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We all love food right? Well the high and mighty food
corporations such as; Hungry Jacks, Dominoes and KFC have a mutual feeling to
its consumers. And to make sure everyone gets what they want, that being the
consumers get their food and the corporations get their money, fast food
outlets have crossed over into the world of virtual reality.
In the past year, logging on to Facebook has made me feel a
little bit hungrier. That's because every time I decide to explore the virtual
Facebook wall, I am bombarded with fast food advertising. Now that our world is
heavily interactive with the internet, fast food companies are exploiting this
to get their food across our miniature screens. This again re-iterates the
Panopticism that is always evident whenever we log on to social media.
On a smaller scale, Facebook advertising allows fast food
giants to market their products and leads to greater cultural exchange. The
more people that know about their products, the more they sell. As stated by
(Kuttainen, 2013), "food is an expression of our identity". By making
orders online and through Facebook, your online identity is able to even state
what food you eat.
A food web is a network much like a social community, with
species linked to one another in a tangled pattern that, appears completely
lacking in any overall organization,
(Atkins & Bowler, 2001). This is relevant to the fast
food giants, because so many people consume fast food and hence links up our online
community.
Refrences
Atkins, P.,
& Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste, in Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 143). London,
England: Arnold.
Kuttainen, V.
(2013). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place,
week 7 notes. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Image Credits
13 Best Practices for Restaurants on Facebook. (2011). Retrieved from: http://internal3m.com/CMS/Wordpress/2011/08/31/13-best-practices-for-restaurants-on-facebook/
Sean I definitely agree with what you have said here. Food has become such a huge part of our lives in terms of knowing about different foods. I think that there are some very cleaver people out there who know how to make sure we know about all about their food through social networking! We are always being watched and it's getting creepier and creepier, especially that they also know about what fast food we like. In our reading this week, Atkins and Bowler state that favoured food tastes act as a badge of our identity (Atkins & Bowler, 2001) However when it comes to all those healthy recipes our friends are rubbing in our faces, It's like they are showing off that they are pretty great at cooking and that they have access to more expensive ingredients from the shop. We could even question who has more power in this situation, fast food advertisers, or all those health buffs out there!
ReplyDeleteReference
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The origins of taste, in Food in society: Economy, culture, geography (pp. 272-293). London, England: Arnold.
I do agree Sean, on every virtual or real wall, TV or computer screen, Newspaper or Magazine and the endless flood of pamphlets and adverts that bombard us daily, there is food, food, food…
ReplyDeleteThe power plays for position at the top of the market chain, as described by Patel, have invaded our daily lives. It’s not about healthy and wholesome food anymore; it’s about money and market position. It’s about the Everyday Reward, the Flyby points, the loyalty card or the ‘like’ tick on Facebook.
In other words: money, money and power, or who cares if the people that produce the raw-materials for our fat bellies are starving!
Reference
Patel, R. (2007). Introduction. In Stuffed and starved: Markets, power and the hidden battle for the world food system (pp. 1-19). Melbourne, Australia: Black Ink.
So Sean, from reading your blog, when we place an online fast food order Facebook is able to save that data and that contributes to our online identity? Are even our food orders saved as data in order to predict what we are most likely to purchase next? If this is indeed true, it is alarming. Now fast food companies are allowed even more data in order to customise the advertising we are exposed too. This means that we are even more likely to make the purchase, further entrapping us in the obesity epidemic. Food is an important aspect of our identity (Kuttanein, 2013) and it is a frightening concept that this important aspect of our culture is used against us in the commercial world.
ReplyDeleteShaun, I to can see the impact of fast food companies moving their advertisements onto social media sites such as Facebook, with large corporations easily choosing their target audience
ReplyDelete(Atkins & Bowler, 2001). With Conclusive evidence indicating that this form of advertisement is indeed effective in manipulation peoples dietary choices (Atkins & Bowler, 2001). Furthermore, with the continual advertising and promotion of cheaper meals, users will often choose the more cost effective menu, with research indicating that price is a main factor that consumer consider when choosing their next meal (Atkins & Bowler, 2001).
References
Atkins, P., & Bowler, I. (2001). The Origins of Taste, Food in Society: Economy, Culture and Geography. London, England: Oxford University press.
Hi Sean,
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I find the fact that fast food companies are using social network sites for advertising. As someone who does not eat fast food it makes me want to stay away from these sites. If in comparison the advertising was for a healthy restaurant or meal then I would return to these sites. This also goes against the many government policies trying to prevent the obesity margin from rising, which could prevent the onset of life threatening conditions such as diabetes and heart problems. But eating healthy isn’t as easy at it seems, from a young age I have been made to read the labels of what I am eating so that I don’t get sick. This usually made me envious of my friends who could eat anything they wanted and not care about repercussions. Now I am glad that I was brought up in this manner as I still have my health and do not have to worry so much about going to the gym to lose the weight I put on as a teenager. As Patel (2007) is saying, the choices that we make at the checkout remove the choices of the growers of our food (p. 7), leaving us with a majorly un-nutritional and with food full of additives – a lot of which some people are actually is allergic to, like me. If social network administrators were to raise awareness of these additives, perhaps we could influence the advertising and food that is sold to us.
References
Patel, R. (2007). Introduction, in Stuffed and starved: The hidden battle for the world’s food system (pp. 1-9). Toronto, Canada: Harper Perennial.