BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...

Subject: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 11:11 AM

Lovin' it: McBranding hooks preschoolers, study finds

By Julie Steenhuysen
Mon Aug 6, 4:05 PM ET



CHICAGO (Reuters) - Preschoolers preferred the taste of burgers and fries when they came in McDonald's wrappers over the same food in plain wrapping, U.S. researchers said, suggesting fast-food marketing reaches the very young.

"Overwhelmingly, kids chose the one that they perceived was from McDonald's," said obesity prevention expert Dr. Thomas Robinson of the Stanford University School of Medicine, whose work appears in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070806/hl_nm/kids_fastfood_dc

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: Mrrzy
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 12:53 PM

I just read that - wish they'd study kids in regions without Mcdonalds' to see if it's really the brand, or what...

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 01:27 PM

The children were ages 3 - 5. I wonder how much of their responses were based on what they thought were the "right" answers. I can't see any explanation of what the food really was - Mickie D's or a competitor?

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 01:31 PM

Sorry - my point is that children who recognized the flavor of the MacDonald's burger or fries might prefer it. Burger King fries wiggle - my son loved the greasy nasty things. I was disgusted. It wasn't brand identification but an actual preference.

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 01:32 PM

That would be religious discrimination.

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: beardedbruce
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 01:37 PM

The point was that the ones IN THE McD's WRAPPER were preferred- even when the SAME ones were presented in a plain wrapper.

"They were offered five pairs of foods and asked if they tasted the same or to point to the one that tasted better.

The food -- taken from the same order -- was wrapped in either McDonald's packaging or unbranded packages in the same color and style.

In about 60 percent of the tastings, the kids preferred food in the McDonald's wrapper.

"They actually thought the food tasted better," Robinson said in a telephone interview."

""Even for baby carrots, kids said the carrots they thought were from McDonald's tasted better," Robinson said.

The same was true of milk."

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 01:42 PM

And this surprises people? The children see advertisements that have pretty colors, happy people, charming music. They are too little to separate the ambiance from the product. The ads are carefully designed to inspire warm, happy feelings about McDonald's, and they work.

Kill your television!

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 01:49 PM

I understand that, bruce. My question is what brand was the food? If it was MacDonald's to begin with, flavor recognition plays into it.


In the 60s there was a lot done with the color of food affecting flavor. It was an attempt to find a way to help people lose weight by making food unattractive. The purple mashed potatoes stuck in my mind. The color of the food affected the flavor in peoples' minds.

So is it brand identification or is it the mind fulfilling expectations? Maybe it really did taste better to some.

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 02:06 PM

The results would be more convincing if the same foods were also given with no label in pairs. If the children still had a preference it would throw off the findings. Maybe right handed children prefer the burger on the right. It just does not seem very thorough or scientific in its methods or findings.

63 children in a Head Start program tested by an obesity expert with his own agenda.

Brand loyalty is one of the primary goals of advertising. It works on adults. It would surprise me if it did not work on children. Fighting that loyalty was what the Pepsi Challenge was all about. In essence they were saying that the color of the can is making you think it tastes better but take a blind test and see which you prefer.

I have a hard time with the notion that fast food is the cause of rising obesity in our culture. Fast food is a symptom. Why do people want or need to eat on the run? Two working parents caused by outrageous basic food, health and shelter costs? A society based on sitting in front of a computer or TV for most or all of its entertainment? MacDonald's fills a need and does it well - it is a corporation whose responsibility is to produce profits legally. Consumers choose to eat there rather than at the local salad bar. If it offers only the salad bar, it goes out of business.

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: jeffp
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 03:11 PM

Sins -- it was all McDonalds. Even the stuff in the plain wrapper was McDonalds. It was IDENTICAL. A Big Mac in a Big Mac Wrapper vs. a Big Mac in a plain wrapper. No taste difference. Baby carrots in a McDonalds wrapper vs. baby carrots in a plain wrapper. Kids preferred the same identical food wrapped in a McD wrapper. There is no taste recognition involved. If there was, they would recognize the taste of the plain-wrapped stuff too. It's all psychological.

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 03:19 PM

We went into a McDonalds last week for the first time in our lives, because it was the only place still open and we were starving. Based on the adverts we expected that it might be phoney, but that it should be agreeable enough.

In fact it turned out to be a pretty disgusting experience, both the food and the ambiance. Won't be going back there again.

Subject: RE: BS: Truth, Justice, and the Brand name...
From: SINSULL
Date: 07 Aug 07 - 03:33 PM

You're right Jeff. I found some other reports about the study and they said it was all MacD's.
Here is some other info from Dr. R. addressing additional causes of obesity.


http://news-service.stanford.edu/news/2004/october6/med-robinson-106.html

In the "I wonder" category. Many of us here are obese. We all know how to lose weight and keep it off but we don't. Most of us are waiting for a magic pill to do it for us hence the rage for oatmeal, hoodia or even risky prescription drugs - whatever the latest weight loss craze is. I for one rarely eat MacDonald's type fast food - it makes me ill for days. But I do prefer to nuke a frozen meal or open a can. I hate cooking.
Every fat person I know wants his/her children to grow up thin but does nothing to change the food choices available at home, cook healthy meals or join in physical activities with their children. What makes us so blind to the truth?