Spongebob Fatpants

thesis:

While Burger King’s advertisement offers children a toy of a beloved cartoon character along with it’s kids meal, it fails to provide any information on the negative effects that the food could have on the body. It also neglects to mention the advanced advertising techniques it uses to exploit the impressionable nature of a child’s mind, or that ads like this are just the first step in strategies designed to make children brand loyal for life.

body paragraph:

While this advertisement presents Burger King’s food in a way that interesting and fun for kids, it fails to inform consumers of the detrimental immediate or long term effects it could have on their health. It’s clear not only through speculation, but study and experimentation that fast food can directly affect a person’s health in negative ways. During the Super Size Me documentary, Morgan Spurlock conducted an experiment in which he ate nothing but fast food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 30 days. Spurlock had various checkups with three different doctors throughout the experiment. The end results were more shocking than one might expect. In just 30 days’ time, Spurlock gained twenty four pounds, went up sixty-five points in cholesterol, and experienced a seven percent increase in body fat percentage. Over the 30 days Spurlock also experience depression, mood swings, nausea, constant cravings and headaches, and a noticeable decrease in his sex drive. At the end of the experiment, the doctors said that Spurlock had doubled his risk of coronary heart disease and damaged his liver in ways seen only in binge drinkers. Spurlock’s experiment showcases the potential immediate health effects of eating too much fast food, but the most common long-term effect is obesity. Obesity is a serious health risk, comparable to chain smoking or binge drinking. Being obese puts a person at risk of various diseases such as “hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and repertory problems, and endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancers.” (Elizabeth A. Siegler). Since Burger King is targeting children in their advertisements, information on the negative side effects of a fast food diet should be included in those ads.

WhataBurger: Just the Way You Thought You Liked It

Thesis: A classic Whataburger ad claims to be, “Just like you like it”. The image is of a one of their famous Whataburger Burger – dressed with onions, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles; all the works. Whataburger always suggest that if you come to our restaurant, they will make it, as their slogan states, “Just the way you like it” however, is it really just the way we like it? Whataburger ads fail to claim that most of their meals are packed with empty calories, have ridiculous proportion sizes, exploit their workers, and often don’t make it the way you like it.

Body:

Lastly, their slogan, “Just the way you like it” is often an elaborate slogan of lies. For, it is never the way you like it. As stated before, many people want to have their cake and eat it too, which for Whataburger is impossible. Once again, Ashley Terrell gives me some insight on what happens behind the counter when she is taking orders. She states, “We are obligated to persuade the costumer to ordering more than what he or she wants. For example, I’ll say, ‘For just 25 cents more, you can get a large fries with that.’ Or ‘Are you sure you don’t want a hot fudge brownie pie with that?’ Its all just a game of bidding and persuasion. Costumers usually order what I suggest and some even yell at me, displeased at my [bargaining]. It’s never that way they want it, it’s the way we want you to want it.” This discovery shocked me, the fact that Whataburger employees are trying their hardest to get you to buy more food than what you already need. It’s like the trap that obesity sets out for all of its victims and orange clad workers are just puppets of disguise.

childhood obesity

While the Burger King advertisements seem promising, its claims that their kids meal is cheap, has a unique look, and guaranteed free toy is just a cover up For instance, the ad omits the nutritional content, the marketing tools used to attract children, and tricks kids into thinking they will be given a sufficient toy. I believe that action is needed in order to prevent advertisements installing unhealthy eating habits in children. Advertisements are paid to promote and sell, not to worry about health problems. Parents are therefore responsible for knowing what chemical additives and unhealthy products that go into their child's food. Children are unable to distinguish the difference between healthy and non healthy foods, their naive minds thus make them susceptible to the influence of commercials. For example, by having loud and bright colors fast food companies attract a child's attention and make them subconsciously want to purchase their foods. Children are basically being brain washed. The programs that children watch encourage them to eat at a specific place not just for the "food", but also for what the place has to offer like free toys. After all more advertising does equal more consumption. It is disgustingly amazing how effective advertisers are able to make a family (more than one customer) eat at their fast food restaurant all because of a child. The constant exposure to advertisements has led children to view advertisements as normal and with trust. However, the truth is that children are becoming obese thanks to their ads and left being overweight even into adulthood.

