They Mask the Truth: Marketing Diet and Health
They Mask the Truth: Marketing Diet and Health
A large part of our lives today, whether we like it or not, is controlled by big corporations. Corporations' main goal is to make as much money as possible, so they try to get us to buy their products or use their services. They will do their best to grab our attention and convince us that we make the optimal decision if we choose what they have to offer. This is typically achieved by advertising. Since advertising aims to sell something, its language is adapted to the goal of persuasion and usually involves some kind of manipulation. Certain characteristics of a product are emphasized, while others may be concealed in order to enhance the positive effects and minimize the negative ones. The consumer should not be distracted from the advantages of the product, which is the reason why warnings generally appear on the label in fine print, difficult to detect, or in the form of language that only reveals important information if the consumer can read between the lines. The articles "Claims Crazy: Which Can You Believe?" by Bonnie Liebman, "What's Natural about Our Natural Products?" by Sarah Federman and "Let Them Eat Fat" by Greg Critser all show us how some important health- and nutrition-related information is often hidden from the consumer. Both food and drugs companies use misleading language that is degrading to the consumer and dangerous for their health. Therefore, it is essential to know how we can recognize if something is hidden from us.
The health and the food industries are represented in some very powerful corporations. Among these are drug and fast food companies. By using deceptive language, these companies can trick people into consuming something without realizing its possible disadvantages or dangers. Liebman draws our attention to this through examples about dietary supplement- and food labels. She points out how little the difference is between what is called a "structure" or "function claim" and a "disease claim". Disease claims are allowed to be used on drugs only. If we look at the type of statements classified as "disease claims", we can see that they make a claim about an actual effect the drug is supposed to have on a disease, for example, "lowers cholesterol", "suppresses appetite to treat obesity" or "helps reduce difficulty in falling asleep" (Liebman 465-66). On the other hand, "structure / function claims" do not promise such concrete action, but are rather designed "to help maintain normal cholesterol levels," "to suppress appetite to aid weight loss" or "for relief of occasional sleeplessness" (465-66). That a drug will lower cholesterol is a more serious claim than that it will help maintain the normal level. If the patient takes the drug for a period of time and sees no improvement, he / she can complain that the claim about the product lowering cholesterol did not prove to be true. However, no complaint can be made about the structure / function claim, since it does not promise any changes. The same goes for the claim about treating obesity, which promises concrete results, as opposed to the claim about aiding weight loss, which may contribute to the weight loss process, but does not promise to treat it by itself. Also, if you use a sleeping pill for occasional sleeplessness, you will not be expecting the same results as with a pill that promises to help reduce difficulty every time you try to fall asleep.
The consumer is probably not aware of this until it has been pointed out. If you just read a supplement label unaware of its approval status by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it can make you think that it guarantees an effect when that is actually not the case. For example, it "helps maintain" may be interpreted as "makes you healthier", whereas, in fact, there is no such claim made. This is a lot clearer if you see the parallel disease claim "lowers". Naturally, shoppersare normally not able to make that comparison in a store unless they carefully pick up and look at various products. However, there are very few people who spend several minutes on every single item they shop for. Most of us never realize that the labels, which are supposed to give us information, do not tell us everything we need to know, or that they make us believe something about the product that is not necessarily true. Consequently, we could easily buy a product and wait for its effect, a lower cholesterol level or weight loss, and it may never happen. If we see that the product does not fulfill what the label has promised, we may get disappointed and conclude that the product is ineffective or that the manufacturers lied on the label. But the truth would be simply that we were mislead by the product information because we did not realize that the wording meant something else than what it looked like. The fact that the product is not as effective as it is made to appear is hidden from us.
The language on labels is, thus, carefully composed to conceal the product's shortcomings in effectiveness. This is very degrading to the consumers, who realize only too late (if at all) that the labels fooled them and made them think something that is actually not true, only seems to be.The carefully selected wording companies use is even more obvious if we examine food labels. Liebman points out that structure/function claims have been appearing on these as well (466). It is easy to recognize how careful these labels are about conveying information, because they almost always include the word may': "Diets low in sodium may reduce the risk of high blood pressure" or "a diet low in total fat may reduce the risk of some cancers" (Liebman 467-8). If we concentrate on the main message in these claims, we will remember the risk-reducing quality of the product and not the mere possibility of a positive health effect, expressed by "may." If a food "may reduce" a certain risk, it does not mean that it will for sure. Again, this information is not revealed to the consumers directly. They need to make the logical conclusion themselves. Whether they actually do so is their responsibility; the food label gives them only the most basic piece of information that can be guaranteed: the possibility of a positive effect.
In her article on "natural products," Federman also draws our attention to misleading information displayed on product labels. Her major concern is the word "natural." She states that it "has become more a marketing ploy than a way to communicate meaningful information" (Federman 471). The differences are, again, very subtle, just like with supplement and food label claims. Federman shows that a product advertised as "natural" may in fact simply lack an ingredient that other types of the same product contain. This, however, does not make it natural as such. Even worse, some other products are marketed as "natural" because they contain bacteria, for example certain kinds of spring water. Therefore, Federman warns us that the word is only a "meaningless label" (474). Calling something "natural" and not explaining what that really means is another example of important information being hidden from the consumer. Usually, if we hear that something is natural, we think that it is free from artificial additives and preservatives, so it must be good for us. The information that is not revealed in this case is that in most cases, "natural" only means that the product has different ingredients than another similar product, and these ingredients may not even be good for you in any way. Blue Sky Natural Soda has the same ingredients as Coca-Cola (Federman 473). Motts Natural Apple Sauce is natural because, unlike regular Motts Apple sauce, it has no corn syrup added. However, if the label said "no corn syrup added" instead of "natural", shoppers would realize immediately that "there is, indeed, sweetener added to their standard version" (473). The consumer is again deceived, because he / she is not provided with the information she is looking for. The labels are either misleading or leave us in the dark. For example, Lays has a brand called "Naturally Baked Potato Chips", but it is not explained in any way how these chips are baked to be natural. But, as pointed out earlier, most shoppers would not even start thinking about that question. It makes them contented enough to look at the label and feel good about buying something "natural."
