In such a big market with endless shiney products on stacked on shelves, you have the pick of the litter. You can choose the product that best represents you. And if you're in a different mood, well then maybe a different product is on the menu. So much choice. So much money to be made by whoever wishes so. Right? Well, to an extent.
Some companies like you to believe the you hold the power of choice. No one wants to buy the same uniformed product. We need variety. The capitalistic bussiness world is a democracy. Thats what they would have you believe. For you see, many companies sell under covert names. Take the Nestle conglomerate - we all know about their yummy chocolates and milk products. But what about the Maggi noodle brand? Or Stoufer's? Lean Cuisine?Or Fancy feast for your pussy? When you eat your Cherios in the morning, did you know your money is all going to the same place?
Who needs competition when you can be your own competition?
Nestle certainly isn't alone in this product monopoly. Heinz has Greenseas, Jack Daniels, John West. Kraft *takes a breathe* Tang, Kool-Aid, Maxwell House, Toblerone, Oreo, Ritz, Chips Ahoy!, Miricle Whip, Vegimite. Pepsico - pepsi, mountain dew, 7UP, Lays, Doritos, Cheetos, Cracker Jack, Red Rock Deli, Gatoraide, Cap,n Crunch.
So by now, you're sick of reading household favourites or you're very hungry. When you pick up that next snack, what difference will it make?
Hopefully future posts on this particular blog won't be ads :( Because I'm worried about the implications of naming a "spam" blog after a country.
cmWhat is this an add for? Take notice of the pic of the neck in the bottom left hand conner, and the pic of the brain in the right hand conner. And don't forget the actual product itself.
McDonalds does put on a good face sometimes.
Perhaps it's for the wrong reasons, such as the idea of publicity or name recognition. But they do give back to the community in certain ways, mostly monetary, by donating to worldwide children's funds, promoting breast cancer awareness information and the "Ronald McDonald House" and "Camp Mickey D's" programs they run. McDonalds has a list of these contributions as well as a "community responsibility report" listed at http://www.mcdonalds.com/usa/good/community.html.
Nonetheless, their intense immersion into the mainstream society hit home earlier today...
You see, I have a toddler who is two and-a-half years old. We watch television with him -- only on the weekends, and only limited to specific shows with an educational component to them. He doesn't mind because he loves the characters and wouldn't want to watch anything else anyway. Among these shows are Sesame Street (and its derivatives on the "Noggin" network), Blue's Clues (Nickelodeon), and certain shows in the "Playhouse Disney" line-up -- including JoJo's Circus, The Wiggles, Charlie and Lola, and Stanley.
For those of you unfamiliar with "Playhouse Disney," we're talking about animated shows (aside from The Wiggles) aimed at the preschool demographic which promote learning, imagination and creativity among other skills. The block of programming is commercial-free, but includes a good deal of subtle plugs for certain other Disney products available on CD or DVD, as well as the theme parks. Mostly innocuous.
Since 2002, McDonalds has entered into a partnership with Playhouse Disney as a corporate sponsor. This means that, for about 20 seconds every hour, there is a short ad for McDonalds. It doesn't mention food at all, but it does have some catchy music, the Ronald McDonald motif, and enough spruce to equate McDonalds with excitement and fun. It ends with the Golden Arches logo, and is sandwiched with the newest McDonalds jingle -- "Buh da buh BAH bah..." You'll know it if you hear it.
Today the family headed to an outlet mall in Virginia. We had brought some food for our son, but we wanted to get him something else as well which he'd enjoy and which wasn't too anti-nutritional. We have been inindated with these advertisements for McDonalds' fruit and walnut salad, so we decided to try it out. (For those interested: grapes, red apples, green apples in a bowl. Sugar coated walnuts and vanilla yogurt packaged separately.)
My wife and our son approached the McDonalds in the food court. Upon seeing those magical golden arches, our two and-a-half year old made the connection. And sang: "Buh da buh BAH bah..."
We don't eat at McDonalds. Perhaps very, very rarely will we get fries from there if there's nothing else around. It's simply not a staple in our diet. Nonetheless, even by just watching "safe" television, he made the connection. We think this is disturbing.
But honestly? This is a battle that they have won. McDonalds didn't just get to him. They got to us. After all, we're the ones who instinctively knew that they had this offering which he would eat. We're the ones who opted to go to the food court. If we were trying to assess blame, we'd have to look at ourselves first and foremost.
If anything, I think this gives us more impetus to cut down on TV watching -- even "smart:" TV watching -- and on eating in food courts -- even "smart" food court offerings.
