Building up a Bigger America By Advertising Junk Food In Schools

Fast food restaurants use different marketing strategies such as fantasy elements, utopian characters internet and TV ads to manipulate kids and teenagers, whom are their main consumers. Therefore these chains want to get access to them, not only by TV commercial or website clubs, but ultimately in schools. As a result of this, young people are not being well educated in school about health care, and good eating habits, and consequently are being affected by different diseases such as obesity, Type II diabetes and bone fractures.
Public schools used to be a place that kept students from the advertising of junk food. But now, they have become the main spot for these companies to conduct economic interests. The junk food companies have different strategies to promote their products in schools. There are many different ways to advertise junk food in schools such as posters in the walls, ads in the school newspaper, logos in athletic scoreboards and sponsorship banners in gym. The schools that sale junk food in vending machines depends somehow on these companies, which supply technological materials for students; “the spiraling cost of textbooks has led thousands of American school district to use corporate-sponsored teaching materials”, states Eric Schlosser in the chapter “My Trusted Friends” (55). In the article “US Schools hooked on Junk food proceeds” by David Nakumara it is stated that “through contracts with soft drinks companies and other vendors, some schools are raising as much as $100,000 a year.” These companies have programs to help students financially; for instance, according to www.fastweb.com Coca-Cola first Generation Scholarship grants $ 5000 to Indian American Students who are in their first or second semester of college, Pizza Hut Reading contest gives kids a free pizza if they reach a reading goal. By this, Fast food brands are trying to get student’s loyalty and make them think that they care about their education. As a result of this, students, especially young kids, will work harder to get better grades and keep eating their favorite junk food, because they know that they will get a price for it.
Likewise, McDonalds also offered free food in schools. “The Campaign for a commercial-free childhood: reclaiming childhood from corporate marketers” mentions that “Children in kindergarten through fifth-grade had been receiving their report cards in envelopes adorned with Ronald McDonald promising a free Happy Meal to students with good grades, behavior, or attendance”, this occurred in Seminole County Florida, but it ended when the parents started complaining about it. Moreover most fast food chains have posters in hallways and in School buses. “Corporate Accountability international: challenging abuse protecting people” states in its website (www.stopcorporateabuse.org) that “ 20 percent of public schools sell branded fast food and if a school doesn’t sell it, there will be a location nearby.” Marketers know that one of the most important thing they must keep in mind in order to attract customers to a restaurant or make them buy a certain product, is the location where the product will be sale. Students are much likely to get breakfast from a McDonald’s than take it from home, as well as go to lunch after school. It has been proven that food locations near schools and other public places have greater sales than others.
In addition, soft drinks, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Dr. Pepper have become the leader beverages in public schools, especially in middle and elementary schools. In the book “A Fast Food Nation” chapter “My Trusted Friends” by Eric Schlosser states that “twenty years ago, teenage boys in the Unites States drank twice as much milk as soda; now they drink twice as much soda as milk” (54). This infers that young people are replacing water and milk with soda. Even though milk could have more calories than a can of soda, it’s hardly recommended that people take at least three glasses of milk a day. Milk is needed for your bone structure, and as a result of a lack of its consumption diseases related to bones deficiencies are more common.
Selling sodas in schools has become a great sales project for these companies. The more beverages sold they have, the more commission for the District and soft drinks companies. According to Eric Schlosser, in the chapter “My trusted friends”, “these companies control 90.3 percent of the US market, but have been hurt by declining sales in Asia” (53). The marketers take advantage of the influence that kids have in their parents to buy certain products. The intention of these advertisers is to try to change people’s behavior and keep the brand loyalty.
The explosion of advertising junk food in school has influenced young people and their parents to purchase unhealthy food and beverages which may cause several health problems such as and calcium deficiencies as well as obesity, which is the cause for type II diabetes and heart diseases. In addition, Obesity in childhood increased from 5% in 1964 to a 13% in 1994, and today is a 20%. The presence of junk food in schools contributes rapidly to the epidemic of this disease and students are much likely to get a candy bar and a soda rather than fruits or vegetables.
Soda and other sugary drinks has been targeted as the main cause of the increment of obesity rates among young people, however is not the only source of calories and sugar that student consume at school. Snacks such as M&M’s, Twix, and other candy bars as well as any kind of chips are also part of the diet. And while the obesity rate in US is increasing, the government is looking for strategies to help to overcome this problem; David Patterson governor of New York, proposed taxes on soft drinks and other sugary drinks in December 2008, the proposal is still in debate, but honestly it seems that this strategy won’t work as expected specially when the expenses on advertising junk food are greater than what the government spend to educate students about healthy habits and nutrition. The article “Food advertising & marketing directed at children’s and adolescents in the US” by Mary Story and Simone French, states that in 1997 the total expenses for confectionery and snacks was $1 billion. On the contrary, in the same year, the US Department of agriculture spent only $330 million on nutritional education. More aggressive strategies are needed to combat obesity among young people, and that would be treating the problem from its roots. The Obama administration has announced a plan to ban candy and junk food from schools. Likewise, the first lady Michelle Obama started a campaign against childhood obesity. This seems to be more meaningful than the soda taxes.
After home, school is the place where kids and adolescents spend more time, also is where they adopt different habits and ideas. As a result of this students should be better educated in health and nutrition which shouldn’t be less important than math and science. And the first step to give them the better role model is banning junk food and sugary drinks from school. Young kids learned and copy the things they see, so why give them a bad role model about their food choices if we can encourage them to have a healthier life?





“WORKS CITED”

1- Schlosser, Eric. “My Trusted Friends.” Fast Food Nation. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. 31-58.Print.

2- Story, Mary & French, Simone. “Food Advertising & Marketing Directed at Children & Adolescents In The US”. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. Division of epidemiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis US. February 10, 2004.


3- Campaign from Commercial-free Childhood: reclaiming childhood from corporate marketers. http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org

4- Nakumura, David. “US Schools Hooked On Junk Food Proceeds”. Washington Post. February 27, 2001.

5- Scholarship search. www.fastweb.com