This is sad. In our world, food is becoming more and more dangerous through pesticides, artificial additives, human growth hormones and so on, so if people are trying to make an educated decision about their nutrition, they should be encouraged and not taken for fools. It is possible that after being disillusioned by tricky food labels, consumers will feel so frustrated that they will not even care about this kind of information at all. Unfortunately, as mentioned before, most of us do not have the time to carefully read and compare labels at supermarkets. Consequently, we would probably just buy something that seems a healthier alternative, and may find out later that the label gave us the wrong impression. Discouraging people from making healthy choices is not a wise policy, since it just increases the number and cost of health-related problems. Concealing information from the consumer is thus not only deceiving, but may also endanger our health.Misleading information on supplement labels and food products can have serious consequences on our health, and it can be even more dangerous when it comes to choices about our complete daily meals. It is common knowledge that choosing the wrong type of meal is a straight path to serious health problems such as heart disease, diabetes or obesity. Because of this, the influence of advertisements that try to sell us unhealthy meals poses a great risk. Advertisers are aware of this, so they try to make their offers as appealing as possible. This leads us again to information that is not complete and implies something hidden, something that we do not realize or only too late. In this case as well, the consumer is taken for someone easily deceivable and can also be exposed to serious health risks.
Fast food advertisements and marketing represent an outstanding example here. If we see commercials for fast food chains on television, they are always inevitably connected to tempting images of meals that look delicious and promise instant satisfaction as well as comfort, since we do not need to make them ourselves or wait for them long. Another tempting aspect is generally the price: these commercials usually emphasize the size of the meal along with a very reasonable price, a real good deal. Naturally, many busy people (which includes most) will indeed be tempted to buy something for lunch or dinner that is quick to get, filling and cheap. What these commercials do not point out is the calorie level and the amount of unhealthy ingredients, such as fat or sugar, in these great deals. Greg Critser addresses the problem is his article, pointing out the connection between social class, obesity, and being a target for fast food advertising. His observation is that people from the lower social classes, who tend to be obese in greater numbers than members of higher classes, are a target of aggressive fast-food company advertising (Critser 478). He makes a very important point with the following observation: "In fact, it was the poor, and their increasing need for cheap meals consumed outside the home, that fueled the development of what may well be the most important fast-food innovation of the past twenty years, the sales gimmick known as "supersizing" (478). For just a little more money, we can buy a lot more in many fast food restaurants. This looks like a deal if we ignore the consequences for our health and waistline, but then again, many customers may not make that connection on the spot. They are happy because they get more than a decent amount of food for relatively cheap. The hidden information here is that although supersizing is a great offer if we are on a tight budget, it is not beneficial for our nutrition at all. The average customer is again taken for a simple-minded person who will not see the consequences of his / her choice, just feel satisfied and even lucky for getting such a good deal. However, as he / she keeps gaining pounds, it will be inevitable to realize that this is not such a rewarding deal in the long run. Accordingly, this is yet another case of big companies trying to hide information, deceiving consumers and exposing them to potentially big health risks. In this case, it is advertisements that are used in a way that is degrading to the consumer and mislead them, just like supplement and food labels can do.
Sometimes, the opposite occurs: there is just too much emphasis on some information, which seems important but might not be really relevant after all. Critser shows us an example: he talks about a study that found that young overweight black girls do not care about body image as much as white girls (481). He quotes a commentator who was enthusiastic about this, and then a professor who, on the other hand, pointed out that there are far fewer kids with eating disorders than kids who are obese (481). We tend to talk about worrying but more uncommon disorders like bulimia instead of addressing the serious issue of widespread obesity among kids. Today, it is not acceptable to mention obesity the same way it was in slogans some decades ago: "Hey kid, if you see yourself in this picture, you need help" (Critser 484). By being politically correct and emphasizing eating disorders over the obesity epidemic, or not addressing this issue as "bluntly" as before, the real problem is hidden by misleading language. In this case, we are mislead because some information is overstressed, as opposed to food- and supplement labels and fast food advertising, where some of it is missing. It is one way of diverting attention from the deception of consumers: if they hear more about a problem such as bulimia that affects fewer people than obesity or unhealthy eating habits, they will not pay much attention to or may not even recognize the problems they are facing themselves. The most important thing is that they keep buying products whose negative features they are not, or just vaguely, aware of.
What it all comes down to is that we consumers need to be very careful about what we choose, because a promising label may not stand for something that is in fact a great product. To avoid pitfalls, we must be able to read between the lines and not let ourselves be deceived or jump to conclusions. We can detect what companies try to hide from us: there are clues and we can learn how to recognize these. We are responsible for our choices and our good health. Let us not fall for the tricks companies attempt to use on us.
Work Cited
Critser, Greg. "Let Them Eat Fat." Language Awareness. Eds. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, & Virginia Clark. New York: Bedford/st. Martins, 2005. 476-485
Federman, Saha. "What's Natural about our Natural Products?" Language Awareness. Eds. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, & Virginia Clark. New York: Bedford/st. Martins, 2005. 471-474.
Liebman, Bonnie, "Claims Crazy: Which you Believe?" Language Awareness. Eds. Paul Eschholz, Alfred Rosa, & Virginia Clark. New York: Bedford/st. Martins, 2005. 463-469
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