Welcome to the continuing diary series "Let's Read a WHEE Book Together!" This week, we're continuing with David Kessler's The End of Overeating, Chapter 25. If you're just discovering this diary series, you will find links to the previous installments at the bottom of this diary.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
The End of Overeating, by David Kessler, M.D.
Chapter 25: The Science of Selling
In chapter 25, Kessler continues his examination of the food industry, but turns from the laboratories, test kitchens, and factory floors to take a look at food marketing. At the beginning of the chapter, he does quote one rule of thumb of the modern food industry:
When in doubt, throw cheese and bacon on it.
Ingredients like sauces, breading, cheese, and yes, bacon make food easier to eat. Food "layers" like these are a cheap way to add "value" to more expensive base ingredients like meat or fish.
In chapter 21, we were introduced to the food industry's goal of making foods irresistible. In chapter 25, we see that the industry has an additional goal - an added layer, if you will - of making foods craveable. McCormick, maker of the spices and flavorings that can be found in most American home kitchens, sponsored an Internet survey code-named "Crave It!" The Crave It! survey divided respondents into four broad groups:
* Classics: Classic eaters crave the familiar and traditional. A cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard (French's yellow, not some frou-frou "Dee-Joan", if you please!), and a pickle, plus a side of French fries -- that's a classic meal. Or think of a pepperoni pizza, or maybe a bucket of fried chicken with mashed potatoes, gravy, and coleslaw on the side.
* Variety seekers: The variety seeker's burger is more likely to feature steak sauce or BBQ sauce instead of the ketchup and mustard, with jalapenos instead of pickles, a slice of pepperjack instead of the yellow American processed cheese, and maybe a scoop of guacamole topped with a couple slices of bacon. The pizza may have Canadian bacon and pineapple instead of pepperoni, and the fried chicken may be a selection from an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet lunch instead of from KFC. Although Kessler doesn't say so, a look at TV ads show that variety seekers are the primary target of fast food marketing.
* Imaginers: For the imaginer, it's "ambience or romance or emotionality" that makes the difference, according to Jacqueline Beckley, the McCormick department head who helped design the Crave It! study. For example, an imaginer might find the McAngus burger infinitely inferior to the hamburger at his or her favorite local burger joint - although he/she has never taste-tested the burgers side by side to see if the local joint's offering really does taste better.
* Nutrition buyers: This group was added to the previous three categories as an afterthought. These people make nutrition the most important part of their dining choices. Interestingly, Kessler uses low-carb dieters for his example of nutrition diners.
Of course, these groups are not sharply defined, and most people fit into more than one group at different times. For example, is the customer who orders a cheeseburger with fries at Hooters a "classic," or is he an "imaginer?" Perhaps "dreamer" would be the better word, no matter what he orders. In any case, just as the customers don't fit neatly into a single categories, it's obvious that restaurants also try to appeal to more than one group at a time. Menus feature some foods designed to appeal to classics, other foods for the variety seekers, and usually something even for the nutritionally-minded, even if it's just a healthy-sounding salad. And all restaurants consider "ambience" and "emotionality" when thinking about design and decor, and emphasize these factors in their marketing. Does McDonald's advertise, "Eat cheap food served quickly on a plastic tray while seated on a hard plastic seat?" No, it's "You deserve a break today" and "I'm Lovin' It," accompanied by images of happy families or easy-going office workers.
Kessler notes:
...[the food industry] takes full advantage of a substantial body of research showing how sensory cues--variety on our plates, food packaging, lighting, noise level, and other aspects of restaurant ambience, along with social setting--can stimulate intake. Even the name of the food has an effect...People say that foods with more descriptive names look better, taste better, and leave them feeling more satisfied.
Interestingly, however, Kessler does not mention one of the more famous researchers in this field - namely, Brian Wansink, author of Mindless Eating. Dr. Wansink has achieved fame and notoriety as the inventor of the Bottomless Soup Bowl. This was a soup bowl connected to a large hidden reservoir of tomato soup, which kept the level of soup in the bowl constant. Deprived of the sensory cue of the emptying bowl, test subjects ate much more soup than diners with ordinary bowls. Mindless Eating details many aspects of how sensory cues affect perceived taste and satisfaction.
After discussing sensory cues, Kessler looks at portion sizes and the economics of "supersizing":
[former Coca-Cola executive Mike McCloud] said, "We had to convince everybody that 90 percent of $1 is good, but wouldn't it be great if we could get you 90 percent of $1.50 by adding another 3 cents' worth of product?"
Here, too, Kessler neglects to mention a food industry icon - in this case, the late David Wallerstein, the man who discovered the supersizing principle while managing a chain of movie theaters in the 1950s and 1960s, and convinced McDonald's founder Ray Kroc that a few pennies of added product could result in additional dimes of sales and profits on each Supersized item sold. Wallerstein died in 1993, but his work lives on -- around our waistlines, even if not in our memories.
Kessler wraps up Chapter 25 by looking at how the food industry is marketing to health-conscious customers. He notes that "T.G.I. Friday's partnered with Atkins Nutritionals to create a menu that appeals to people on the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet." "Menu" may now be a misnomer - the only low-carb option I could find on Friday's online menu was a single entree in the Right Portion, Right Price menu. He also mentions Kellogg's "Live Bright brain health bars," which contain what Kessler calls "the chemical DHA," but which is more popularly known as an Omega-3 fatty acid. Kessler finishes by looking at how chains with some of the most obscenely large entrees, such as Hardee's and Chili's, have added more reasonable entrees to their menus. Kessler asks,
But are those products selling? One food industry executive shrugged off the question. "Who cares?" he asked. "You're going to build your image."
Previous chapters from The End of Overeating:
Part 2: The Food Industry
Chapter 24: Optimize It! (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 23: Nothing Is Real (reviewed by me)
Chapter 22: The World's Cuisine Becomes Americanized (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 21: The Ladder of Irresistibility (reviewed by me)
Chapter 20: What Consumers Don't Know (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 19: Giving Them What They Like (reviewed by me)
Chapter 18: No Satisfaction (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 17: The Era of the Monster Thickburger (reviewed by me)
Chapter 16: That's Entertainment (reviewed by Clio2)
Chapter 15: Cinnabon: A Lesson in Irresistibility (reviewed by me)
Chapter 14: A Visit to Chili's (reviewed by Clio2)
Part 1: Sugar, Fat, and Salt
Chapter 13: Eating Behavior Becomes a Habit (reviewed by me)
(there are links to Chapters 1 through 12 in my Chapter 13 review)
Scheduled WHEE diaries:
November 22
Sun AM - DC Wonk (Tips for Thanksgiving & Open Thread)
Sun PM - Wee Mama hosts Holiday Fit Club this Sunday evening
November 23
Mon AM - NC Dem
Mon PM - ???
November 24
Tues AM - ???
Tues PM - Clio2 (Kessler, Ch. 26 - end of Part 2)
November 25
Weds AM - ???
Weds PM - Edward Spurlock
November 26 (Thanksgiving - U.S.)
Thurs AM - ???
Thurs PM - ???
November 27
Fri AM - ???
Fri PM - ???
November 28
Sat AM - ???
Sat PM - Edward Spurlock (Kessler, Ch. 27 - start of Part 3)
November 29
Sun AM - ???
Sun PM - Holiday Fit Club