McDonald’s and Obesity

Government and influential wellness advocates around the world stated that their nations kids will become as fat as the Statesn kids, argon cracking down on the marketers they blame for the explosion in childhood corpulency. Across the globe, efforts be under demeanor to slow the march of obesity. In the United States roughly 30 percent of Ameri brush off children are stalwartness or obese. According the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and ginmill (CDC), an estimated 64. 5 percent of Americans tip the scales as intemperate or obese, the highest percentages of fat people of any countries are catching up.The World The World Health system (WHO) reports that glob every last(predicate)y there are now more than 1 billion overweight adults and at least 300 million of those are obese, a 50 percent increase in the number of obese people and there are 200 million children under five who are estimated to be overweight worldwide. In many countries the worst increases in obesity have occ urred in young people. About half a million children in Europe are suffering classic middle- aged health difficultys beca employ they are as well as far. Obesity among European children has been on the originate over the farthest 15 years.The number of overweight children in Europe did not change much from 1974-1984 then the rate started to creep up during the future(a) 10 years, and it exploded after 1995. In Britain, atomic number 53 in five children is overweight or obese, in Spain 30 percent, and in Italy, 36 percent. While less than 1 percent of the children in Africa suffer from malnutrition, 3 percent are overweight or obese. Perhaps the most distressing data come from Asia, where the measure of being overweight used in western countries may underestimate the seriousness of weight-related health problems faced by Asians.In Japan, for example, obesity is defined as a body mass index (bmi) level of 25 or more, not 30 as it is in Western countries. still Japanese health officials report that a BMI of 25 or more is already causing high rates of diabetes. About 290 million children in China are thought to be overweight, and researchers expect that number to double in the next 10 years. The World Health Organization has warned of an escalating global epidemic of overweight and obesity. Global Reaction to Obesity oneness of the perplexing questions is why the relatively abrupt increase of obesity worldwide?Some opine that fast food portion sizes are partly to blame. The average size order of French chips has nearly tripled worlswide. Some people narrate advertising is to blame, particularly ads aimed at children, such as those ads that use celebrities to market high-calorie foods. According to USA Today, one take found that the average American child sees 10,000 food ads a year, mostly for high-fat or sugary foods and drinks. Traditionally, in developing countries, the poorest people have been the thinnest, a importation of hard physical labour a nd the consumption of small amounts of traditional foods.But when these people in poor countries migrate to cities, obesity rates rise fastest among those in the lowest socioeconomic root word. Even as food companies battle U. S lawsuits and legislators who blame them for inducing childhood obesity, theyre being attacked on an other front-Europe-which is thr expelening, among other things, to ban advertising icons such Tony the Tiger and Ronald McDonald. I would equal to see the industry not advertising directly to children, said one European health commissioner. If this doesnt produce satisfactory results, we will proceed to legislation.The European Health Commission has called for the food industry to set its own regulations to curb so-called junk-food advertising aimed at the European Unions 450 million citizens-or face bans similar to the tobacco industry. The ominous comparison to cigarettes is increasingly being made in the United States as well. Commenting on a McDonalds pl an to send Ronald McDonald to schools to preach about nutrition, an aide to a U. S. senator said, No matter what Ronald is doing, they are still using this animated cartoon character to sell fatty hamburgers to kids.Once upon a time, tobacco companies had joe Camel and they didnt get it either. Also under fire is TV advertising of kids foods, as calls for curbs or bans rise around the world. If the rise in the child obesity trend continues, within five years well be in the same(p)(p) situation as America is today, said a senior child nutritionist at the University of Copenhagen who sits on the board of Denmarks National Board of Nutritional Science. Banning T. V ads that are targeting kids is an important strategy to adopt.But there is an argument that those measures wint help. In Sweden, Norway and Quebec where food ads are banned from kids TV, theres no take the stand that obesity rates have fallen. A new law in France will force food marketers to choose between working a he alth meat to commercials or paying a 1. 