FAST FOOD

FAST FOOD

MARKETING

"We treat you right". "Have it your
way." "We love to see you smile." "Your
way, right away." "What you want is
what you get." "Taste the difference fresh
makes." "A fresh take on fresh taste."
These are just a Few of the slogans various
fast food companies have used over the
yeats to attract customers. With commer-
cials featuring cheerful music and catchy
jingles broadcast on radio and television,
fast food companies rely on sophisticated
marketing to convince consumers that
their food offers the best taste and value,
or is the most fun to eat.

Much of the marketing of fast food
is specifically targeted to children. Of
course, the goal is for children to see a
restaurant's advertisements, then persuade
their parents to take them there. With
children in mind, McDonald's features
Ronald McDonald, a clown, and Taco
Bell introduced a talking Chihuahua
dog. Fast Food restaurants frequently offer
a free toy with every purchase. A similar
but more alluring type of promotion is to
offer a set of toys, which requires more
than one purchase to acquire the complete
set. Some companies now have attractive
playgrounds with swings, slides, and bal-
loons as integral parts of their restaurants,
so children can eat and play at the same
place.

To attract adults, fast food market-
ing campaigns emphasize the method of
food preparation or value rather than fun.
Typical promotions are "Two for the price
of one" or "Buy one at the regular price
and get a second one free!" Restaurants
sometimes offer a large serving for the
mme price as a small one. One company
boasts that their hamburgers are tastier
because they are charcoal broiled, not f
Fried. Another competitor claims that
one of their sandwiches can be ordered in
1,024 possible ways; a figure based on the
number and combination of condiments
available.

There have been innumerable con
tests at fast food restaurants, with the
expectation that customers will feel
hungry as well as lucky. Prizes can range
from a free hamburger or drink to an all
expenses-paid vacation. Whether by gim-
micks or giveaways, marketing in the fast
food industry is crucial because it helps
companies distinguish themselves from
competitors that offer almost exactly the
same type of meals.

GROWTH

Fast food has grown remarkably, not
only in the United States, but also around
the world. Restaurant chains represent a
multi-billion dollar industry that shows
no sign of slowing down. Innovations in
operations and products have kept the
industry growing and led to speeding up
rhe pace of contemporary life.

From its inception, fast food has lived
up to its name. This service reduced the
cost of operating a restaurant and estab-
lished relatively low prices. Now we see
"drive up" service. Customers can order,
pay, and leave without turning off the mo-
tors of their cars. Many eat as they drive!

All the major fast food chains now sell
breakfast to hungry people in a hurry.
Chains have also sought new markets
other than the traditional roadside ones.
Now we see fast food counters inside
amusement parks, shopping centers,
movie theaters, airports, schools, and
even a few hospitals.

For many people, however, fast food
has become symbolic of a fast-paced life-
style that is neither natural nor healthy.
An organization called Slow Food was
established in Italy in 1986 to oppose
fast food and its assembly-line approach
to cooking and eating. The Slow Food
manifesto, endorsed in Paris in 1989 by
delegates from 15 countries, states, "We
are enslaved by speed and have all suc-
cumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast
Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades
the privacy of our homes and forces us
to eat Fast Foods." To fight the negative
connotations of fast food, many compa-
nies now emphasize the word "fresh" in
their advertising and use the term "quick
service" to describe their operations.

What was your order?
A LOGIC PUZZLE

There are eleven related facts listed
below for this logic puzzle. After reading
them, help the waitress who is serving
the table to figure out the answer to
this question: Who ordered the cola,
cheeseburger with pickles, and French
fries?

1. Six friends went to a hamburger drive-in and decided to eat inside the restaurant.

2. The friends sat in a booth, three people on each side of the table.

3. They ordered six different meals.

4. Jack sat next to Jill.

5. Jill sat opposite the boy who sat next to Betty.

6. Archie ordered cola, a plain ham-
burger and French fries and sat across from Jane.

7. The boy who had the vanilla milk
shake and two hot dogs sat across
from Betty.

8. The girl who ordered the diet cola,
fish sandwich, and onion rings sat
between Archie and Reggie.

9. Reggie didn't order a diet cola,
grilled chicken sandwich, and
French fries or a cola and taco
salad.

10. The girl who ordered the diet cola,
grilled chicken sandwich, and French
fries sat across from Archie.

11. The girl who sat next to Jack had a
cola and taco salad.

Who had the cola, cheeseburger with pickles, and French fries?

Answer:

WHAT WAS YOUR ORDER?

Reggie had the cola, cheeseburger with pick-
les, and French fries. The numbers in parenthe-
ses beside each person's name indicate which
facts apply for figuring out who ordered what.

Jane (6 &10) Diet cola, grilled chicken sandwich, and French
fries

Jack (4, 7 & 11) Vanilla milkshake and two hot dogs

Jill (4, 5 & 11) Cola and taco salad

Archie (6, 7 & 8) Cola, plain hamburger, and French fries

Betty (5, 7 & 8) Diet cola, fish sandwich, and onion rings

Reggie (5, 7. 8 & 9) Cola, cheeseburger with pickles, and French
fries