Scapegoats

Again I find myself asking the question, “ they needed to fund a study for this why”? This time it relates to the first ever study examining the fact that kids easily recognize and respond more favorably to the McDonalds logo than they do to logos for BMW or FedEx. Let’s examine this for a moment. Children find the bright yellow double arches and friendly clown of McDonalds more appealing and more memorable than sleek logos aimed at adults. Hmm... Could this subject really have been the focus of months of research, probably costing millions of dollars? Even though it seems to be a “well duh” result, researchers defend the study on the grounds that childhood obesity is on the rise and that food marketed to children is high in calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. That being said, the research also went on to show that “many areas implicated in normal food motivation are hyper responsive in obese groups”; bringing us back full circle. Obese children are not the result of mere food ads or logos. To say that would be once again be ignoring the root cause. Perhaps money would be better spent educating children and parents on the benefits of regular exercise and healthy food choices, rather than searching for scapegoats.