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?

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