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You will find ads for healthy and unhealthy foods in the newspaper and magazines, immemorial on the television, announcements on the radio, internet ads, billboards on the freeways, and ads in your local grocery store. The issue is not with the communication avenues, the issue is with the volume and message. According to the Washington State Education Department “Pepsi spends an estimated $2. 1 billion a year on marketing, McDonald’s $1. 2 billion, and Coca-Cola is not far behind at $895 million. The aggressive advertising is working-??Americans spent $110 billion on fast food in 2001 and consumed 56 gallons of soda per person”.
At the same time, the average child watches 10,000 food advertisements per year on television; most are for Junk food and fast food only 2% are for fruits, vegetables, or beans. It is necessary for healthy foods to be marketed focusing on short and long term benefits in the brief advertisement exposure . Endorsing the benefits of healthy foods may inspire customers to opt for the healthier choices regardless of a higher price comparison. To effectively market healthy foods companies must make consumers conscious that they are actually receiving what they pay for.
Healthy long term living is a trend these days and that can boost sales of healthy foods. Healthy foods can be marketed with convenient packaging. People are on the move and live fast lives, quick grab and go healthy options will draw people’s attention. Customers prefer foods that can last a long time. It is vital to promote health food as every day, expedient and available. This will draw an idea of an easy life and will cause people to second guess their food options. Another way to market health foods better is to relate to the consumers epistyles.
Most people buy products that can relate to their needs and lifestyles. It is a good marketing tactic to let the consumers know what they are receiving before they make the purchase. Promoting a positive health return on the investment of healthy foods will create more desire for that product, for example healthy foods can give you an energy boost, can give you your daily fiber and protein intakes, and can provide you with the all the essential antioxidants as well as boost your immune system. Prices can be a challenge to beat. It does cost more to eat healthier, but a good marketing plan can use that as an advantage.
We can’t put a price on our health and what we save from buying the unhealthy foods, we spend on doctor’s visits, medications, fat burners, fad diets, and other stuff that takes away the unwanted weight gained from the unhealthy foods. A more direct marketing approach will be to simply state the facts. Unhealthy foods will bring unwanted weight and can increase obesity. According to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition “obesity- elated illness, including chronic disease, disability, and death, is estimated to carry an annual cost of $190. Billion. Projections estimate that by 2018, obesity will cost the U. S. 21 percent of our total healthcare costs – $344 billion annually. Those who are obese have medical costs that are $1,429 more than those of normal weight on average (roughly 42% higher). The annual cost of being overweight is $524 for women and $432 for men; annual costs for being obese are even higher: $4,879 for women and $2,646 for men. Obesity is also a growing threat to national security – a reprising 27% of young Americans are too overweight to serve in our military.
Approximately 1 5,000 potential recruits fail their physicals every year because they are unfit. The medical care costs of obesity in the United States are staggering. In 2008 dollars, these costs totaled about $147 billion”. Overall, numbers do not lie. The unhealthy foods may have more advertising time and the “sweet” stuff but at what cost to human life? The healthy foods can market overall health in their campaigns. There has to be a change in eating choices, not Just or revenue and profits, but for the American people as a whole.