A critical analysis of how large food companies manipulate the

vast majority of people in society.

Essay
In todays world we are given more than we have ever had. And yet we
presume we are in a very lack state. It is a world of plenitude and our
attitude is of lack. The problem is that we do not consume food, we
consume food-like products. And these products are adorned, made to look
much better, so that people are attracted to them. They are also made so
that they have a long life span on the shelf. Otherwise the supermarket
and the manufacturers would be losing money. So the intention is not so
much to provide you with a healthy product, it is to give you a product that
will persuade you to buy it, that will last long and make a lot of profit for
the company that is producing it.
"The U.S. Weight Loss & Diet Control Market." in its 2007 study evaluates
the size of the U.S. weight loss market at $55 billion. It is presently
assessed to have reached over $60 Billion.
The advertisement of a product in most cases lies to you, It promises you
that you would be popular, sexy and cool if you buy and consume their
products (foods and drinks) but in reality you are probably going to end up
being obese, miserable and develop health issues.
According to the study, released in March 2010 by the Center for Science
in the Public Interest, companies spent about $2 billion in 2006 on costs
associated with marketing foods and beverages to children through
traditional media, such as television, radio, magazines, product packaging
and in-store displays and promotions. Other approaches used to reach
children include the Internet; ads in movie theaters; school-based
marketing; product placement in movies and video games; marketing in
amusement parks; food-themed toys, clothing and other merchandise;
and almost anywhere a logo or product image can be shown, the report
said.
We are always searching for more and progressive ways to make us look
better, in all aspects. But what we often do not recognize is that this could
and should be done from the inside out. Truth is that it is in our nature to
doubt ourselves as soon as we are given the opportunity. Food
companies are aware of that and successfully manipulate the confidence
of people. Advertising their products by presenting you with this idealized
way of life that everyone would want. They promise you to be thinner if
you drink diet sodas, to have more time if you prepare instant noodles and
TV-dinners, to have more energy if you eat chocolate desserts, etc.

Whether its advertising via TV, newspapers and radio or new media like
mobile and online, winning the buyers trust is the holy grail of a
prosperous campaign, according to Nielsens latest Trust In Advertising
report (Nielsen, 2013). The great news for promoters is that purchasers
around the world are more trusting now than they were a few years prior.
What is more, the study uncovers that we trust more the advertising we
see on the internet, as opposed to the advertisements on TV or other
formats of media.
In order to be successful the food companies must differentiate their
products through overwhelming advancement, bribing consumers with
outright financial incentives (coupons, discounts), or more often including
customers associate an item with a group of intense and alluring thoughts
and attractive ideas such as quality or health or good parentingideas that may not in any case have anything to do with the item itself,
but which if managed adroitly, can add immensely to a products image or
brand
A real paradox in our world today is that people are overfed, but they are
also starving to death.
In the sense that we are constantly surrounded by products, artificially
created to be sold to the vast majority of people as food. Products filled
with artificial sweeteners, tons of sugar, preservatives, processed fat and
all other kinds of chemicals.
Moreover the food industries engineer addictions. The multi-billion food
industry companies do own the needed resources to truly identify what
appeals to the average consumer, and as a result they can use those
chemical derivatives to create concoctions which taste really appealing
and can have an addictive element.
Latest MSG study compleated by Dr. Ka He of the University of North
Carolina (2008) in rural China shows that MSG contributes to obesity in
humans, regardless of caloric intake and activity. MSG and free glutamates
are in 80% of all processed foods, weather served at a fast food restaurant
or bought at the grocery store. The chemical of MSG does make you want
to consume more, but it also does something else. It excides part of your
brain that is in charge of all fat processing programs in our brain. Due to
that excitement your brain activates the fat programs, and you start to
preserve more fat in your body. What is more, research has documented
several effects related to MSG, including burning sensations of the mouth,
head and neck, weakness of the arms or legs, headaches and upset
stomach approximately 15 minutes after the MSG is consumed [Metcalfe,
1998]. Further research again indicates issues, for example, flushing,
headaches and hives or allergic-type reactions with the skin. It could be

argued that small amounts in our food would not be as dangerous. But in
reality it is a fact that those small amounts are in several common foods
that we consume every day, and then the problem becomes of a much
greater scale.
Keeping in mind the end goal to sell more products food companies
engineer the chemical structure of their food so that they become not
fulfilling, with a really low amount of nutrients, but give the impression
that with the very first bite or sip, this is the most fulfilling thing.
Nothing else works as well as diet soda. That is because there is a very
high amount of aspartame and caffeine. Those two ingredients combined
create an exceptional mixture of excitotoxins that kill brain cells, but give
you a momentarily feeling of excitement and fulfillment. People, in
particular women do this as a way to keep their weight down, they do not
eat, they just have their next drink of diet soda.
Aspartame causes formaldehyde buildup in the brain, as well as frontal
lobe inflammation. It can also cause migraines, visual disturbances,
neurologic problems, even seizures.
If we look into the studies which examined the toxicity of aspartame, done
by doctor Ralph G. Walton, that showed that there are no side effects form
aspartame (of all these studies he had done, over 90% of them were
funded by industries) What is more he has conducted almost the same
amount of studies that were independently funded, showing the exact
opposite.
Research studies suggest that artificial sweeteners contribute to a large
extend to weight gain Yale Journal of Biology (2014)
Some of the artificial sweeteners have been proven not only to have
horrific side effects over long period of use but they cause carbohydrate
cravings. The structure and ingredients of these products are designed for
selling and marketing.
Unfortunately when a food additive, such as aspartame is manufactured,
the process of getting approval is not as the majority of people presume.
In reality the manufacturer that is producing the product containing the
additive in question it is the one who funds those studies. These studies in
particular are the ones that are submitted to the regulatory agency to give
endorsement. There is no independent third party objective assessment
done, like most people believe.
So we are aware that the food companies realize that many of their
ingredients are addictive. But the tobacco companies have done this for
decades and they are still doing it to this day. The key approach is as
follows: if you addict a customer, you are guaranteed to have a customer
for life. And food companies apply the same tactic, but with different

chemicals and addictive substances. It is not nicotine, it is the MSG, it is

the processed sugars and aspartame, and all these other chemicals, but
the purpose is the same.
In conclusion advertising controls the people it manages to captivate,
which therefore deprives them of their will to choose. Advertising can
make a difference in peoples way of thinking because it is manipulative.
Truth is that advertisers use techniques with a specific end goal, which is
to take control of the buyers minds to increase sales. Advertisers are
aware of people's emotionalism and know how to use that. We have seen
that advertisers have different strategies to make buyers believe that they
require an item. Unfortunately, the consumers society is ignorant toward
the control. That is the reason why advertisers exploit it since the earliest
years; the young generation is under a persisting pressure and is
influenced through the same methods to eat more sugar and fats, smoke
more cigarettes and buy more artificially created products. Generally, care
too much about their social status and want to feel respected. That may
adversely impact people health, and that as a society that values man,
there should be greater social responsibility for their present and future
health (Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and
Adolescents in the US, 2004).

References
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and health, Berkeley, CA: University of California Press
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