I'm Loving It

America's battle with the bulge is proving to be a good time for all involved, including marketers. A few recent ads seem to be asking the question How can we convince them we serve healthy foods, but get them to keep eating the high-fat stuff?

This morning I saw yet another commercial for yet another buffet style restaurant here in Texas. This buffet restaurant, though, is trying to change its tune. "We have healthy selections!" promises the voice-over as the camera pans various serving dishes of fruits and vegetables. "And as a reward for eating so healthy," the voice over continues, "treat yourself to some of our fried chicken!"

Right. Because fried foods are only a little bad for you. It's like reaching for a cookie, only different.

This advertisement is almost as funny to me as a poster I recently saw in a major fast-food restaurant. The poster encouraged me to have some dessert and tantalized me with a variety of offerings: ice cream (cone, sundae, or mixed with candy or cookies), apple pie, cookies, yogurt parfait. Most striking was not the offerings themselves, however, but their arrangement in the photograph: the yogurt parfait was in the middle, surrounded by cookies and ice cream and various sugary offerings. It looked like a big mouth of sugar was about to swallow the yogurt whole. I feared for the parfait.

You might argue that the eye is drawn to the center of the photograph, and thus the parfait, and it may well be. But answer this question for yourselves: "It's time for dessert! You can have ice cream or cookies or pie or a sundae or some candy mixed in ice cream or a yogurt parfait! Whatcha want?" Sign me up for anything but the parfait.

I'm not saying it's in any of these companies best interest to actually change their ways--I can't imagine fast food restaurants actually making money serving only tofu burgers and carrot sticks. Nor am I saying that I don't occasionally enjoy me some fried food and ice cream (either together or separate). But how can we expect people to make different, better choices--choices that will vastly improve their well-being and quality of life--when those choices aren't really being offered?