Fast food is seemingly everywhere. One can find a McDonald’s, a Chick-fil-A, a Taco Bell, a Wendy’s, a Dunkin’ or a Domino’s, just to name a few of the most popular chains, in towns and cities across the United States and around the world.
What do you think about fast food? Is it something that improves our lives and makes the world a better place? Or is it a bad thing for our health and a negative influence in our communities?
Brian Gallagher begins the article “Fast Food Forever: How McHaters Lost the Culture War” by discussing how the fast food industry faced a strong backlash two decades ago, when the film “Super Size Me,” directed by and starring Morgan Spurlock, became a smash hit. He writes:
Following Mr. Spurlock as he ate nothing but McDonald’s for 30 days — and the ill effects that diet had on his health — the film became the high-water mark in a tide of sentiment against fast food. McDonald’s, specifically, became a symbol for the glossy hegemony of American capitalism both at home and abroad.
“McJobs” became a term for low-paying, dead-end positions, “McMansions” for garish, oversize houses. In 1992, the political theorist Benjamin Barber used the term “McWorld” as shorthand for emergent neoliberal dominance; seven years later, protesters against the World Trade Organization seemed to agree, launching a newspaper box through a McDonald’s window during the “Battle of Seattle” marches.
Two years after that, Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation” was published. A broad indictment of the entire fast-food industry, the best seller accused the industry of being bad for the environment, rife with labor issues, culturally flattening and culinarily fattening.
The article explains that fast food is still thriving 20 years later:
But two decades later, not only is McDonald’s bigger than ever, with nearly 42,000 global locations, but fast food in general has boomed. There are now some 40 chains with more than 500 locations in the United States. Fast food is the second-largest private employment sector in the country, after hospitals, and 36 percent of Americans — about 84 million people — eat fast food on any given day. The three major appeals of fast food remain intact: It’s cheap, it’s convenient and people like the way it tastes.
Mr. Gallagher also discusses the pivotal role that children play for the fast food industry:
Historically, fast-food companies have been very astute about marketing to children, realizing decades ago that creating customers early means creating customers for life. At the peak of his fame in the 1980s, Ronald McDonald was in some countries more recognizable to children than Mickey Mouse. In 2000, 90 percent of children ages 6 to 9 visited a McDonald’s in a given month.
But as Frances Fleming-Milici, the director of marketing initiatives at the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health, put it, “If it’s marketed to children, it’s probably bad for you.”
That became increasingly clear in the mid-2000s. Childhood obesity rates had nearly tripled in 25 years, and the public outcry was growing more urgent. A consortium of large food brands, including McDonald’s, Burger King, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola, tried to get out in front of the problem. They formed the Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, and the participating corporations self-imposed limits on advertising to children under 13 (later 12).
In place of that marketing to children, though, the big fast-food chains have found something arguably more potent, with McDonald’s, as ever, leading the way.
“They’re hyperfocusing on what they call fan-favorite moments, trying to essentially identify how we emotionally connect to McDonald’s,” said Kaitlin Ceckowski, who researches fast-food marketing strategies at Mintel, a market research agency. “What ‘human truths’ exist around their brand?”
Students, read the entire article and then tell us:
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Do you like to eat fast food? Why, or why not?
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Which fast food chains are your favorites — or least favorites? Why?
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When was the last time you ate fast food? In a typical month, how often do you eat it?
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Do you think fast food chains make your town or city a better place to live? Why, or why not?
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The article discusses paid partnerships between Travis Scott and McDonald’s, Megan Thee Stallion and Popeyes, Ice Spice and Dunkin’, and Lil Nas X and Taco Bell. Do these celebrity ad campaigns make you want to eat fast food more? In general, do you think that fast food advertising is effective — especially with children and teenagers? Why, or why not?
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Are you concerned about health issues associated with eating too much fast food, such as diabetes and obesity? Do you think more should be done — by parents, companies or the government — to help limit how much fast food children eat? Why, or why not?
Students 13 and older in the United States and Britain, and 16 and older elsewhere, are invited to comment. All comments are moderated by the Learning Network staff, but please keep in mind that once your comment is accepted, it will be made public and may appear in print.
Find more Student Opinion questions here. Teachers, check out this guide to learn how you can incorporate these prompts into your classroom.