Sadie sent me an article the other day regarding a newer marketing tactic. Enter a new set of terms that are being used to describe food. Wholesome. Fresh. Natural, Premium. Local. All of these words stir up images of things that are "good" and yet that taste good. Terms such as this are vague and hard to define so they avoid accusations of not being true while conjuring up "tasty" images.
Thoughts?
The frustrating thing about these terms is that there is no FDA or USDA definition of terms such as "Natural" or "Local". The only health term that has a definition is "organic"; however, this is not something well-known to most of the US population unless someone bothers to look into it.
ReplyDeleteIt goes completely against what the US should be putting effort into in terms of health products. Instead of truly changing their products to be healthier, they are again manipulating the public and taking advantage of the recent obesity and health concerns our society currently has. Instead of taking advantage of this concern as just another marketing tactic, socially responsible businesses should truly take a look at what they could do to help this unhealthy epidemic.
I agree with Briana. These new terms 'wholesome,' 'fresh' ect. have no regulated definition. After reading the article, I was shocked at the different products considered to be 'wholesome,' such as the McDonalds oatmeal and the Arby's bacon and cheese sandwhich. The word 'wholesome' conjures up the idea that the item is healthy. I think that these new catchphrases are giving a misrepresentation of the healthiness of the food. The marketers are catching on and instead of creating healthier items (that may not taste as good), they are using new description words that allow the consumer to believe they are eating something healthier.
ReplyDelete-Kelsey Jackson
I did a study in my marketing class that focused on fast food chains and other resteraunts that used terms such as "fresh", "wholesome", "Natural" to see what affect it had on the consumers when hearing these words. The study was great, almost every person jumped at the opprotunity to eat the item that was said to be "freshier" or "healthier" than the other options. It just goes to show that though these products could be local, wholesome, or even fresh, they are not necessarily that great for you. But Marketers know how to catch the attention of their audience and with all the growing need for chains to be "healthier" the marketers are going to saturate the idea.
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