Amount of Advertising & on Children

The average American knows what the sign for most fast food restaurants look like.  This is not a coincidence, this is done on purpose by fast food restaurants.  They make their signs and billboards well known by most Americans so they can get more business. The amount of advertising done by fast food restaurants have only increased from the years in the past.  This is a major factor for the exponential rate of growth for the fast food industry. Companies like McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's are well known for the amount of  commercials and billboard signs they have all over.  Over the last decade or so, the amount of advertising has become too much too quickly, especially with how many ads there are for children.  The amount of ads that children see and how many are aimed directly towards children are increasing with time and making children want fast food even more. “On average, a preschooler sees three fast food advertisements a day while the average teenager sees about five a day".  This number for some kids is much higher, while also lower for some.  The amount of television being watched by children has also increased, so with television increasing, the ads for fast food are only going to be seen more. "Sonic, Taco Bell, Dairy Queen, and Domino’s reached out to teenagers with their desserts and snacks promotions, while Burger King targeted teens with their teen promotions”.   With these restaurants aiming their promotions at teenagers, they know these promotions will work since teenagers are always looking for a time to eat junk and fast food is an easy answer.  Not only have the signs and commercials increased tremendously over the years, but the amount of toys, promotions and contests being given, has as well increased to get more people to come in and buy their food.  McDonald's attracts many people with their Monopoly game they have sometimes throughout the year. This game can give a lot of free items away such as free cookies, drinks, and fries and much more.  By McDonald's having this game, they know they will attract many more customers by just giving away free items, because in order for the customer to use the coupon, they have to come back in the restaurant and most times, people are going to end up buying more products than just the product on the coupon. The Monopoly game may not be as appealing to children since they may not understand it, but by giving toys in happy meals, it makes the children want to go back every time to get another toy. Children are one of the main targets in most fast food industries since children now a days are getting what they want more and more each day, and it is only getting worse for their health with all of the fast food they consume.  Between the toys, give-a-ways, and playgrounds within each fast food restaurant, it is what may seem like the perfect child’s paradise, which means the parents bring and pay for them, which is exactly what the restaurants want out of consumers.  For the restaurants, the amount of money spent to advertise for each restaurant doesn't even compare to how much money comes in for them, so they are not going to stop advertising how much they do now if we as a society do not stop going to fast food restaurants as much as we do. Our health now and in the future is only going to keep declining from here. 

Direct quotes by: 

Fastfoodmarketing.com/ 
Thedailybeast.com