Tiffany Jones

Professor Smith

ENG 101

Blog Entry #5

            You ever realized that almost every fast food commercial is aimed at children. Since day one children as young as the age of two had fallen into the fast food trap. Fast food companies tried every strategy to increase their profit and popularize their brand and it is sad to say that children were their best seller. From television commercials to creating characters for the children to look up to for entertainment, fast food restaurants kept the kids interested. This was aimed for children to persuade their parents to buy and to have loyalty to their brand for a lifetime. But children were not the only targets. That advertising strategy was called “Cradle to Grave”.   

The 1980’s was considered to be “the decade of the children consumers”. This is where business men birthed the advertising strategy “Cradle to grave”. Walt Disney and Ray Kroc (McDonald’s owner) were both Illinois natives who served in World War I. After the war they moved to South Carolina were they both became genies business men advertising their products to children.

McDonalds, one of the popular fast food restaurants that used the “Cradle to Grave” strategy, used commercials, toys (happy meals), play lands and cool characters to gain children interest. In addition to creating toys and characters, McDonalds also started a kids clothing line called “McKids”. Ray Kroc believed   if the kids were interested in what was being advertised that they would nag their parents into buying it.  Parents considered McDonalds a miniature Disney World because it was cheap and kept the kids out of their hair. McDonalds unfortunately was not the only corporation that advertised children for profits. Walt Disney’s success blossomed much the same as McDonalds. Walt Disney had created many characters, the most famous one being Mickey Mouse, and he also opened amusement parks. Disney world was a must see in every parent’s eyes making them feel like Disney World was an escape from the “real world”.

But if you look deeper into the corporations, children are not the only targets. Teenagers were targeted for cheap labor. Employers at McDonalds need little to no training to do this job.  Now a day’s teenagers consider fast food jobs at the “bottom of the heap”. When I was looking for employment fast food jobs were at the bottom of my list. I felt like I would not be using my abilities to a certain level I wanted to. Although being employed at McDonalds was not my forte that will never interfere with the love I have for McDonald’s food. I can honestly say I eat McDonalds at least 3 times a week. Maybe I fell into the Cradle to grave strategy too. I remember having all the cassette tapes and all the latest toys they were selling. I remember having my 5^th birthday party at McDonalds and my friends and I were playing in the play house. At the tender age of 19 I can say that McDonalds is still my hang out spot. Well, McDonalds has a lifetime costumer in me! 

                                                          Blog Entry #3: Summary



                      In the book "Fast Food Nation' written by Eric Schlosser, chapter one "The Founding Fathers" speaks about how post-war effected life in California economically. It was actually described as a "Fabulous Boom"  according to historian Carey McWilliams. Carl Karcher was a delivery boy for Armstrong's Bakery. He delivered bread to restaurants and bakeries in West L.A. He was amazed by the number of hot dogs stands opening and the number of buns they needed for the week. He had come across a hot dog stand that was for sell and decided to buy it. He then married and started a family with a young lady named Margaret Heinz. His one hot dog stand turned into four hot dog stands by the end of 1944. But owning four hot dog stands and working full time at the bakery still was not meeting Carl's expectations. He decided buy the store that was for sale across the street from Margaret's farm and quit the bakery job. In a week Carl had opened up his very own restaurant named " Carl's Drive-in Barbeque". Business was good but it was only after World War II where business soared for Carl and many other businesses. The oil and film businesses also had a positive outcome after the war. This made California the second largest manufacturing center in America and transformed Southern California into the most important economic region in the West.

                                               Blog Entry #2: Our Love Must Part

                                                           

                    Food was always been my first love. I could not go two hours without eating, it just did not feel right. Ever since i was a young girl i have had a huge appetite and as the years pass it was just increasing.
                   As i mentioned before it was hard to not eat every 2-3 hours faithfully. From big meals to a bowl of cereal, I was satisfied. Lately i have been trying to slow down my food intake only because the summer is quickly approaching. We all want that "Summer Body". It is a difficult task but it is basically mind over matter, well mind over food in this case.
                   My mom does not make my goal for losing weight any easier. In addition to our special dinners on major holidays, she creates her own " food holidays", for example, "Breakfast For Dinner day" and " Thanksgiving just not in November Day". It is hard to resist the smell of yam and potato salad when your eating a salad with light dressing. But when i get the erg to cheat on my diet or have a pancake at 9 o'clock at night, i just work out. She will not get the best of me!
                    I remember in high school eating McDonalds every day. My friends thought i had a serious problem. They made me watch a documentary about how horrible and unhealthy McDonalds actually was. But that still did not make me turn my cheek to my second home. My mom use to tell me to apply there because i probably know how to make every sanwhich on the menu (i think i can). But thank God i work retail because if i ever was blessed to work at a restaurant (I have applied many of times) losing weight would not be a factor. Forget about that summer body I would be sporting my fat with no care in the world. But this is not the case so Food my dear, WE MUST PART!

                                                      

                                        BLOG ENTRY #1: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR EATING?




                         Many Americans are skeptical about the food they consume. Many questions have arisen since the recent outbreak of E coli in spinach. According to Dr. David Acheson, " Americans have one of the safest food supply in the world". But can we honestly agree with him?
                        Dr. Acheson claims "The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) works very hard to keep our food safe from bacterial, viral, and chemical contamination"so then how did the e coli outbreak in spinach and the salmonella in peanut butter get past those "625 investigators"? So do we really have one of the safest food supply in the world?  Acheson stresses that the FDA does everything in its power to ensure we have a good supply of food but we also have to do our part as consumers. Cooking food at its appropriate temperature, keeping it refrigerated and properly handling raw meat, seafood and poultry was some of the important steps we should take to avoid any diseases. This just makes me wonder how safe the food is prior to consuming it. 
                         I honestly believe the FDA does everything in its power to keep us away from contaminated food but i believe they should work a little harder. The e coli outbreak that occurred in 2006 claimed many innocent people, and i believe if the FDA had paid more attention those innocent people would still be alive.