Think Outside the Bun

"While the ad may portray a humble and simplistic approach, Evidence proves otherwise, showing that every element of the ad has been carefully chosen to “deceive” drivers into buying their food."

Through It's color, logo and slogan, this ad captures the attention of drivers along interstate 45 by means if its simplicity. These three elements which stand on a billboard have been carefully selected by its creators in order to grab the attention of hungry travelers, luring them in through an arrangement of methods. It's bright purple color directs the eyes of its customers off the road and to the sign. This color has been chosen for multiple reasons, but in this case it seems to be used to bring attention to the sign. The slogan, "Think outside the bun", also implies a few things. It is basically making statements like "Stop being a follower", and "Be an individual", while also saying things like "Buy our food!". It is effective because it indirectly states that anyone who were to eat at their establishment would somehow be more intelligent than someone who were t eat at a McDonalds. The irony of the situation is that it's basically the same food, and that there is probably not any special benefits you can receive by picking one over another. The third element, the bell symbol, is effective as well in attracting customers. By creating something easily recognizable, people are able to relate the imagery of the bell to the decent taste, cost, portability and quickness of the americanized Mexican food.

Thesis:

Chick-fil-A’s “Eat Mor Chikin” ad tells people to consume more chicken and less beef; this claim is clearly defended by the nutritional facts but neither the meat nor poultry industry is better or more humane than the other.

Body Paragraph:

Chick-fil-A’s ad gives the impression that the company would rather kill chickens than cows. Both the meat and poultry industries are very discreet about what goes on in the slaughterhouses and the lack of humanity that is exhibited there. In Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation, he mentions that there is only one small window looking into the slaughterhouse. (172) The chickens that are owned by companies such as Wayne Farms, Chick-fil-A’s poultry provider, live their, albeit, short lives in over-crowded quarters. Most of these poor chickens never see the light of day and are barely able to walk. K. Ghareeb and J. Bohm wrote the article Fear Behaviour, Ease of Capture and Performance Traits of Growing Meat Type Chickens which described how poor chickens are raised to be afraid of their handlers because the more fearful the chickens are the easier they are to capture and transport. (1) Not only does this constant fear affect the birds but also because they live in such tight living conditions the chickens tend to become very anxious and peck each other. This can lead to death in a few of the chickens. As for the cows, they live in their own filth which can cause them to become very sick because of the immense amount of ammonia they are exposed to. The chickens that survive go on to the slaughterhouse. When they arrive at the slaughterhouse the chickens are grabbed by their legs and hung upside down. The action of hanging the birds upside down can break their fragile legs. They are killed by having their throat slit by a machine. According to Gary Comstock author of Life, Science, Ethics some chickens move before their throats are slit and are alive when they are put into the de-feathering machine.(347) Cows, on the other hand, are killed manually by a person shooting them in the head. Although neither method of killing is acceptable at least the cows are dead before the next phase of their slaughtering begins. As Comstock says, poultry companies such as Wayne Farms believe that since the rights of chickens are not defined in the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act that their actions are excusable but they are clearly misguided. (356) This unimaginably poor treatment of animals is supported by companies such as Chick-fil-A who buy their products from companies who allow their animals to die in the cruelest of ways. When they post an ad that shows cows telling people to eat chicken instead of beef they are basically telling people that killings cows is cruel but killing chickens is acceptable.

