America: Land of the Fat and Home of the Brainwashed
Autor: jaimeburnley • November 1, 2015 • Essay • 626 Words (3 Pages) • 1,020 Views
Jaime Burnley
Professor Belyi
Com 1-OAM
20 October 2015
America: Land of the Fat and Home of the Brainwashed
America has become numb to the fact that we aren’t always making our own decisions. These decisions are made by the advertising executive and shoved in our faces during your favorite television show. We are talking about commercials. The ones that affect us the most are fast food chains we all love like McDonalds or Wendy’s. The ease of pulling through the drive through to grab your family burgers and fries from the dollar menu far outweigh the health ramifications leading our country to a major concern; obesity. Whether it is the commercial with the scantily clad beauty or the one challenging us to eat the biggest burger they sell, the caloric intake of these meals should be considered, yet the convenience and price is all that seems to matter.
Who hasn’t seen a fast food commercial with a half-naked girl taking a huge bite of a cheeseburger with all the condiments falling on her voluptuous chest? There is the advertisement with a clown showing you what toy will be in your kids’ meal this week. And let’s not forget about the food chains that literally challenge you to eat the biggest burger they have which happens to take up over half of an adult males daily caloric intake based on a 2000 calorie a day diet like the Baconater at Wendy’s. All hours of the day the media is flashing food products before our eyes telling us what tastes great, where the popular people dine, or how fast and cheap their service is. We put aside our concerns about unhealthy food to go for what is easiest. These advertisements influence our choices and in turn we teach our children the habit of picking the easy choice today as opposed to the one that is best for us tomorrow.
Unfortunately, parents are instilling unhealthy eating habits in their children. With the increase of eating processed foods and the decrease of physical activity, childhood obesity has become a major concern. Add to that fact that kids today are accessing multiple media outlets simultaneously. Advertisers have the ability to reach our children all hours of the day. There are things parents can do about this issue such as limiting their child’s media time, but more importantly is making better dietary choices; leading by example.
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