The Ethics of Marketing Fast Food to Children Essay Sample

In 1921, the world’s first fast food restaurant, White Castle, was opened in Kansas. Fast forward to 2021, there’s a fast food chain every few blocks, and they’re even more popular now with online delivery apps such as Doordash. Ironically to our society’s obsession with health and fitness, millions of “Happy Meals” and “Lunchables” are consumed every day, and the numbers continually grow. I can visualize the commercials I watched as a child on Nickelodeon advertising healthy, happy people surrounded by the characters of my new favorite movie. They looked so enjoyable I begged my dad to take me to McDonalds, which he would do almost every day for years. Looking back, we were being scammed into eating poison while thinking nothing of it, and so are millions of other Americans, especially children. Fast food advertising violates the first amendment, is filled with addictive chemicals, and is a large contributor to the national obesity crisis. Processed food should not be marketed to children because they are the most vulnerable audience.

While discussing the 1st Amendment, the American Academy of Pediatrics states, “The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), for example, may regulate speech that is found to be "deceptive."” (Raine 6). Children under the age of eight are not psychologically mature enough to be defended against advertising tricks. (Raine 7) That declares that advertising Happy Meals filled with preservatives, saturated fats, and artificial sugars towards children by distracting them with cartoons and photoshopped hamburgers to be dishonest. A teenager or adult would be able to decipher against advertising tricks, but a child whose brain is still developing will be more swayed to eat what they are used to seeing in advertisements, which will likely carry on through adulthood. Therefore, the FTC claimed that advertising towards children under the age of six years old to be deceptive, however, legal action was never taken because it was considered unrealistic to accomplish at this point in society. (Raine 7) However, there are countries in Europe that have counteracted this American idea and instead took action. Sweden and Norway banned advertisements directed at children under the age of 12, and Greece banned toy advertising until after 10 pm everyday. (Robinson 64) While that may sound suppressing, the goal is so that children are not overinfluenced by misleading messages in order to be psychologically protected as consumers.

The extremism of how toxic the ingredients in fast food are for one’s system is not discussed enough. Research from the Salem Press Encyclopedia has shown that artificial sweeteners are addictive at a level comparable to alcohol or even cocaine. (Paradowski 5) Unfortunately, the junk food Americans eat are filled with these such as High Fructose Corn Syrup, Aspartame, Neotame, Saccharin, and sucralose. (Paradowski 5) In our recent culture, there has been a stronger desire for artificial sweeteners because of the large amounts of refined sugars in our diets. However, in ancient times they obtained their glucose, which is a simple sugar often found in fruits, from natural sources. (Paradowski 5) Although everyone’s genetic makeup is unique, many times sugar addiction is programmed into DNA the same as alcoholism runs in families. (Krishnan 7) Using laboratory animals, it is concluded that refined sugar consumption causes an overstock of the delta FBJ murine osteosarcoma viral oncogene homolog B protein, a molecule within the brain’s reward system that triggers addiction. (Paradowski 5) What makes artificial sugars different from glucose is that artificial sugars are 200-20,000 times sweeter and bind to receptor proteins 200-1400 times stronger. (Krishnan 5) While that may sound like a benefit, many fail to realize that artificial sweeteners break down into toxins such as Methanol and Formaldehyde, which have a definite correlation with cancer, especially Leukemia and Lymphoma. (Paradowski 5) Those kinds of sugars are so high in content that even a can of soda has 39 grams of refined sugars, which is far over nutritionist’s daily recommended intake. This is just focusing on the sugar, as there are hundreds of other chemicals and saturated fats to worry about in processed foods. If this information was clearly presented in fast food advertisements as warnings are for tobacco, snacking would be considered an addiction rather than a treat.

Junk food is the main cause of skyrocketing obesity rates, which is a normalized national public health crisis. There needs to be regulations and stricter laws because the overconsumption of meals that have a combination of high calories and few nutrients is a fast pass to obesity. It’s even worse for children as habits are difficult to reverse into adulthood. Unfortunately, the rates are increasing as 16 states have obesity rates of 35% or higher, which is four more states than in 2020. (Noguchi 1) People could say that’s unnecessary and that it should be normalized to find healthier alternatives and read ingredient labels. However, realistically not everyone does that every time they eat. Also, organic and healthier foods are often harder to find, especially in lower income areas, because there’s not quality grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes where more produce and organic items are sold. This uncontrollable health crisis is so severe it should be illegal to give consumers junk food because it’s only worsening circumstances and passing on these habits to future generations.

Junk food has qualities that make it attractive to consumers; it’s affordable, quick, and it's found in every store, movie theater, and gas station around. As corporations advertise these junk foods, they are not only violating the first amendment, but are also deceiving the population into consuming addictive chemicals, which has resulted in a national obesity crisis. Personally, I’m thankful to have a mom who drove me away from this phenomenon and invests in health, but not everyone is fortunate enough to be in that situation. That is why advertisements should be regulated on how information is presented and who the audience is for fair protection of consumers.