Carl Jr’s “Superstar” Burger: A Journey of Stardom, Sexual Drives and Power that doesn’t start with a Single Burger

Original & Revised Ad

Thesis: Carl Jr's Superstar Burger ad provides ludicrous claims as it dismisses the facts that consuming the unhealthy product cannot make one into a thin and attractive celebrity, not a stimulant for sexual drives, but rather a stimulant for bacteria related illnesses, and is not a true measurement of a man’s social and personal power.

Body Paragraph:
This advertisement affirms that consuming their burger will make them appear as glamorous, thin, and attractive like their favorite celebrity, seen through celebrity influence in endorsements, but this impossible because of the unhealthiness of the burger. The ad utilizes the influential power of celebrity Paris Hilton to thrust the claim of obtainable stardom to the readers. Paris Hilton, an American socialite and heiress, may be the most popular figure in pop culture as her line of work includes a wide range of variety such as media personality, model, singer, author, fashion designer and actress. Nevertheless, she is an example of the modern phenomenon of the “celebutant”', the celebrity who rises to fame not because of their talent or work but because of their inherited wealth and controversial lifestyle. Her fame is what Carl’s jr emphasized, for their goal is to create a new meaning for the product from the celebrity’s persona, which is fueled by the types of roles they play in society as well as how they are portrayed in the media. At a first glance upon the ad, a reader will see a sense of stardom from the way Paris is dressed in her jeweled bathing suit and diamond studded accessories. She stands so confidently with her eyes closed holding the burger in her left hand. In a selection titled “ The Impact on Advertising Effectiveness and Credibility” from the International Journal of Advertising by journalist David Strutton, he examines the relationship between celebrity endorser source effects and its effectiveness in advertising. Strutton argues, that the importance of celebrity endorsers, however, does not lie in the fact that they are used by firms who wish to increase revenue, but in how these celebrities add value to a company, brand or product. Celebrities add value through the process of meaning transfer. Since the advertise burger is named the “Super Star,” Carl’s Jr's advertising department also wanted a super star to represent their product. By using her as a model for this ad, “a consumer identifies with a celebrity, and he/she purchases the product in the hope of claiming some of these transferred meanings for their own lives” (Strutton, 210), but this in reality cannot be found as this product is a contradiction, for the nutritional value of the burger makes gaining countless pounds is more realistic than gaining fame and all the comes with it. This ad promises its consumers that if you eat their burger, you too can also be glamorous and confident like Paris, yet this unimaginable because of the harsh nutritional facts of the Superstar burger. According, to Carl Jr’s nutritional values chart on their website, the Superstar burger alone contains slightly over 920 calories. A normal healthy diet has a calorie intake of 2200. Let say if someone eats 3 meals that consist of a Superstar burger with a large order of fries and a 12oz Coke, 475 and 160 calories respectively. That’s a massive 4665 calories, which is more than double the recommended diet. This ad claim that with the consumption of the Superstar burger, it will bring the consumer nearer to the fantasy of obtaining a superstar-like appearance, but it’s terribly high calorie intake become a enormous roadblock in realizing the unreal goal.

wendys baconator

While this advertisement for Wendy’s Baconator makes it seem cool and challenging, it hides a not-so-fun fact—that the product advertised, if eaten regularly, can and will lead to obesity. I intend to prove my point, along with other points including how the automobile and our lack of physical activity are linked to Americas growing obesity problem.

In his book, Want Fries With That, Scott Ingram states, “In a nation such as the United States, where portion sizes have consistently increased since the late 1970’s…” The Wendy’s Baconator is a prime example of this, clocking in at almost 1600 calories, not to mention the fries and drink. That’s almost as much as nutritionists say that a human is suppose to have in an entire day. Not only are advertisements seducing people into eating these larger quantities of food, but the people that work at these places do as well. As soon as you tell them what you want the cashier asks if you want to make it a large or biggie-size before you can finish talking. Then they ask you if you want to add a slice of pie or cheese sticks with your meal, its’ like putting this pressure on you to order more. It’s not only happening at fast food restaurants, value meals at places like Chili’s’ are often the ones with the highest number of calories, like the Texas Cheese fries and the Cajun pasta. If you order a couple orders off the value menu, you get a free desert.

