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Dr. Thomas Robinson says the cultural influence of McDonald's unmatched
If anyone ever doubted the enormous impact of the marketing blitz undertaken by the world's most famous fast food restaurant on the most vulnerable members of our society--CHILDREN--then I would simply refer you to this USA Today column about a brand new study that should scare the living daylights out of anyone who cares about the subject of health. This is just plain frightening if you ask me.
Lead researcher Dr. Thomas N. Robinson, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and his fellow researchers wanted to examine the "effects of cumulative, real-world marketing and brand exposures" on toddlers to see what effect, if any, consumer branding would have on their food preferences.
A total of 63 children between the ages of 3 and 5 from low-income families from the from government assistance Head Start program in San Mateo County, CA were give five pairs of identical foods and beverages--hamburgers, chicken nuggets, French fries, milk or juice, and carrots--that were packaged in wrappers stating they were from McDonald's and another in plain packaging. Each of the study participants were asked to tell the researchers if the foods tasted the same or if they had a preference for one over the other.
The stunning results? The children almost universally preferred the food and said it tasted better when it was wrapped in McDonald's packaging than the plain packaging. Remember, IT WAS EXACTLY THE SAME FOOD!
Here are some of the other key findings in the study:
- 77% preferred the French fries they thought were from McDonald's
- Only 13% liked the non-labeled French fries
- 54% liked the McCarrots compared to 23% in the plain wrapper
- 29 kids chose McDonald's hamburger, 22 the other one
- Less than one in four said all the food tasted the same
A closer analysis of the study participants who had multiple television sets in their homes and were more heavy users of McDonald's found that there was an even "greater effect of branding" among this group.
The conclusion of the researchers was quite predictable.
"Branding of foods and beverages influences young children's taste perceptions," they reported in the study. "The findings are consistent with recommendations to regulate marketing to young children and also suggest that branding may be a useful strategy for improving young children's eating behaviors."
WOW, can you believe this? In a way, it's good news to know that McDonald's has this kind of powerful influence over the behavior of kids that the study participants would think even McCarrots tasted better just because they are from Mickey D's. But I for one have very little confidence that the world's #1 fast food restaurant chain will do the right thing with that power.
We've seen what they think is "healthy" in recent marketing efforts and it's a far cry from what it could be. While the new R Gym concept at McDonald's to encourage exercise is a pretty good start, there seriously needs to be a better effort on their part to get the menu choices even healthier for those precious little ones who are the future.
It's amazing how you just call something McBLANK and the kids go hog wild for it like it's the best thing they've ever tasted. That's powerful and absolutely blows my mind. Years upon years of indoctrination through unrelenting marketing by McDonald's has given them such a branding foothold on the competition. Nobody else in the restaurant industry even comes close.
Although the young study participants were from poor families, Dr. Robinson says he is confident there would be similar results among the more moderate to high-income families as well, especially with more exposure to the branding not just on television but also the Internet.
The results of this study appear in the August 2007 issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
There has been a steady movement in recent years to blame fast food companies for rising obesity rates in the United States and around the world. Ever since Morgan Spurlock's Supersize Me movie became a surprise independent big screen box office hit a few years back, McDonald's has done everything it can to soften the backlash they've been getting, including donating millions of dollars to fight childhood obesity.
That's admirable on their part, but we come back to this branding issue again. I remember a scene in Spurlock's documentary that showed a group of kids looking at famous Americans and they were asked to say who these people were. Most of the kids were absolutely perplexed and dumbfounded by the most familiar of famous people.
But when Ronald McDonald's picture was flashed in front of them, they knew EXACTLY who that was in an instant. That's the power companies like McDonald's has over what kids eat that has consumer health groups concerned. A step in the right direction was made last month when a pledge was made by some of the nation's top junk food makers, including McDonald's to stop advertising their products to young children. It's a voluntary, non-arbitrary, non-binding agreement, so who knows how long it will last?
Everybody at least SHOULD know that fast food will make you fat--there's just no question about that I don't think. But it doesn't help when McDonald's remains delusional about this by claiming their food is part of a healthy lifestyle. Riiiiiiggght! NOT!
Putting the nutritional info on their packaging was a nice gesture (although they conveniently left off the carbohydrate counts on this nutritional label--UGH!), but it's gonna take more than that for McDonald's to prove they are serious about the obesity problem and being a part of the solution.
Studies have shown fried junk food consumption has DOUBLED and it keeps going higher and higher. Even the American Diabetes Association (ADA) admits fried potatoes comprise nearly half of the vegetable consumption by children. EEEK!
To make matters worse, McDonald's thinks it IS serving healthier food because their Happy Meals contain Apple Dippers with caramel dipping sauce loaded with high fructose corn syrup and lower fat in the rest of the food.
Get a load of this PC response from a McSpokesman.
"This [better food choices] is an important subject and McDonald's has been actively addressing it for quite some time," said company spokesman Walt Riker. "We've always wanted to be part of the solution and we are providing solutions."
Oh really?! What solutions, Mr. Riker? Pretending you care about health is nothing but a ruse and everyone can see right through it! How about offering some plain blueberries and/or strawberries instead of apples and a high-sugar dip? Why not offer the much healthier fatty portions of meat for children to eat to give them the macronutrients their bodies need to develop and grow into strong adults?
While this study confirms the branding capacity of a company in its attempt to market their products, the sad truth in all of this is McDonald's is the one with that power over the children. This is all the more reason why parents should take back control of what their kids are eating and not allow the external influences take away their responsibility as parents.
Interestingly, only two of the children in the study had NEVER been to McDonald's before, although close to one-third of them were heavy users going WEEKLY. This was a fascinating study that reminded me somewhat of the work Dr. Brian Wansink is doing with his Mindless Eating concepts at Cornell University. Dr. Robinson should send his study notes to Dr. Wansink because they are both on to something HUGE!
You can e-mail Dr. Thomas Robinson about his research at
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"I remember a scene in Spurlock's documentary that showed a group of kids looking at famous Americans and they were asked to say who these people were. Most of the kids were absolutely perplexed and dumbfounded by the most familiar of famous people.
But when Ronald McDonald's picture was flashed in front of them, they knew EXACTLY who that was in an instant."
Again, look at his packaging. Which I guess is your point...so I agree.