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 5th 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!
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