Lay's Lies

A couple days ago I ran across an advertisement on the Internet for Frito Lay potato chips. What initially struck me was the young girl who served as the dominant feature for this particular advertisement. This child reminded me of myself when I was a little girl; she was Caucasian, thin, blondish red hair, and freckles under her blue eyes. As she stands in the open country fields with a gold, glittery top on, it appears that the bite from the Lay chip brings her much happiness and satisfaction. I admire the American country feel that is prevalent in this picture with the grassy fields, blue sky, sparkly top, and classic potato chips that go along perfectly with an American hamburger. Knowing myself, I would not know better as a child to think about the calories, sodium intake, and negative health effects of Lays, but rather think about the enjoyment that this chip will bring when I hear the loud and slow crunch from each bite and savor the accumulation of salt on my tongue. The advertisement even clearly reassures the consumer that one will experience happiness and endless smiles from these Lays.

This advertisement is another perfect example of companies promoting an experience for their product. In this instance, Lay’s is promoting an experience of happiness as seen by the title, “It takes twelve muscles to smile or 3 simple ingredients.” In other words, a consumer will smile when eating these chips. Personally, this advertisement makes me want to step outside my dorm because the weather is currently in the high eighties and many students are swimming and tanning at the pool or enjoying barbeques off campus. The Lay chips would be a perfect addition to a juicy hamburger and assortment of fresh fruit.

The problem I have with this advertisement is parents will see this advertisement as they flip through magazines and immediately connect with the image on a personal level. Parents might see this ad as a source of happiness for their children as they see their own child in the eyes of this Lay’s model. Therefore, the parents are tempted to make the decision to buy their child Lay’s chip. This Lay’s ad also excels at promoting an unhealthy product in a healthy manner; this is one of my main concerns with advertisements in general. Under the main caption, the ad says “Just potatoes, all natural oil & a dash of salt.” Coming from a business background, I do see this phrase as an effective marketing strategy in terms of attempting to promote an unhealthy food choice in a healthy manner. However, this is where companies, such as Lay’s, are taking advantage of the market in an unethical way and individuals, especially children, do not have the time to go online and research the effects of potato chips on their body and health so they are gullible when it comes to selling an unhealthy product. So… for your convenience, I did it the nutritional calculation for you!

            “About a third of a potato chip is oil and two-thirds is potato, which is basically a light starch… and Americans are eating too much starch” (Elliot para. 21). According to Lay’s nutritional information, Lay’s chips contain 170 milligrams of sodium in fifteen chips, which is about one bag worth. This one bag of chips is close to ten percent of what our 1500 milligram suggested sodium intake is in one day, according to the Mayo Health Clinic.

“Many studies have shown that children who spend more time with media, particularly television, are more likely to be overweight” (Elsevier para. 11). I completely believe this statement. I think this works in multiple ways; individuals who sit in front of the television feel the need to snack on something, which is typically an unhealthy choice like chips, popcorn, or candy. My second reasoning is children who sit in front on the television for a long period of time are exposed to commercials like the Lucky Charms advertisement that I mentioned earlier in my blog posts. My final reasoning is when you are sitting on a couch watching television, flipping through a magazine, or connected to any form of technology for that matter, you are most likely not spending time outside running around or boosting your cardio and health. Not only are children attracted to the Internet and various activities that require no physical activity, studies show that media is also influencing their choices in not just food but everything in life. Media is a terrible misrepresentation of how we should be eating and what is healthy. If a young girl sees this Lay’s advertisement, she is going to believe that she could also be happy like the featured child in the ad. She is not going to ask her mom if this is a bad food choice for her; she will see how happy the child looks in the picture and realize this food will most likely bring her great pleasure as well.

Perhaps there should be a picture of an overweight child snacking on these potato chips from an extra large sized bag. I do not see a problem with eating these chips on a special occasion, but to associate one of the most desired expressions and feelings (happiness) with something so unhealthy is just unethical and the answer to why our country is becoming so obese.

Works Cited

Elliot, Stuart. "Promoting a Potato Chip Using Many Farmers, and Less Salt." New York             Times 25 May 2010. Web. 13 May 2014.

Folta, Sara C., Jeanne P. Goldberg, Christina Economos, Rick Bell, and Rachel Meltzer. "Food Advertising Targeted at School-Age Children: A Content Analysis." 38.4 (2006): 244-48. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.

Frito Lay's. Advertisement. Ad Monkey. WordPress.com, 26 Mar. 2009. Web. 13 May             2014.

Nutrition and Healthy Eating. Mayo, 30 May 2013. Web. 13 May 2014.