FRENCH FRIES? They're Apple Slices!
I couldn't believe this when I read this. But children in a recent study identified apple slices as FRENCH FRIES!
Apparently all the attempts by food giants to show kids healthier foods just aren't working.
In the study one-half to one-third of children did not identify milk when shown McDonald’s and Burger King children’s advertising images depicting that product, according to newswise.com. Sliced apples in Burger King’s ads were identified as apples by only 10 percent of young viewers; instead most reported they were french fries.
“Burger King’s depiction of apple slices as ‘Fresh Apple Fries’ was misleading to children in the target age range (of 3 to 7),” the Web site quotes principal investigator James Sargent, MD, co-director Cancer Control Research Program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center. “The advertisement would be deceptive by industry standards, yet their self-regulation bodies took no action to address the misleading depiction.”
In 2010 McDonald’s and Burger King began to advertise apples and milk in kids meals. Researchers studied fast food television ads aimed at children from July 2010 through June 2011. In this study researchers extracted “freeze frames” of Kids Meals shown in TV ads that appeared on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and other children’s cable networks. Of the four healthy food depictions studied, only McDonald’s presentation of apple slices was recognized as an apple product by a large majority of the target audience, regardless of age.
Do we have dumb kids? Or are they just bombarded by ads for foods that aren't too healthy?
“The fast food industry spends somewhere between $100 to 200 million dollars a year on advertising to children, ads that aim to develop brand awareness and preferences in children who can’t even read or write, much less think critically about what is being presented.” said Sargent.
Apparently all the attempts by food giants to show kids healthier foods just aren't working.
In the study one-half to one-third of children did not identify milk when shown McDonald’s and Burger King children’s advertising images depicting that product, according to newswise.com. Sliced apples in Burger King’s ads were identified as apples by only 10 percent of young viewers; instead most reported they were french fries.
“Burger King’s depiction of apple slices as ‘Fresh Apple Fries’ was misleading to children in the target age range (of 3 to 7),” the Web site quotes principal investigator James Sargent, MD, co-director Cancer Control Research Program at Norris Cotton Cancer Center. “The advertisement would be deceptive by industry standards, yet their self-regulation bodies took no action to address the misleading depiction.”
In 2010 McDonald’s and Burger King began to advertise apples and milk in kids meals. Researchers studied fast food television ads aimed at children from July 2010 through June 2011. In this study researchers extracted “freeze frames” of Kids Meals shown in TV ads that appeared on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, and other children’s cable networks. Of the four healthy food depictions studied, only McDonald’s presentation of apple slices was recognized as an apple product by a large majority of the target audience, regardless of age.
Do we have dumb kids? Or are they just bombarded by ads for foods that aren't too healthy?
“The fast food industry spends somewhere between $100 to 200 million dollars a year on advertising to children, ads that aim to develop brand awareness and preferences in children who can’t even read or write, much less think critically about what is being presented.” said Sargent.
Comments
Post a Comment