The power of McDonald's over tiny tots food preferences

Aug 7 2007

A study with pre-school children has revealed just how potent and effective the power of advertising is.

In what many parents will find very depressing news, new research has revealed that as far as tots are concerned food wrapped in McDonald's packaging tastes up to six times better than the same food in plain wrappers.

The study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine, in California, was designed in order to gauge the power of advertising on young children.

It comes at an opportune moment as there is widespread concern over the growing obesity rates in children and the influence of advertising on children's health.

In the developed world child obesity rates have trebled over the last two decades and currently 10 per cent of six-year-olds and 17 per cent of 15-year-olds are estimated to be obese.

Experts say that by 2050, half of all primary school-age boys and a fifth of all girls could be so overweight that their health is at serious risk.

A total of 63 children completed the study and performed a total of 304 individual tasting comparisons.

The researchers led by Dr. Thomas N. Robinson, found that children as young as three found food nicer when they thought it was made by a big brand and this preference was not merely restricted to fast foods; the youngsters found that milk and carrots tastier better when they believed they had been bought at McDonald's.

For the study, the researchers asked children aged between three and five to rate five foods for tastiness; each child was given two samples of identical food, one in McDonalds packaging and one in plain wrapping.

The researchers say the children found the McDonald's-wrapped food was judged as far more appealing but when the children were not influenced by branding, they found both samples equally tasty.

McDonald's fries were judged tastiest by six times as many children as the same fires in plain packaged wrappers and the same applied to chicken nuggets.

It seems even milk and carrots, foods not as a rule associated with McDonald's, were rated as more appealing when packaged with the fast food's logo.

This link appeared to be strongest among children who ate fast food more often and among those with more than one TV set at home.

The researchers say previous studies have shown that children as young as two are aware of brands and they believe their study supports that evidence and recommendations that the advertising and marketing of high-calorie, low-nutrient foods and beverages directed at young children, should be banned or strictly regulated.

Experts have warned that unless governments take action, an entire generation faces an old age marred by heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases induced by obesity; they also predict that the present situation suggests that children today will die at a younger age than their parents.

Efforts in some countries to restrict junk food manufacturers from advertising their products during TV programmes targeted at under-16s have say many critics been thwarted by wiley manufacturers who now increasingly advertise on the internet.

Experts say such efforts would be better employed encouraging children to eat fruit and vegetables.

The researchers say research is needed on marketing in general, and branding in particular, and on strategies to promote more healthful taste preferences and food and beverage choices in young children.

McDonald's says it actively tries to promote healthy food to children.

The food and beverage industries spend more than $10 billion each year on marketing aimed at children in the United States and by age 2, many already have beliefs about certain brands; 2- to -6-year-olds are able to recognize brands and associate them with products.

The study is published in the journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.