Food wrapped in McDonald’s packaging tastes better to preschoolers
August 6, 2007Wow, this is the power of marketing at work. In a study of preschoolers, researchers showed that identical food tasted better to the kids when wrapped in McDonald’s packaging. Even healthy foods like carrots were rated better-tasting by the kids if it came in a McDonald’s wrapper.
That is a remarkable, if scary, achievment for McDonald’s. Their marketers should be proud, and parents everywhere should be concerned. Preschoolers for heaven’s sake, and they’ve already been brainwashed by the McDonald’s marketing machine into thinking anything from the Golden Arches tastes better.
McDonald’s did recently join a group that’s promising to limit their marketing to kids in this age group. It remains to be seen though whether it will have any impact. I fear for this generation it may be too late–we’re fatter than ever and studies like this one reveal part of the problem.