5 percent tax on their ad budgets to swordplayd brawny-eating messages. Other measures under consideration in Europe let in banning celebrities and cartoon characters from food ads aimed at children and preventing food marketers from using cell phone jingles to reach kids.Ireland bans celebrities from food and a beverage ad aimed at children and requires candy store and soft-drink spots liberalcast in course of studys where half the audience is younger than 18 to carry a visual or voice-over warning that snacking on sugary foods and drinks can damage teeth. Ireland is a small market, but there are fears that these measures could spread to the United Kingdom and then to the rest of Europe, especially since many advertisers run the same campaigns in the United Kingdom and Ireland.Unlike France and Ireland, the United Kingdom is trying a more carrot-and-stick approach, support self regulation with legislation as a last but threatened resort . The U. K. Government published health recommendations giving the food and beverage industries to act more responsibly or face formal legislation. The register followed a high-profile U. K organisation inquiry into child obesity last year. Marketing and agency executives called to give evidence were grilled publicly over the use of celebrities in ads, inciting kids pester power and high salt and sugar content in foods.The papers proposals include clamping down on using cartoon characters to appeal to kids in food and beverage ads, potentially dooming brand icons such as Kelloggs Tony the Tiger. There have also been calls for a ban, like Irelands on celebrity endorsement in junk-food advertising . In a country where the biggest grocery-store brand, PepsiCos Walkers Crisps, relies on celebrities in its ad campaigns, thats a big deal. The Nordic countries are the most militant about enacting laws to ban or restrict marketing of foods that they consider unhealthy to children, and fig hting to aspirate those restrictions to the rest of Europe.The toughest laws against advertising to children have long been in Scandinavia, where the health risks of obesity and diabetes from high sugar consumption are sometimes compared to tobacco. The legislatures in Sweden, Finland, and Denmark are all considering even tighter controls on marketing sugary foods. Denmarks National Consumer Council has petitioned the government to ban marketing unhealthy food products to anyone under 16, and Finlands legislature is auditory sense from health groups that want a total ban on TV ads for sugar-laden food.Commenting on such proposals, the CEO of the Finish Food and Drink Industries Federation said, Implementing stricter controls on advertising food and drinks will not be a lively-fix answer to all these problems. The European Union is on it, Washington is on it, the ball is furled now and the food companies have to do something, said one top advertising agency executive. But he add ed, I hope food companies wont be bullied into doing things that play to the politicians, nothing there are other contributing factors for obesity, such as low income.He said food marketers could truly open to a solution by putting money into programs like the USDAs Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, a subsidized food and preparation program that also happens to be very good at driving sales for the products approved for the list. The key is to translate the hype to real solutions like physical education in schools and parents-the most important role models, according to substantiated research-reclaiming responsibility. If a food has a right to exist, a market has the right to advertise it.Marketers are attempt against a crackdown on food advertising amid growing concern over obesity throughout the world. Marketers are trying to avert a clampdown with greater self-regulation. But despite a slew of individuals company efforts to shift new-product and marketing focu s to healthier offerings, the industry has, until now, large shied away from defending itself more broadly.McDonalds response For the last few years, McDonalds has reacted to the obesity issues in several ways in the U. K. and other countries Concerned about consumer reaction to the film Super size of it Me, McDonalds Corp.broke a U. K campaign called Changes with poster ads that omit the Golden Arches for the first time, replacing them with a question mark in the same typeface and the tagline McDonalds. But not as you know it. Promoting ongoing menu changes, the posters feature items such as a salad, a pile of free-range eggshells, pieces of output and cups of cappuccino. The effort preceded a direct-mail campaign to 17 million households touting healthier menu items and smaller portion size. McDonalds aim was to cause people to destine otherwise about McDonalds and to make the public aware of new products.Theres no intention to abandon the Arches but only to focus charge on the healthy additions to the menu. Despite the new campaign, research showed the chain hadnt received the hoped for awareness for some of the newer items on its menu, including the all white-meat Chicken Selects and the fruit bags. more worrisome, a research study revealed that frequent users didnt like to admit to friends that they ate at McDonalds. We dont want to have closet loyalists. One researcher urged more time for McDonalds Changes campaign to get traction.The market position and market stature of McDonalds in the U. K. is not nearly as strong as it is in the U. S. and accordingly, you have to stick with the program longer, he said. But he warned that the Changes campaign could backfire. Trying to suppress the logo is not in all likelihood to change the hearts and minds of many fast-food voters in Europe. In anticipation of the release of the documentary Super Size Me in the United Kingdom, McDonalds in capital of the United Kingdom went on the defensive with full-page newspaper ads discussing the film.The ads, headlined If you havent seen the film Super Size Me, heres what youre missing, have appeared in the film-review sections of half-dozen newspapers to coincide with filmmaker Morgan Spurlocks appearance at the annual Edinburgh film festival. The copy describes it as slick and well-made, and says McDonalds actually agrees with the core argument of the film-If you eat too much and do too little, its bad for you. However, it