Burger King: Friendship or Food?

Thesis: Therefore, the claims made by Burger King that the Whopper is stronger than friendship are false, and I will argue that the Whopper is not stronger than friendship because it is unhealthy and that the manly "flame-broiled" Whopper is not real, moreover the manipulating ad is invading the private space of young adults' social network. Body Paragraph: The advertisement does not say that the “stronger than friendship” Whopper is unhealthy, but it should. Often the amount of calories in a favorite fast food item is not cared about but wow! On the Burger King website, it is stated that the Whopper contains 670 calories, 11g saturated fat, 75 mg cholesterol, 11g sugar, 51g carbs, 40g fat, 1g trans-fat, 28g protein, and 980mg sodium! In another case study called, Burger King Case Study Targeting the Superfan as a Means of Retaining Growth in the Fast Food Market, Datamonitor, a company that explores business practices and a variety of disciplines and business sectors, expresses the aim the Burger King Company has towards the Superfan, its controversial marketing campaings, and its lack of care for health issues of the food they sell. Datamonitor, found out “that BK’s Whopper has the highest number of calories of a burger from three leading burger chains, with 670 calories, compared to 560 calories for a Big Mac and 440 calories for a single burger at Wendy’s.” The Whopper is the highest in calories, and the BK Company does not seem to see this as important because they do not state it in their advertisement, yet they claim that this unhealthy Whopper is stronger than friendship? The BK Company believes that “taste is the primary selling angle, [and] the health of the burgers is perceived as less important.” (Datamonitor) The BK Company is not concerned with the health or untrue statements of their advertising because they just want to sell their product and they have no limits. As mentioned above, the BK Company is now branching out their advertisements to social networks because that is where their Superfan customer, an 18-35 year old male who enjoys fast food, will be most easily targeted and manipulated.

Thesis: This ad claims that Subway is so healthy you could lose weight eating it, but in reality some Subway advertisements abuse the popular Jared Fogle story to appeal to reader's emotions, the famous "Subway diet" is not exactly good for your body, and some sandwiches on the Subway menu, despite Subway's continued claims of freshness, are extremely unhealthy.

Body Paragraph: Last, but not least, the ad is making the claim that Subway sandwiches are healthy, but this is definitely not true. In the ad readers see a delicious-looking sandwich in the background that is stuffed with chicken and fresh vegetables. The ad makes the sandwich look good and surrounds it with slogans that promote weight loss and freshness, but in reality a lot of sandwiches on the Subway menu are incredibly unhealthy. Gregg Cebrzynski, a writer for Nation’s Restaurant News, reveals that Subway “doesn’t mention that its 6-inch Chicken and Bacon Ranch sandwich has 25 grams of fat or that its tuna sub with cheese contains 32 grams of fat” (Cebrzynski 1). The meatball marinara, another popular Subway sandwich, has an astounding 1,160 calories and 46 grams of fat. That is worse than the McDonald’s Big Mac which only has 590 calories and 34 grams of fat. These statistics are crucial in disproving the omissions made by the Subway ad featuring Jared Fogle. The ad claims that Subway and Fogle have started a weight loss revolution, but how could this be possible with menu items loaded with fat and calories? The ad definitely does not tell the whole truth and readers should definitely know that all Subway sandwiches are not as healthy as they are made out to be.

Burger King Commercialism: Messing with your mind

Thesis:

Burger King commercialism has had a dramatic and modernization influence not only on diet and health, but on popular culture by offending today’s children, women, and the whole Burger King Franchise.

