Espaillat 1 Ariana Espaillat Professor Spina ENL 110-18 24 September 2021 Visuals and Vocabulary We all have our relationship with food, whether it be good or bad. Food affects our lives in ways we don’t think about. Food advertisements come into play as well, affecting our perception and the decisions we make on food. This is all done unconsciously, without any acknowledgment on our end. That’s what food companies, brands, restaurants et cetera want. Companies have techniques of swaying us into giving in and as a result, they profit. For example, Mcdonalds is worth over 33 billion dollars, a partial thanks to their marketing approach. Even companies that are better for you/healthier, use marketing techniques to draw you in. Utilizing things like visuals and vocabulary in their advertisements to influence consumers. Clif Bars are energy bars used to fuel the body. In their video advertisement, “CLIF BAR Presents: Let’s Move the World” by Clif Bar & Company, they utilized the imagery of people exercising, lifting, dancing, and skating. This visual represents what the product, Clif Bar, provides for consumers. Energy. Their goal is to reach a community of people who lack that, like people who dance, skate, exercise et cetera. They add phrases like “ultimate energy bar” (00:16), “to keep you moving” (00:21), and “Clif, let’s move the world” (00:28). This adds emphasis on their main message, that their bars evoke energy and motivation to those who consume the product. Clif and other companies include this in their advertisements to show that it truly “works”. They want to show that whatever the cause they have a product that can change and affect it. Espaillat 2 Big fast-food chains like Wendy’s, Mcdonald’s, Burger King, Chick-fil-a, Taco Bell, and so on, utilize visuals to emphasize the immaculate scene of their food. They portray their foods so they look perfect, juicy, and delicious in the commercials. So whoever is at home watching it, it’ll make them want to go and buy themselves a Big-mac. When in reality when you see the actual quality of the food, it doesn’t compare to the commercial on television. The advertisement, New Crispy Chicken Sandwich by McDonald’s, shows their newest item, the crispy chicken sandwich. The visual is close to the definition of the perfect sandwich. The video shows people biting into sandwiches with a satisfied emotion on their faces. For the viewer, this will either trigger the desire for the sandwich or they’ll assimilate that the sandwich tastes good. The narrator states “from the place that offers you an extra napkin for a reason” (00:22), this translates to Mcdonald’s is helping the consumer, like it was a favor. Putting out that their food is so good you’ll make a mess and will need napkins to clean it up. Outback Steakhouse is an American Aussie-themed restaurant. Their Twitter bio reads “The home of juicy, tender steaks, spirited drinks, and Aussie hospitality” and the picture right above it is of a “juicy” steak, a nice cold beer, crispy bloomin’ onion, and a perfect chicken sandwich. Both are the first thing you see when you click onto their account. Like Mcdonald’s and many other companies that utilize the visual technique, it creates the desire for their food for the viewer. Their Twitter account uploads almost every week a picture of their “juicy” and visually pleasing food. They even include drooling emoticons in their tweets. Connoting their food being mouthwatering in a sense. Their tweet on August 21st of this year quotes “When the Bloomin' Burger mood strikes, we are here for you.” Like Mcdonald’s, Outback Steakhouse is promoting a relationship with its audience. This enables consumers to feel a connection with the restaurant and feel like they can trust them. Espaillat 3 Utilizing techniques like visuals and wording is how these companies draw in people and money. Advertisements are used to portray the products as good and beneficial to the public when in reality they aren’t. These big companies don’t care about what is going into our bodies. As long as it’s bringing in monetary gain, that's all that matters. It's easy to advertise nowadays with the internet. Food advertisements follow us everywhere we go, from taxi cab screens to billboards. Companies like Mcdonald’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Clif Bar & Company, only are a speck of examples. These advertisements alter our perception of what food should look like and taste like. Espaillat 4 Work Cited Mcondald’s. (2021, 26 February). New Crispy Chicken Sandwich [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ0SXsgMZ8c Clif Bar & Company. (2021, 18 May). CLIF BAR Presents: Lets Move the World [Video].Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJsRchDwHBY Outback Steakhouse. Twitter. https://twitter.com/Outback?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwg r%5Eauthor
