Research on harmful and misleading drink and food advertising (1)

LIFELONG HEALTHY COMENIUS PROJECT
2013-2015
LICEO SCIENTIFICO STATALE MICHELANGELO
CAGLIARI –ITALY
HARMFUL AND MISLEADING DRINK AND FOOD ADVERTISING
Lifelong Healthy Comenius Project Teachers team
Students: Marco Corrao, Veronica Pinna, Valeria Usai, Andrea Scanu
Project Referent: Rita Pinna
School Principal: Ada Pinna
Advertising: the science of arresting
the human intelligence long enough
to get money from it.
- Stephen Leacock, Canadian teacher, political
scientist, writer, and humourist
Nowadays, we are constantly surrounded by
advertisements which influence our ideas
about the products they are a matter of.
They are everywhere: on TV, in the streets, at
the cinema and so on.
Are industries really interested in our health
or are they the representation of an
extremely materialistic society, whose aim is
just to get richer?
The majority of adverts seen by
children around the globe are for
heavily processed foods high in fat,
sugar, salt and calories.
- Amanda Long, Director-General of
Consumers International
Obviously, the first victims of this
process are children, who are not able
to evaluate with a critical mind what
they get from the outside.
LET’S SEE HOW ADVERTISING HAS
CHANGED THROUGH THE YEARS
As an example, let’s consider Coca Cola, a historic brand which has always
relied a lot on advertising.
HOW DO THEY PERSUADE US TO
BUY THEIR PRODUCTS?
Michael Jordan - professional
basketball player
Advertising often abuses the figure of famous people
(especially athlets). As a result, customers are tricked
into associating invouluntarily products to those
testimonials, who represent an icon of health, fame and
so on.
Andrew Howe – long jumper
LeBron James - professional basketball
player
Federica Pellegrini – Olympic swimmer
Maelle Ricker – Olympic
snowboarder
Advertisements spread a message based on
emotions and values not linked to the items. For
instance, they place products into a background
of happiness, wellness and peace.
Sellers usually exalt the effects of their products, attributing them
qualities that do not correspond to reality. The most common examples
of this strategy can be found in energy drink advertisements.
Nowadays ‘’sugar free’’ mark is getting more and more popular among
customers, because they believe this means ‘’calories free’’, but that is not
true. Furthermore, some industries use other artificial sweeteners in order to
get the same sweet taste, such as Aspartame or Sucralose, which are thought
(the debate is still open) to be harmful for us.
It is very common for sellers to present their products
with a fake image (created using special effects), much
more pleasant to our sight. But the reality can sometimes
really let us down!
EXPECTATION
REALITY
Placing a windmill
in the background
can easily trick us
into thinking that
the product we’re
eating is healthy
and natural…
…At the same time,
the background
itself gives us a
sense of peace and
relax.
These textes
written in a small
font may contain
some relevant
informations.
Can a candy
make you feel
happy?
Read carefully what is
written on the ads.
Remember: the smaller
textes are, the more
important they are!
KEEP CALM
AND
PAY
ATTENTION
Try to focus on the
product itself and not on
the background!
Don’t care about
testimonials: they get
paid for that, so they can’t
be considered a prove of
the quality of the
product!
To sum up, the most important thing is…
LOOK AT ADVERTISEMENTS WITH A CRITICAL MIND : THEY JUST
TELL YOU WHAT SELLERS WANT TO!