Body Paragraph:

Not much focus is being put into today’s commercialism audiences like Burger Kings “It’ll blow your mind away” advertisement , now children everywhere can see images only mean for adult audiences. As Joe Gandelman states in his article Burger King’s New Ad: A New Low In Vulgar Ads Aimed At Young Customers, “And Burger King? Not that we’re in the business of suggesting that corporations should bump their ad companies, but Gawker says it more bluntly than we can (WARNING: Some adults-only imagery):” (Gandelman,3). This source gave the reader a insight into the focuses on the obscene publicity of BurgerKing’s adult form advertisement. Sex sells but there is a boundary to what should be published to the public. Today’s youth is growing and some advertisement oversees the fact that children are being exposed to the disgraceful announcement. From the start a person viewing the image automatically gives the Super Seven Incher a human form making the reader a bit uncomfortable depending on the age. A mature and educated reader might feel offended by the nonsense and might speak out about how the advertisement is very inappropriate and disrespectful towards the young ones. On the other hand, a young immature person might find the advertisement a bit comical, making it seems as if it was okay for the publication of a women who seems to have a blow up doll look. The advertisement might have been a bit settle if it was just the sandwich and the model but the writing basically gave it its sexual nature. At the bottom it clearly states, “Fill your desire for something long, juicy” if the reader stops reading there, they know the sandwich is not the typical burger. Once the description has started it only gets more intuitive of sexual matter, “Yearn for more after you taste the mind blowing burger”. Age and gender plays a major role on a persons outlook on things suggesting people will have a different outlook on how they see sexuality.

Thesis;

While this Burger King advertisement claims that its burgers can make up for a person's desire for intimacy, I will argue that that the food advertised is not a safe way to make up for lack of intimacy because it leads to obesity, false advertisement as the burger does not look like it is advertised and creates sexism in food.

Body Paragraph;

While this Burger King advertisement is for general public it is directed more towards females, apparently women are the ones who require companionship and look for food when they don’t obtain it, which produces sexism in food advertised. Katherine Parkin, writer of “The Sex of food and Ernest Ditcher: The Illusion of Inevitability”, stated in her research of sexism in food that “Advertisers have long turned to psychologist in their efforts to understand how to motivate human desires” (Parkin 2). This fact is shown in the ad of Burger King, where they aim for single women in need of sexual activity. The words “It’ll blow your mind away” in the ad is striking to these women because they relate it to what they desire and do not have, therefore the ad appealed to their most intimate wants and needs. Parkin also mentions how advertisers have created gender roles in their own foods, therefore convincing people to just buy the masculine or feminine product depending on their sex. It is stated that women who are single, tend to eat more than they should because they suffer from loss of love and end up eating their feeling out due to their circumstances. The Burger King knows this and has produced this ad so women can go buy their new burger, they might not have a partner in love, but they will always have food to make them feel satisfied.

subway

Thesis:

The claims made by Subway restaurants advertisements that the menu offerings are low in calories are true, but the whole truth is not really being conveyed to potential customers.

Body:

Sometimes organizations that advertise do not always tell the entire truth about things. Sometimes they find it necessary to leave certain things out of their ads in order to shed a better light on their place of business. Not to say that they are actually false advertising, just that perhaps they may have overlooked the entire truth. After all, how many people would come to a restaurant if they claim to have a low fat sub, but you can’t have any meat, cheese or mustard or mayonnaise on it, suddenly the sandwich doesn’t sound so appealing? Things that were never mentioned in the advertising about Jared losing all of his weight, was the fact that Jared would “skip breakfast, eat a small Turkey subway sandwich for lunch, and a large vegetable delight subway for dinner along with some baked potato chips and a diet soda”. According to an interview that Jared Fogle did with correspondent Richard Schlesinger “Jared weighed a staggering 425 pounds” (Leung, Rebecca). Jared Fogle was eating up to 10,000 calories per day. After starting his diet he started consuming only 2000 calories per day.

Taco Bell's Fresco Menu; The Lies Behind It.