I know it's hard to believe, especially with a clown as their spokesperson. Then again maybe it isn't so far-fetched, especially with a clown as their spokesperson! But why even make the connection between MikkyD and Dubbya? Who would have known they gave $825,361.51 to support Bush (with Coke, having joint aggreements with McDonalds, running just ahead of them with their donnations).http://www.motherearth.org/USboycott/cies-contributions_en.php
And in turn Bush scratches their back http://www.atsnn.com/story/34487.html
But those reasons just make Ronald and Bush equally bad.
Consider that the golden arches are now more globally recognised than the Christain cross - they are, as the Beatles said "bigger than Jesus". Or conisder that McDonalds are poping up in places that would constitute vandelism (a new one opens every 14hours. Imagine if Bush multiplied that fast!)
(Drum Tower, Beijing China)
Or consider that McDonalds is the number 1 comercial killer of cows. That those cows have been hered on ex-rainforest land preventing regrowth. That Mcdonald's workers are underpaid and underqualified to serve/cook food.
Consider that while soilders and citizens are dying in Iraq, people are dying the world over from unhealthy diets.
Consider that Mcdonalds advertises directly to children (If Bush did that it would be very scarey!)
But the number one reason why McDonalds is worse than Bush is
There is only one George Bush (well, technically) but there are more than 15,000 Mcdonalds in 61 countries.
mcspotlight.org
meat.org
Congress is about to vote on the Central America Fair Trade Agreemeant (CAFTA) bill. It calls for more protection of intellectual properties by major drug companies in places like El Savador, Coasta Rica, Nicaragua, Guatemala, and the Dominican Republic. If it passes, generic drugs will be much harder to produce, forcing people in need of medication to buy brand-name drugs.
"More than 78,000 Guatemalans are currently living with HIV/AIDS , according to Doctors Without Borders (also called Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF). Approximately 13,500 of them are in urgent need of antiretroviral (ARV) treatment.Only 3,600 were receiving it as of December 2004. If, in coming weeks, Congress ratifies the bill President Bush signed last year, many of these patients could wind up literally dying for cheap drugs." -- Kelly Hearn, Alternet. (for full story see http://www.alternet.org/story/22081)
One wonders what kind of president would sign a bill that would kill thousands of people with no positive outcome other than extra lining in the pockets of major corporations. It would be extremely arrorant to believe that making generic drugs more difficult to produce in poor areas would have no negative affect -- even more so to believe that it might actually be positive, as U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick would have you believe. And yet who do you think will win this battle of drug corporations vs. human life? The drug corporations have life in the palm of their hands...
OMG. The things people do for money.
I just saw a preview for a new reality TV show to air soon in Australia (appologies to those who have already seen the show)-25 Million Dollar Hoax. So this chick pretends she has won $25 Mill but she can't spend any of it on her family, desired result being the family gets pissed off and dissowns her. Can she keep up the lie even if it hurts her family?
Video games, rap music, action movies and war. People are so worried about exposure to violence. what kind of immoral messages is this show sending out? Watching others do acts of violence is supposedly harming to children, yet people fail to make the connection between shows whoes selling point is public humilliation and sorrow of contestants and the desire to hurt. Mmm, let me try to explain the difference.
War movie. You watch one man kill another. He enjoys it or doesn't. Either way, it's his emotion. You are an ojbective observer. The pain is more physical and instant, sometimes exagerated. Often a person is killed for the good of others (ie. the enemy dies, your country is safer). "Baddies" usualy get punished for their killings. Very much a "good vs evil" mentality going on here (although good and evil is all realative but lets not get into that now).
Reality TV. You watch others hurt and be hurt. A lot of this is "behind the scene" confessions. The contestant is talking to the watcher. On many of these shows you participate in excluding contestants. The contestants are real people, not actors. Many of the ads for these shows emphasise the pain and humiliation of it's contestants-You watch because you find it sadisticly entertaining.
Which is more harmful to your children? Of course, my views could just be a product of a "blame" society...
I was putting away stock the other, as I do, and a dark packet in the confectionary section caught my eye. STARWARS M&M'S What advertising genius came up with that idea? I mean sure the m&m's themselves are pretty lame but think of the possibilities! Well, you don't have because I already have. M&M's could make a whole line of movie M&M's (they already have for the Shrek movies). For example Kill Bill ...
Excuse my crappy pictures (and I don't care if the designs are impossible, it's a concept M&M). The first one is Uma in that famous racing suit, the second is a crazy 88 killer, the third is the blood-splattered bride, and the last is the pussy wagon. But it doesn't stop there...
Terminator...The first one (if you really can't work it out) is Arnie aka T1000, and the second is a police M&M
And when the olympics come around special M&M's suited to your countries colours (Ozzie "gold and green" pictured).
Any ideas for other designs?
