Assignment #3: Advertising Ethics

Have you ever experienced that moment when you go pick up fast food and when you open your food it looks nothing like the pictures? It just makes you wonder if they even tried when it came to your order because it seems so different from the advertisement. Then there are the times when you pick one restaurant over another in hopes of trying to eat a bit healthier, but when you break down the nutritional facts and are in shock. Although the commercials may allude to that, that is not always the case as we will explore today. Some years back some groups even took issue with particular fast-food restaurants directing their ads or advertisements to children, the ethics of the situations were brought into question. Today we will be exploring advertising as they pertain to the fast-food industry.

The infamous BigMac sold at McDonald’s is only a total of 550 calories and 30 grams of fat. Meanwhile, the six-inch Chicken, Bacon Ranch melt from Subways comes in at 570 calories and 28 grams of fat. With only a 20 calorie difference and 2 grams of fat in all into question whether or not one is better than the other. The Quarter Pounder with Cheese also from McDonald’s has a total of 520 calories with 26 grams of fat and 42 grams of carbs. Subway’s Spicy Italian with Cheese sandwich has a total of 530 calories with 24 grams of fat. Some may ask if it is ethical for a particular fast food restaurant to consider themselves to be a pioneer in cleaner fast food when the nutritional facts say otherwise. From 2000-2015 Jared Fogle was best known for his claim to fame for being the face of the Subway franchise. Fogle attributed his extreme weight loss of 245 pounds to him eating subway sandwiches. An important aspect to keep in mind is that all of the nutritional facts behind these dishes are available for the consumer to find just as I did for the sake of research.

I would like to point out that McDonald’s is not the only restaurant that could be questioned based on their advertising ethics, however, they have had various situations that tie well into this conversation about the ethics behind their advertisements. There have been past McDonald’s commercials that infuriated many because the company was catering to children. Many took issue with the “unhealthy” fast-food chain trying to make children desire their products and ask their parents to take them to McDonald’s. They claimed that it was unethical to direct the commercial to children, but others did not see it as an issue seeing as young children do not have the means to go to McDonald’s so it is ultimately up to the adults on what they feed the children or allow them access to. Earlier when I talked about the comparisons between McDonald’s and Subway because it shows that people have to do research on the foods that they eat and be aware that you can’t take things at surface level and have to do your research. Although the advertisements can be deceptive, healthier eating for example is a choice and better options are available if you look for them. It also shows that not all things in this case fast-food restaurants and menu items are as they seem.

https://aubrepiercelackey.wordpress.com/2015/03/23/ethics-and-false-advertising-the-food-industry/ 

https://blogs.ubc.ca/kami/2013/09/23/mcdonalds-advertising-to-children-is-it-ethical/

https://fastfoodnutrition.org/subway/chicken-bacon-ranch-melt/6