroenterologist, general practitioner, nutritionist, and personal trainer to examine his body and inform him of their predictions of the experiment. The doctor assumes that the McDiet would have a small affect on the patient’s triglycerides and an increase in weight gain. Spurlock’s plan...

Words: 1034 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Vietmac Marketing - Rmit

...Marketing Plan Marketing Plan 2012 2012 Vu Phuong Anh – s3325156 Nguyen Thi Van Chi - s3373465 Nguyen Bao Hung – s3393103 Le Minh Thu - s3357569 Vu Phuong Anh – s3325156 Nguyen Thi Van Chi - s3373465 Nguyen Bao Hung – s3393103 Le Minh Thu - s3357569 Group 3 – Kieran Tierney Group 3 – Kieran Tierney TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 SITUATION ANALYSIS 2 I Introduction 2 1 Company description 2 2 Product description 2 II Marketing environment 2 1 Microenvironment 2 a Customer market 2 b Competitors analysis 3 c Publics 4 2 Macro environment 4 a Demographic environment 4 b Economic environment 5 c Natural environment 6 d Technological environment 6 SWOT ANALYSIS 8 OBJECTIVES 9 SEGMENTATION, TARGETING & POSITIONING 10 I Segmentation 10 II Targeting strategy 10 1 Segment size and growth 10 2 Segment structural attractiveness 10 3 Market targeting strategy 11 III Positioning strategy 11 1 Positioning map 11 2 Possible value differentiation 12 a Product differentiation 12 b Service differentiation 12 c Channel differentiation 12 d People differentiation 12 e Image differentiation 12 3 Chosen competitive advantages 12 4 Positioning statement 12 MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES 13 I Product strategy 13 1 Levels of product 13 2 Product life cycle 14 3 Brand development strategy 14 II Price strategy 15 1 General pricing approaches 15 2 New-product pricing...

Words: 7168 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Big Food Advertising

...success in the food industry is marketing. The food industry is the best at manipulating and altering perceptions and persuading its customers that their product is a necessity. Big food corporations have had a major influence on the spread of obesity in America. Fed Up argues that if we want to see change we need to be the change. According to the film, kids watch an average of 4,000 food-related ads every year; that’s about 10 per day (Fed Up).  Additionally, 98% of food related ads that children view is for products high in fat, sugar, and sodium (Fed Up). Fast food companies are targeting kids in their marketing strategies and it is leading to kids developing bad habits and ideas about food at an early age....

Words: 1135 - Pages: 5