Thesis: While Taco Bell’s Fresco menu advertisement claims to be a “drive-thru diet” and can help someone lose weight for a cheap price, there are many flaws to the ad such as deceiving the consumer into presuming that the food is low in all aspects of the dieting such as calories, fat, and sodium, not showing the consumers the way a fast-food diet can affect someone’s lifestyle and the negative health effects of only eating fast food.

Body Paragraph:Even though Taco Bell’s Fresco ad suggests that the menu items are low in fat and calories, which can help with weight loss, the ad does not tell the consumers that the menu items are high in sodium and lack vitamins and other nutrients someone needs. The Fresco menu contains nine items-including tacos and burritos-that are indeed low in calories. According to the book, The Fast Food Diet by Stephen T. Sinatra, “Ordering tacos “fresco” style means they dress them with salsa instead of cheese and sauces”(Sinatra). Without the cheese and sauce, the calories and fat content go down. All of the menu items contain under 400 calories and under 9 grams of fat. What the ad does not tell the consumer is that the food is stuffed with sodium because while people desire to lose weight, they want the food to still taste good. Taco Bell saw that desire in people and decided not to sacrifice the taste so they stuff nearly three-fourths of the recommended amount of sodium. This is an extreme put back from a “dieting” perspective. In order to lose weight, you must balance everything. According to an article by Abby Ellin, “Dr. Stephen Sinatra, a cardiologist in Manchester, Conn., agrees and states, “With fast food you get the good, the bad and the ugly,” he said. “It’s like weaving your way through a minefield. You can step on a mine and blow up”(Ellin). The Fresco ad is simple and attractive, using the food that looks exactly like the normal Taco Bell menu items to make it seem more attractive to those dieting. Besides the extreme amount of sodium, the menu items also lack vitamins and nutrients such as Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium and Fiber. These vitamins and nutrients are necessary to maintain a healthy weight and healthy diet. A diet that lacks these vitamins could never be deemed healthy by any doctor, but that doesn’t stop consumers from falling into this advertisement’s trap about this being a “diet.”

Redesigned Ad:

Deceptive "Hero's" Attraction with a Sauce of Unjust KFC's Manipulation.

Thesis:
While this KFC value meal advertisement claims to provide its customers with “a lot of food” and points out its connection to a “Guitar Hero” video game, it fails to explain this connection, hides the high caloric content of this food, and tricks people into thinking this KFC meal is cost-efficient due to amount of food, when in reality it would be more filling and cost-efficient to eat a regular home dinner.
Body Paragraph:

Even though this KFC box meal ad claims there is “a lot of food” provided by this menu item, it hides the caloric content and the quality of the food in it, which endangers the customer’s health. The first slogan attempts to draw an imaginary connection between a “Fully Loaded Box Meal” and a fully loaded gun, which brings a sense of adventure and masculinity to this product. The words “fully loaded” on this ad are supposed to make customers assume there is something special, fulfilling and adventurous in this meal. However, this food is low in nutrients and vitamins and provides a customer with fat, cholesterol, cancerogenic products of thermally processed grease, and many other ingredients that will damage children’s health. The meal presented in this ad consists of deeply fried items ( chicken wings, chicken sandwich, fries), and a sugar-loaded soft drink. This meal consists of seven items that add up to approximately 1500 calories, which is too much for one meal for a physically active adult. The study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research by professors Shin-Yi Chou, Rashad Inas, and Michael Grossman suggested, that there is “a strong positive effect of exposure to fast-food restaurant advertising on the probability that children and adolescents are overweight”( Chou 610). The research was based on observation of children of 3-11 years old, their exposure to fast food ads, and their food choice patterns. The scientists also suggested by this study that “a complete advertising ban on television would reduce the number of overweight children ages 3-11 in a fixed population by 18 percent” (Chou 610). Even though they were talking about TV ads, the same strategy could be applied to internet advertising given that more and more children are spending most of their time at their computers. Therefore, KFC’s claim about the value of their box meal is false and it will be more cost-efficient and healthy to eat at home.

The Redesigned Ad: