the beginning

I have an unconditional love and appreciation for food. Our society has discovered endless ways to use food such as eating, skin treatments, healing through medicinal use, make into art, or sometimes weave into clothing or form jewelry products. Food is something that humans just can’t seem to get enough of. But here is an experience where my relationship to food was really strengthened and I saw more than just an object on a plate…

I recently traveled to eight different countries in Europe before I left home to commence my freshman year at Santa Clara University. Everyone told me that I would be in a food coma at the end of my voyage through Europe, and that I would never want to leave, which was exactly what I expected. 

            Traveling for a month in Europe was everything I could have imagined and more. I commenced my voyage in Germany where I was surrounded with various seasoned meats of all colors and flavors. The trip ended in France where I tasted and later purchased cheeses that left my suitcase with a subtle scent of freshly grated Parmesan. I felt like I should have gained ten pounds from all of the food I ate, but I surprisingly didn’t most likely from all of the walking and use of fresh products in the meals. One of my favorite European food memories was my first trip to Ladurée, a French café that is well known for their delicious, sugary macarons. When I took one step into the colorful café, I inhaled a particular scent that reminded me of fresh roses in bloom. The way the room presented itself made me feel worthy and of importance. Each macaron was neatly and properly set and encased in a sparkling clean glass casing. They were very careful about which color was placed next to each other. Being a girl who adores color and décor, I had to pull my camera out and snap a few pictures to remember the atmosphere that this café provided. When I had purchased my tiny and delicate macarons, which were close to three dollars per piece, I took a bite into each one and experienced flavors that resembled fruits, flowers, and sweets; one of my favorite flavors was the strawberry, which I thought was going to be too much, but ended up tasting like strawberry ice cream. I took almost ten minutes to nibble on all three macarons because I wanted to enjoy and savor every minute spent with this unique treat.

            However, I came to the conclusion that Ladurée’s product that they were selling was not their food product, but rather the ornate environment in this amazing location. After I ate my macarons, I didn’t even think about the nutritional information, the grams of sugar that I had consumed, or how many hours of exercising I would have to complete to burn off just one macaron. None of this mattered because Ladurée was selling me the unforgettable experience of elegance and luxury. This experience and finding is what inspired my desire to start begin writing this blog.              Currently, I am freshman at Santa Clara University studying business. I am fascinated by the different aspects that a business incorporates within their products, especially when it comes to food. Whether advertising on television, through billboards, or in magazines, I am arguing that companies are not selling products anymore; they are selling an experience or something valuable that one can acquire. In turn, this is resulting in bad eating decisions for our society, and more specifically children who are not educated and do not know better. A recent example is Campbell’s Chicken & Stars soup advertisement in the US Weekly magazine that featured an eight-year-old boy who appeared to be a genie of some sort. When I first came across this advertisement, I thought it was a clever ad to just promote eating Campbell’s soup. But there is much more behind this image. The spoon that the boy has dragged across the starry night sky resembles a magic wand and the two captions that appear below the table say “A universe in every bowl” followed by “The wisest kid in the whole world.”  Campbell’s is telling parents that there is much more than food in this bowl of soup; kids will experience mystery and perhaps magic and intelligence. In addition, this ad tells parents that this is the wisest choice because “the wisest kid in the whole world” eats this as well. The company was not selling the product, but rather an intellectual acquisition for one’s child through the consumption of the chicken noodle soup.

I started this blog not only because of my passion for food and my interest in the way it is promoted, but to spread awareness of the harm that advertising has on individuals, such as children. Although it may seem obvious that chicken noodle soup cannot make you smarter, children are drawn to these types of advertisements where they see themselves being the intellectual genie in the ad. The unfortunate part is that this meal has little to no nutritional content, which is crucial for a child who is growing and needs an abundance of nutrition in his or her diet. According to Campbell’s website, Campbell’s Chicken & Stars soup only contains 3 grams of protein and eight percent of your recommended daily dose of Vitamin A.

In my English class I was inspired by the many ads that we would watch in class and examine in magazines. I found this topic of the effects of advertising especially relevant to my personal life because I am studying marketing and have the professional goal of joining an advertising agency in my later years. My research as helped me to realize that I hope to join an advertising firm where the employees and company strive to benefit the health and general welfare of society. Perhaps I will work with a company such as whole foods or maybe a natural cosmetic company if I do not decide to follow the food route.

My goal with these blog posts is to inform parents about the dangers in food advertisements. I believe that parents are unaware of the negative effects that advertisements have on their children, so hopefully I can demonstrate what a good advertisement would be, and what to avoid. Companies are influencing children’s perception of what is considered a healthy meal choice. With little to no education, these children don’t know better than to think these are healthy food choices; in fact, kids probably don’t know how to differentiate healthy from not healthy. Therefore, parents should more closely consider what they are feeding their children because even though an ad may show thin and happy children eating macaroni and cheese, I can guarantee that there is no correlation between macaroni and good health.

Works Cited

Campbell Soup Company. Advertisement. US Weekly Jan. 2014: 15. Print.

Campbell's. CSC Brands LP, 2013. Web. 6 May 2014.

<http://www.campbellsoup.com/Products/Condensed/Healthy-Kids/2289>.