continues What we dont agree with is the idea that eating at McDonalds is bad for you.The ad highlights some of McDonalds healthier menu items such as grilled chicken salad and fruit bags. A spokeswoman for McDonalds said it ran the ads to ensure there was a match debate about the film. Super Size Me distributor Tartan Films has retaliated by running identical-looking ads in newspapers promoting the film. As a direct response to government calls for food marketers to promote a more active lifestyle, McDonalds U. K. launc hed an ad campaign aimed at kids featuring Ronald McDonald and animated fruit and vegetable characters called Yums.In two-minute singing-and-dancing animated spots, the Yums urge, Its fun when you eat right and stay active. Even though McDonalds plans to expand its healthier menu offerings, it does so cautiously, so people remember that the Golden Arches at its core still means burgers and fries. McDonalds, throughout Europe and elsewhere, is testing ways to address the obesity issue. In Scandinavia, for example, popular healthy local foods have been added to the McMenu, like cod wrapped in rye bread in Finland. In Norway, some outlets sell a salmon burger wrapped in rye bread.In Sweden, no salt is added to the food served. In Australia, McDonalds took a different approach-it reduced its budget for ads directed to kids by 50 percent. McDonalds French operation increase the ire of the parent company when it ran a print ad in a womens magazine quoting a nutritionists suggestion that kids shouldnt eat at the restaurant more than once a week. While the ad was meant to promote McDonalds and seems reasonable since the French only visit quick service restaurants every two weeks on average anyway, such a campaign would have been heresy in the United States.McDonalds can move into a balanced diet. Later, the company recruited a pair of French nutritionists who declared the Big Mac and cheeseburger healthier than traditional French fare such as quiche. Marketers in France have lobbied hard to be allowed to be allowed to use positive lifestyle messages in ads-like emphasizing the importance of physical exercise and a balanced diet-rather than grim health warnings. Frances Ministry of Health appears to be listening, and is now expected to let marketers choose among three or four positive health messages.Industry experts say the government changed its mind out of fear that strong warnings might backfire, causing anxiety among consumers about eating. Moreover France may hope its new law, if not too extreme, will become a blueprint for Europe. Snack Food Industry Responses Snack food and beverage companies like PepsiCo have joined the fray along with the fast-food industry. PepsiCos strategy includes adding products like Walkers Potato Heads, launched recently in the United Kingdom as a healthier snack for children, and encouraging exercise.In October 2004, Walkers did a pedometer giveaway through its Website, backed by a $ 5. 6 million. TV campaign. We want to demonstrate that we are taking a responsible approach and make governments aware of what we are doing. In our view it is entirely wrong to pin all the blame on advertising to children, and we think we have moved to the stage where most government accept this. In Canada.Where about one-third of children aged 2-11 are overweight, Concerned Childrens Advertisers, a group whose members include Nestle Canada, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg, and Kraft has just begun runningthe first of three 60 -second spots featuring Health Rock, a colorful animated figure on a T-shirt, who sings about balancing food and activity. In the Asia/Pacific region, few countries except Australia have yet to make food marketing and childhood obesity an issue. In much of Asia, a Western fast-food meal or a cola is still an occasional treat rather than a daily overindulgence. As childhood obesity begins to register as a concern in China, though, McDonalds has started promoting healthier items such as high calcium fruit yoghurt and chocolate pudding and low-fat milk on in-store marketing materials like tray liners.Marketers are also keeping an eye on Brazil. A Sao Paulo university recently analyzed childrens programming and food that 1 out of 10 minutes of advertising was a food commercial. That study is a starting point for the group decreed within a government health organizations ad unit to examine nutritional claims in advertising to children. Questions 1. How should McDonalds respond when ads promoting healthy lifestyles featuring Ronald McDonald are equated with Joe Camel and cigarette ads? Should McDonalds eliminate Ronald McDonald in its ads?2. Discuss the merits of the law proposed by France that would require fasr-food companies either to add a health message to commercials or to pay a 1. 5 percent tax on their ad budgets. Propose a strategy for McDonalds to pay the tax or add health messages, and defend your recommendation. 3. If there is no evidence that obesity rates fall in those countries that ban food advertising to children, why bother? 4. The broad issue facing McDonalds U. K. is the current attitude toward rising obesity.The company seems to have tried many different approaches to deal with the problem but the problem persists. List all the problems facing McDonalds and critique their various approaches to solve the problems. 5. Based on your response to question 4 recommend both a short-range and long-range plan for McDonalds to implement. 6. Explain with the Indian perspective, giving relevant Statistics about the Obesity Problems with Focus on the Teens indulging in bulimia and the medical issues relating to Obesity like Type 2 Diebetis.