Blog Entry #5

Blog entry #5

             Children and teenagers alike became an important target for fast food industries, and big companies. Children became fast food industries target for more profit, while teenagers became target for cheap and easy employment. Both Ray Kroc and Walt Disney both realized that a child at an early age could possibly become tied to a company for life. The term used for this is call “cradle-to-grave” (Pg. 43). Brand loyalty can begin at the age of 2; when a child becomes an adult they can become nostalgic and still purchase items from that company.

            When children see cool, inviting commercials of certain objects on TV, it interest them. That’s what companies use to gain profit, these children start to nag their parents for those products. When Ray Kroc and Walt Disney started using these tactics they knew exactly what they were doing. Walt built a whole place centered on inviting children’s’ mind into the place, he knew exactly what would be needed in order to be successful. When I was younger and I saw commercials of Disney I use to beg my mother to take me, it would annoy her, but it got the point across. Walt gave children a world of play, and fun. When Ray Kroc came up with the idea of Ronald McDonald he also knew exactly what to bring to the table, he knew children loved clowns and that it would attract attention. McDonald’s is a cheap and good place to buy food. When I was younger I had all the VHS’s from the McDonald series, one of the main reasons I went to McDonald’s. I had McDonald’s cups, and a collection of McDonald toys.  I never went to Burger King because I never saw a commercial from them; they never seemed fun, unlike McDonald’s. Children can be a heavy impact on a company if they are targeted correctly. Just like children, teenagers can also be easy targets for fast food industries.

            Teenagers are a huge contribution to fast food industries success. They are looking for jobs, and they know that fast food industries hire. Fast food industries hire teenagers mostly because they don’t need to be paid as much as adults and hardly any training is needed in operating the machinery for the food. Teenagers still live with their parents which means they don’t need to make enough to pay for rent, or bills. Most of the money is used for luxury things. Recently there was a strike surrounding McDonald’s and its minimum wage pay, but McDonald’s is supposed to be used as a stepping stone for better employment. McDonald’s is opposing to union because of the fact that certain things will have to change. When I first started looking for jobs when I became old enough to work, places like McDonald’s seemed off limits because just like in the book, McDonald’s was considered as “bottom of the heap” (Pg. 79). Employees are harassed, and physically assaulted; all types of problems happen in McDonald’s.

            Ray Kroc and Walt Disney both became examples on how to make a great profit off of adolescent minds. Both of these people became examples to companies after, like Taco Bell with the little talking Chihuahua. I’ve been eating McDonald’s since I was a kid and I realize that I’ll probably eat McDonald’s until it’s my day to go because it’s something cheap, and delicious. It has become something that can be accessed anywhere because there are so many within a radius, and it is a company that has become dependable because its food is always the same at all their locations.