Fast-Food Advertising Deceives Americans to Obesity

ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY

ADVERTISING: INFORMATION OR MANIPULATION? Fast-Food Advertising Deceives Americans to Obesity With every precious tick of the clock, an American rushes to perform yet another task in a day with a meager 24 hours. With all the activity encompassed within these hours, many aspects of life are neglected. One of these aspects--the most important and vital one, in fact-- is self-nourishment. One must eat foods that are healthy as well as conducive to optimal bodily function and survival. In an attempt to adequately nourish themselves, Americans have fallen victim to seductive fast-food advertising that falsely leads them to believe that fast-food is healthy; this is an unconscionable misrepresentation on the part of the advertisers and thus should be punished. It is unconscionable that any company, well-aware of the potential harmful effects of their food, could so egregiously deceive and subsequently profit from the ignorance of the American public. It is the responsibility of every individual to educate themselves about the food they're eating as they are making a conscious decision when purchasing and consuming the fast-food meals. However, one's responsibility to oneself does not relieve the fast-food industry of their obligation to educate or at least, present fairly to the public the products they offer. The responsibility of a company to the society at large is such that they do not harm their customers. Healthy foods are advertised less than 3% of the time; children rarely see a food advertisement for broccoli. Increasingly, fast food conglomerates are using toy tie-ins with major children's motion pictures to try to attract young people. They request more junk food after viewing commercials.