In the year 2012 people are a little more conscious about what they are putting into their bodies. McDonalds has put the calorie count on their menu so you can see that after the Big Mac Meal, you can't eat anything else the rest of the day. There are dozens of reality shows like The Biggest Loser that have to do with weight loss and nutrition (although I feel some of these shows really just like to shame people into losing weight). There are also countless documentaries that are examining what is really in your food such as Forks Over Knives, which basically states that putting excess processed foods and meats into our bodies basically causes cancer and heart disease.
So, there are literally thousands of warning signs out there attempting to deter us from bad nutritional habits. However, our country still has problems with obesity, particularly child obesity. When you watch an NFL football game, every commercial break some football player is telling the audience to make sure kids get some sort of physical activity daily.
So why the hell is this still a problem? Is it the economy? Processed foods are cheap and easy and with two parents working in almost every home now, feeding a family of four with Velveta shells and cheese is much more appealing than slaving over a hot stove making a meat, potato, and veggie dinner. No, I think a lot of it has to do with marketing.
Now, many of you are going to argue that most Americans are not stupid, we don't fall for marketing gimmicks and ploys. My quick answer is, yes we do. Think of all the appealing ways fast food markets to people. they understand they have to put the calorie count on their products, they also realize that many health documentaries web sites, and t.v shows are telling people they are the devil. They have created a counter attack.
So, think about Arby's for example "good mood food" is their slogan. McDonalds advertises an under 400 calorie menu, it's still awful for you and contains a shit ton of fat, cholesterol, and god knows what else, but hey, it's under 400 calories so it's okay for you.
McDonalds is also responsible for making gaining weight fun, by introducing the Monopoly game. That's right a large fry, medium drink, or Big Mac meal will get you two game pieces, and hey you may even be an instant winner and receive a quarter-pounder with cheese. But, even though you are getting fat, you may just win that $100,000 prize.
Fast food corporations are not the only ones responsible for this, nor is it just food products. Think about how IPhone's are marketed, they market the product to show that it works with everything that you use it for in every-day life, you couldn't live without this product (this could really be used for any smart phone honestly).
Needs, wants, desires, these are three verbs that marketing company's understand how to manipulate so that consumers need, want, and desire their products. This isn't just happening now, but marketing companies are clever, and they tailor their advertisements to whatever demographic they are targeting, or understanding how a to associate a product with every day living, making that product essential.
1985's The Stuff was a social commentary on this and more. On the surface, The Stuff is a campy re-tooling of The Blob or a different version of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. The film starts with a group of miners finding a bubbling white substance in the snow, and one miner decides to put it in his mouth (I am not fucking kidding on all accounts here. There are no credits to intro the film, I tired to rewind just to see if I missed something. So, this fucking guy says "what the hell is that?" bends down, touches it with his finger and puts it in his mouth. Than literally has an orgasm in his pants and waves his buddy over to try it with him).
From than on The Stuff (which looks a lot like Marshmallow Fluff) is now marketed as American's number one desert. It's slogan is "enough is never enough" (tell that to Jennifer Lopez). The ice cream guys are getting a bit nervous about how well this product is doing, and no one knows what the fuck the ingredients even are. Enter David "Mo" Rutherford, an ex FBI agent who has burnt some bridges and now freelances as a private investigator (or at least I think that is what he is). He is hired by the ice cream guys to bring down The Stuff company.
Along his travels he finds out that The Stuff (No Artificial Ingredients) is alive and is taking over the minds of the people who are eating it, creating an army of Stuff eating zombies.
He than picks up a cast of characters to help him with his investigation such as the marketing gal for the company Nicole, who is regretful when she finds out what The Stuff is doing. An 11-year old boy named Jason, whose parents and brother have been seduced by The Stuff, and escapes them before he becomes part of the family. 'Chocolate Chip' Charlie, an ice cream guy who, with his lethal hands (he knows karate, watch him take down a break-away tile on a door) who is trying to get answers of his own. Finally, Colonel Malcolm Grommet Spears. Who lives in a castle in Georgia, has an army of military dudes, even though he was expelled from the military, has as arsenal of semi-automatic weapons, is very patriotic, and in denial about he Vietnam War outcome.
All of these characters were some sort of representation and commentary on the times.
Family values, executives taking responsibility for the product they produced, and trusting your military to serve the good of the public.
Jason's family states many times that he must become part of the family by eating The Stuff. Sure this was the family being controlled by the life from, but what the film was trying to say was that families were adapting and living their lives by what they saw on television, and how products were marketed.
Nicole states many times throughout the film that she feels responsible marketing the product now knowing what the products does to people. She did this creatively and very 80's like using runway models and a music video with 80's street break-dancers. I can't help but think this was a shot at the alcohol industry to be honest.
In the end, the movie was extremely obvious about how marketing products that are awful for us will kill us in the long run. However, we, as a society, are still swallowing whatever is being put in front of us. So the message that this movie attempted to deliver has fallen on deaf ears. So, when you get that craving for "fourth meal" tonight, ask yourself what really are the ingredients in the meat, and how is this really killing me? Even if it is with a Doritos hard shell.
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