Misleading Marketing: Food Fraud at its best.

‘Healthy’ products filled to the brim with artificial sugars, ‘health’ claims that aren’t actually true, and ‘natural’ products that aren’t quite that natural to begin with… There certainly is no lack of unjust claims that are made marketing products, with the goal of making a profit. Not okay in retail express, but still used relentlessly for food marketing.

Source: false-advertising.jpg

Getting the balance right

“Pick me!” “No, pick me!” – When walking through a supermarket, all the products seem to be fighting for your attention, and not a marketing trick is left unused in order to try and get you to buy the product. Oftentimes, these marketing strategies are applied to rather unhealthy (ultra-) transformed products, rather than for healthy foods. And then there's also all the information (especially online) about fad diets, and superfoods. So what should we choose, and what is healthy or not?

Knowing your foods – Natural vs. Organic

Imagine you’re shopping for some groceries. Most products have very appealing packaging, in order to try and persuade you to buy the goods (in favour of their competition). Some of these foods have food claims in order to inform you about their benefits. When strolling through the supermarket, you come across a new applesauce brand, and are eager to try it. There are 2 jars that you can choose from: one with an “organic” label on it, whereas the other one says “natural”. What jar would you choose?

Food Claims 

Did you pick the “natural” applesauce jar? If you did, then you’re like the majority of consumers. But why did you make that choice? Does it sound better? And is it this really a better choice? Do you know what these claims really mean?

Take it with a grain of salt! .... or not?

Everybody consumes salt on a daily basis. It is present in most of our food, either naturally (such as in meats or vegetables), as an added substance for flavour, or as a preservative (such as in cheese, bacon, canned foods, and most convenience foods). The main sources of salt in our diet are bread and cereal products, meat products and milk and dairy products (Buss & Robertson, 1973), next to the use of table salt. But what is salt?

     Common salt is a mineral that consists out of 2 elements (and sometimes some trace elements): sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl). Normally, salt crystals are translucent but appear to be white and are cubic in shape. If table salt contains e.g. impurities or added elements, it may have a different shade of white such as a white with a pink or blue hue.

Source: salt-91539_960_720.jpg

Simplifying food: what popular culture can teach us about food

In the midst of abundant information about what constitutes a healthy diet, it is sometimes hard to decide what to believe and what to take serious. Nutrition labels are an incomprehensible list of ingredients. Medical experts fight about the healthiness of GMO’s (genetically modified organisms). And how do we know when an organic food label can or cannot be trusted?

These kind of food issues have infiltrated our society to such an extent that they also appear in the arts. Many food-related art projects criticize the food industry or the lack of sustainable food practices. However, some merely aim to illustrate human behaviors in relation to food, such us our perceptual biases of food size, or the excuses we use to justify unhealthy food choices. American pop artist Claes Oldenburg, for instance, created supersized soft sculptures of food objects in order to illustrate the increased availability of fast food in the 50s and 60s. Among his works are a sculpture of a giant hamburger, BLT (Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato) sandwich, and pretzels.

Floor Burger (1962) by Claus Oldenburg, source: http://www.turkoisdesign.com/blog/2013/6/19/the-street-the-store 

Food advertisements: do they make you feel hungry, sexy or greedy?

Sex sells, we all know that. Marketing strategists have been using sexually arousing images and messages in advertisements for over decades, most likely having found its roots on tobacco packages in 1885. Food ads often contain sexual elements. Frequently, these ads promote fast foods, such as the ad by Burger King in 2014, but sometimes also healthy products such as the ad for Coca Cola’s new milk Fairlife  (2014). Sexual elements are used in advertisements because they are believed to catch our attention and make us feel positive towards the advertised brand. More importantly, they increase our arousal and thereby motivate us to obtain the advertised product (Reichter, 2002). 

Source: http://articulateyouth.blogspot.be/2014/12/if-you-pitch-it-they-will-eat-it.html

Tasting with your eyes: Black burgers and Fried Bugs.

Crispy caterpillars, fried crickets and butter tossed larvae. Doesn’t that sound appetizing? Okay, so maybe something more ‘common’? What about a black hamburger, made with black buns and black cheese?

Source: http://www.boredpanda.com/black-burger-king-japan/

The many faces of the Fat Tax

Source: National Cancer Institute

The world is getting too fat. In the United States obesity and overweight affect a shocking 68% of people, of which half meet the criteria to be labeled obese. In Belgium obesity levels are also becoming a problem, as both 41% of men and women are ranked as overweight and/or obese (Eurostat, 2011).