I was talking with one of my advertising classes the other day about the nature of advertising to children, specifically food products. While there are regulatory bodies in place (The FCC, FDA etc.) there remains a significant gray area in regards to most standards. Ultimately leaving the decision of what is ethical messaging up to the advertising agency and/or producer of the product.
We specifically addressed the ever evolving McDonalds Menu, and came to a consensus that it is good that McDonald's wants to at least give people a healthier alternative to their standard fare by offering items like salads and apple slices. Skepticism remains as to weather or not this is just a marketing ploy, an attempt to capitalize on popular trends, a change made out of a sincere concern for the customer's health or some combination of these factors.
Here is an interesting article about 10 things that the food industry does not want you to know (from Yahoo) click here
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Why is this food so fast?
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The restaurant industry is notoriously tight-lipped with nutritional data. Most fall far short of the transparency required by federal food labeling legislation on packaged foods in stores (there is an exception for restaurants, which was probably meant to protect small establishments from the cost of conducting nutritional testing). Often, a restaurant will disclose the information for a few of their healthiest items and the rest are not disclosed due to "variance in serving size or preparation technique." Although legislation can help reduce the cost of being informed, lack of legislation has created a market for the information. My favorite website is www.calorieking.com; they really rock.
As for ethics in advertising, is there? I guess an analogy between food and say cigarettes could be made but that's not quite right. I believe transfat might be a bit more analogous to cigarettes. In that case, legislative efforts to establish safe transfat levels for foods may drive advertising practices. This type of effort may help, but advertising involves communication on so many levels that discerning the message communicated could prove unworkable for a court. The better solution is a well-informed public that would economically punish advertisers that publish dubious ads.
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