Zainab Jafri
Mr. Ballinger
ENG-101- ML
26 September, 2016
Manipulations to Serve Gratifications
The tendency to exploit those that are vulnerable is highly practiced by corporations in the United States to gain success. In Michael Moss’s The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, he delineates how the food conglomerate Oscar Meyer, led by executive Bob Drane, manufactured and marketed the famous product known as “Lunchables.” Ironically, it is revealed that Bob Drane’s own daughter, Monica, never served “Lunchables” to her three kids for they “eat very healthfully” (Moss 269). From Monica Dranes’s statement about “Lunchables” in The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, by Michael Moss, we can infer that since the Millennial …show more content…
Often, however, they tend to act on impulse and go for what tastes better rather than what is best for them. There is an “emerging obesity epidemic” (Moss 259) in the United States that has recognized and blamed major food manufacturers (Moss 260). Given that this generation of Millennials is keen on being aware, acknowledging a problem and acting on it, the companies’ “feel sure that the one thing [they] shouldn’t do is nothing” (Moss 260). A key factor that the food industries have understood is “the role that packaged food and drinks play in overconsumption” (Moss 261) and they believe that “the industry should make a sincere effort to be part of the solution” (Moss 261). The Millennials have made it their goal to stress that food corporations are producing unhealthy products that consumers are willingly putting into their bodies simply because they are unaware of the dangers. Geoffrey Bible stated that the companies aren’t putting a gun towards the consumers head to have them eat their products; it’s simply what they want (Moss 267). The stride towards obesity is the doing of both the “poor willpower on the part of the consumer and a give-the-people-what-they-want attitude on the part of the food manufacturers” (Moss, 262). Food corporations base their products off what will sell; they listen to customer …show more content…
Due to the new understanding that consumers have developed, companies have the nagging voice in their ear telling them to change the way they make their products to provide healthier options, but they are “not going to screw around with the company jewels… and change the formulation because a bunch of guys in white coats are worried about obesity” (Moss 261). Manufactures simply don’t see the point in changing the way a product is made if they are making money out of it. Companies believe that if they provide customers with less options, the customers will “buy less, and the competitor will get [their] market” (Moss 267). The processed food industries have followed the “sensory-specific satiety” guidelines to gain success by acquiring “formulas that pique the taste buds enough to be alluring but don’t have a distinct, overriding single flavor that tells the brain to stop eating” (Moss 264) because they know that their prosperity is based off a fast paced, semi desperate populace that has an addiction to junk food; coming up with something addictive will guarantee customer loyalty. Even if the nutritional facts stated a decrease in the use of salt in the product, it would serve “as the green light to snack like never
Mr. Ballinger
ENG-101- ML
26 September, 2016
Manipulations to Serve Gratifications
The tendency to exploit those that are vulnerable is highly practiced by corporations in the United States to gain success. In Michael Moss’s The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, he delineates how the food conglomerate Oscar Meyer, led by executive Bob Drane, manufactured and marketed the famous product known as “Lunchables.” Ironically, it is revealed that Bob Drane’s own daughter, Monica, never served “Lunchables” to her three kids for they “eat very healthfully” (Moss 269). From Monica Dranes’s statement about “Lunchables” in The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food, by Michael Moss, we can infer that since the Millennial …show more content…
Often, however, they tend to act on impulse and go for what tastes better rather than what is best for them. There is an “emerging obesity epidemic” (Moss 259) in the United States that has recognized and blamed major food manufacturers (Moss 260). Given that this generation of Millennials is keen on being aware, acknowledging a problem and acting on it, the companies’ “feel sure that the one thing [they] shouldn’t do is nothing” (Moss 260). A key factor that the food industries have understood is “the role that packaged food and drinks play in overconsumption” (Moss 261) and they believe that “the industry should make a sincere effort to be part of the solution” (Moss 261). The Millennials have made it their goal to stress that food corporations are producing unhealthy products that consumers are willingly putting into their bodies simply because they are unaware of the dangers. Geoffrey Bible stated that the companies aren’t putting a gun towards the consumers head to have them eat their products; it’s simply what they want (Moss 267). The stride towards obesity is the doing of both the “poor willpower on the part of the consumer and a give-the-people-what-they-want attitude on the part of the food manufacturers” (Moss, 262). Food corporations base their products off what will sell; they listen to customer …show more content…
Due to the new understanding that consumers have developed, companies have the nagging voice in their ear telling them to change the way they make their products to provide healthier options, but they are “not going to screw around with the company jewels… and change the formulation because a bunch of guys in white coats are worried about obesity” (Moss 261). Manufactures simply don’t see the point in changing the way a product is made if they are making money out of it. Companies believe that if they provide customers with less options, the customers will “buy less, and the competitor will get [their] market” (Moss 267). The processed food industries have followed the “sensory-specific satiety” guidelines to gain success by acquiring “formulas that pique the taste buds enough to be alluring but don’t have a distinct, overriding single flavor that tells the brain to stop eating” (Moss 264) because they know that their prosperity is based off a fast paced, semi desperate populace that has an addiction to junk food; coming up with something addictive will guarantee customer loyalty. Even if the nutritional facts stated a decrease in the use of salt in the product, it would serve “as the green light to snack like never