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http://www.henderson1029.blogspot.com/ -breakfast

A banana and chocolate milk! Is it that you came up with the combination? I should try eating them in the morning. I usually think that I am really going to eat breakfast tomorrow, as leaving the house in the morning. Since childhood, I have been taught that I should eat breakfast, yet to me the whole Korean meal in the morning would bother not only me but also my mother. So, I usually eat a doughnut in my car as I drive to school. Based on the fact that every fast food item and entry in restaurant offers egg for the morning meal. I believe egg would also be a great choice for breakfast along with a banana and chocolate milk.

http://dshort44.blogspot.com/ -five dollar of what

When I am watching TV, I often hear phrases, such as “it’s only five dollars” and “our smart five dollar meal,” from various fast food commercials. Although they are not calling for some less price like four or three dollars, the commercials offer a sense that the menus are reasonably cheap. I think people consider paying one simple five-dollar bill as more logical and cheaper bargain than paying four one-dollar bills or a five-dollar bill plus one-dollar bill. Number plays an essential role in not only in food business, but also in other businesses like furniture, book, and car business. The companies love to utilize ‘99 cents’ to offer a sense that the product is cheaper: for example, you can find a 50-inch HD TV in $499.99, a bottle of wine in $9.99, and a book in $14.99.

Coca Cola Happiness Factory

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwCn-D5xFdc

Few years ago in a theatre, I simply fell in love with the commercial ‘coca cola happiness factory’ because the ad features the imaginary world inside of the vending machine. In the ad, a man pushes a quarter into the machine, and then the whole process of delivering the coca cola starts. The three winged creatures take the coke bottle to a place where the bottle is filled from the machine in the hole of sky. Then, the kissie - kissie balls kiss the bottle, which gives it the sweetness and love. After placing the cap, the bottle goes to an Iceland where it becomes cooled. Then, the perfect coke bottle parades on the red carpet in heaven. Finally, the bottle falls to the basket where the man takes it. The commercial 'coca cola happiness factory' targets everyone, utilizing the appeal of the need for aesthetic sensation and the need to feel safe, within the secret fantasy world inside of the coca cola vending machine.

Everyone can enjoy the commercial because the ad offers the appeal of the need for aesthetic sensation. The well made three-dimensional animation that illustrates the inside of the coca cola vending machine provides the “visually pleasing” images to viewers. Lovely creatures like kissie – kissie balls and fat penguins who work in order to produce the coke seduce audiences. The music with the sound that often describes the magical scene also adds to the aesthetic sensation. Carefully drawn creatures and landscapes forces the viewers to concentrate on the images and remember the ad, which plays essential role in advertising a product.

Furthermore, the ad includes the appeal of the need to feel safe. Watching the ad showing the process of making the coke, I feel safe drinking it. When the coin rolled into the imaginary world, the three winged creatures carries the coke. And at the same time, the helicopter sound is released: this offers the sense that military guarding the bottle. Also, the overall scenes are presented in warm lighting, which implies the places where coke is made are full of happiness. Additionally, the process of making the coke involves countless characters in the ad. This defines the coke making process as safe. Through the ad, Coke Company attempts to convey the idea that the main motto of the company equals the safe production process.

Although this ad features unrealistic images, it also alerts people to appreciate of all the finished products they simply buy at markets. This ad is full of unrealistic images: the coke bottle that only worth a quarter, the world inside of the vending machine, the man who is happy to get the coke after long wait. But, it reminds people of the long journey of food in order to become the finished goods.

Less Calories Product!!

Today, the demand for healthy food increased. And at the same time, everyone seems to be on a diet. Thus, countless products offer the less calories or reduced fat version of its original products. Fat free yogurts, coke zero, reduced fat wheat thins, diet Pepsi, and less calories spam, and etc. The list goes on forever. What does it mean by less calories or reduced fat? Does that mean the product became health friendly since they taste like something is missing, which is just like organic food? In fact, the basic ingredients are not changed. However, the sharply increased number of less calories and reduced fat products, due to the intense war with obesity, creates illusions that the products became health friendly.

Last week, I went to a market with my mother. When I was about to pick a pack of Oreo, my mother warned me that I could get fat from eating it. She added that eating too much sweat cookies is not good for my health. So, I picked up the reduced fat version of Oreo next to the original version: this was the great compromise that I could buy the cookie I want and my mother felt relieved from the fact that I bought health friendly cookies. The word “reduced fat” seemed to give my mother a great promise that this particular version of Oreo would be good for my health. Furthermore, the color of the reduced fat Oreo pack was green, which stands for safety and freshness.

Yet, I found only a slight difference between the original Oreo and the reduced fat Oreo. In terms of calories, the original Oreo contains 10 more calories than the reduced fat Oreo. Furthermore, they contained the same amount of sugar. Also, ironically, the reduced fat Oreo decreased its nutritional value by giving up the 2% of Calcium that the original Oreo possessed.

We can easily find similar cases in the other less calories products, such as less calories soft drinks (Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi, and Diet Sprite). Their original products are already well known as artistic results of artificial ingredients. Yet, in order to reduce calories and make them taste like the original, they again choose to add artificial ingredients like aspartame, the artificial sweetener. If you look at the chart in the link, almost every ‘diet’ product contains aspartame and Acesulfame potassium, which is another type of artificial sweetener. http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/mail/goodanswer/soft_drink_nutrition.pdf

This sudden mass consumption of the less calories and reduced fat products in the era chasing the healthy group of food reflects the modern society where trend leads people. In modern society, trend builds up the list of what people should wear, do, and eat. The trend of consuming healthy diet also forces people to buy food that looks healthy without careful observation.