Blog Entry 8

As children we were always hypnotized by bright colors, imagination, toys and catchy jingles. We were like mindless consumers demographically spending our parent’s money on anything that made our eyes widen. Of course past generations and generations to come, will love to go to McDonald’s for these reasons. How can I forget going to McDonald’s with my cousins, eating, playing on the playground, laughing and receiving a toy in one trip? Adults everywhere have these nostalgic feelings about McDonald’s. That’s exactly what the corporation worked so hard for many years to do.

           Fast food restaurants spend an obscene amount of money for advertising. It seems like the food has its own make-up artists because their burgers often appear fresh, delicious and enticing enough to make anyone drool. There’s an obvious abundance of these commercials on kids television programming channels such as Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. The commercials on these channels market very aggressively towards children. Depictions of happy families, toys and Ronald McDonald are more than enough to make a child beg their parents to go.

           While I don’t think it’s a bad thing to let children enjoy themselves but, there is an underlying problem. Due to today’s economic hardships, both parents usually work and are often so tired that they don’t have the energy to cook. McDonald’s is usually the answer where everyone can eat and kids can play. But, most people ignore the fact that fast food is bad for your health and children are eating fast food more often than ever before. The commercials directed at children are very misleading. They use a tone that implies that if kids eat McDonalds they grow big and strong but in fact, child obesity in the states is rising.

In conclusion, its alright that fast food markets to children but there has to be some type of restrictions. Especially considering that the food they advertise can have negative health effects on children. Fast food chains are making a huge profit at the expense of the health of future generations. With the huge amounts of money they receive why isn’t there an initiative to give the children healthier choices of food?

Blog Entry 6: Brand Identification Psychology

A brands logo or name says a lot about the company. It could be something recognized worldwide or condemned for not doing well enough. As people grow older and try various different things like clothes, food or any type of service, we become accustomed to a certain brand that we find superior to the others in terms of quality and service. For instance, someone might like a Honda more than a Toyota because his past experience with a Toyota wasn’t as good as his experiences with a Honda. Since i was young I’ve always loved drinking orange juice. The leader in orange juice in the United states is Tropicana but, I find that their juice is too acidic. Once my throat had been burned by all the juice I drank. In the Dominican Republic there is a drink brand named “Rica”. I’ve prefered their orange juice over any other due to it’s taste which tastes so natural and it’s light enough to be drinking all day and not hurt your throat. Only recently since a few months ago these drinks are being imported into America. It felt like the single greatest news ive ever heard since then, I stock my refrigerator up with them.

I’ve enjoyed these drinks since I was a child so, it’s closely associated with good memories about vacation. When i drink them now, it takes me back to the island, a hot sun and all my family for just a second. It’s a nice nostalgic feeling and I can’t even put into words how great it feels to finally have it back in the states.