LIFESTYLE, ADVERTISING AND FOOD CULTURE - CRITICAL
CONSUMERISM THROUGH MEDIA EDUCATION
This material is intended for media education using the film Super Size Me as a starting point. It
employs film education techniques to achieve objectives in consumer and health education and
critical thinking. The tasks have been designed to stimulate activity and a critical approach. The
aim is not to provide ready-made models or opinions but to get pupils to notice phenomena in
everyday life and evaluate them critically.
Schools can divide the material and deal with it in different subjects. This includes art, language,
social studies, home economics and health, for example.
Obesity is a growing problem in the United States. According to the film over half of Americans go
out for a hamburger at least once a week. The main character in Super Size Me, Morgan, decides
to investigate the effects of fast food on the body and begins a month of eating only junk food. He
consumes several super size hamburger meals each day, which means an unbalanced diet and
way too many calories. The film follows Morgan's life and changes in his health during this onemonth period.
Obesity in Finnish children has increased significantly during the past twenty years. According to
research, one reason behind spreading weight problems is eating habits, irregular mealtimes and
insufficient exercise. There has been plenty of discussion concerning the role of the food industry
in this regard. Marcos Kyprianou, the EU Commissioner who is responsible for Health and
Consumer Protection, has called for the food industry to stop advertising targeted at children. In
Finland regulations concerning advertising targeted at children are being revised to include
provisions on food marketing. The point of departure is shared responsibility for the environment in
which children grow up.
Advertising shapes consumer behaviour. The purpose of regulation is to prevent forms of
advertising that are beyond the comprehension of children and young people. Schools can help
young people adopt a healthy lifestyle. Matters concerning lifestyle and everyday choices are
discussed in different subjects as well as guidance work.
Choices regarding food and consumption habits are part of culture and identity. The media and
advertising have a key impact on youth culture. Helping young people understand the culture we
live in is just as important as teaching them about healthy living. Advertising literacy is part of
media and consumer education. Nutrition and consumer and health education help pupils learn the
basics of well-being.
This material promotes the following basic education objectives:
Pupils should learn how to
• interpret other people's messages
• develop information management skills and compare, select and use information
• take a critical view of claims presented in the media and consider related ethical and
esthetic values in communications
• identify skills that are important for protecting health and well-being and evaluate the
significance of lifestyle, culture and the media from the viewpoint of health
• consider links between nutrition and consumer education and personal choices and actions
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make wise choices that promote well-being
use health-related concepts and methods of acquiring information and utilize them to
promote personal health
act in a rational and responsible way as a consumer
be aware of issues concerning values
be aware of national culture in the area of nutrition and new perspectives as a result of
internationalization and cultural diversity
apply information representing different viewpoints
SUPER SIZE ME, USA 2004
Director: Morgan Spurlock
Recommended ages: Grades 7-9 and high school
Length: 100min (USA 96min)
Obesity is a growing problem in the United States. According to the film over half of Americans go
out for a hamburger at least once a week. The main character in Super Size Me, Morgan, decides
to investigate the effects of fast food on the body and begins a month of eating only junk food. The
film follows Morgan's life and changes in his health during this one-month period.
Themes:
• food culture
• diet and eating habits
• lifestyle
• food industry
• advertising
Key words:
• advertising literacy
• critical consumerism
• consumption habits
• lifestyle that promotes health and well-being
DISCUSSING THE FILM - DIET, LIFESTYLE AND ADVERTISING:
1. What did Morgan eat in the film?
The film draws attention to obesity problems in the United States. Morgan consumed an
unbalanced diet and way too many calories - at least three super size meals a day. What effects
did eating like this have on his health and quality of life?
Points to discuss:
• Are we what we eat?
• What does the phrase "habit is second nature" mean?
• Why do people come in different sizes?
• What causes obesity?
• Can a person with a healthy lifestyle still be overweight? (eating disorders, illness, heredity,
insufficient exercise, diet etc)
• What should people be more concerned about, their own size or their eating habits?
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What goes into a healthy lifestyle?
How does food culture differ in Finland and the United States.
What role does food play in Finnish culture and in satisfying needs? Family time, special
occasions, emotions, leisure, loneliness, substitution, reward. What else?
Things to do and think about:
• Evaluate Morgan's diet; think about the quantity and quality of the food he ate.
• List the effects of the diet on Morgan and think about what caused them.
• Interview the person in charge of meals at your school about the healthiness of school food
in Finland.
• Compare school food in the United States according to the picture given in the film and
school food in Finland.
You can practice combining healthy foods with the help of an interactive programme called Healthy
Meal. You can use it to put together a nutritious lunch for the characters in the programme. The
programme is based on Finnish nutrition recommendations in plate form and is on the National
Board of Education's website (in Finnish).
www.edu.fi > oppimateriaalit > terveellinenateria/
Food diary
Keep track of what you eat in a food diary for one week. Consider the following:
• What do you eat? What influences the choices you make?
• When do you eat? Do you eat meals at home or do you "graze"?
• Where do you eat? At school, at home, at friends, in town, on the street, at a kiosk?
• Why do you eat? What needs do you satisfy?
If you like you can also use an online food diary programme. On its website the Finnish Heart
Association tells how to eat healthy amounts of food using a plate model, a food diary and lighter
foods (in Finnish). The address is www.sydanliitto.fi > kaikki_sydamesta > ravinto > fi_FI >
ruokamaara
Corame Oy also has a food diary on its site (in Finnish): www.tohtori.fi > laihdutusklinikka >
ruokapäiväkirja.
2. Image, craving or hunger - food advertising
Advertising messages and the images they create influence what people perceive as desirable and
get us to buy and consume. In addition to providing information this is the main task of advertising.
Advertising agencies strive to influence children's and young people's wants and cravings. Adults
also serve as a channel for advertising that influences what children eat. Adults as well as children
should understand who is behind advertising, what advertising says and leaves out, and what
purpose it is intended to achieve.
Further information on advertising and influencing people to help teachers with this task is
available on the Consumer Agency's website (in Finnish) at www.kuluttajavirasto.fi > opettajalle >
tietoa mainonnasta.
Points to discuss:
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Find out what product placement means and discuss its significance in creating behaviour
models and images.
Use the transparency and consider all the places you come into contact with advertising
and how it affects our lives.
What examples of advertising and advertising methods did the film contain? (TV, street,
press)
What other kinds of advertising are there? (flyers, coupons, bright neon signs, radio, free
papers, Internet etc)
Discuss why websites for cereals and other products that appeal to children and young
people contain games and other entertainment.
Packages often contain collector items for children and games and other entertainment for
adults. What is their purpose?
What influence does advertising have on eating habits and lifestyle?
Why is advertising regulated?
Things to study:
• Consider all the places you come into contact with advertising. Transparency: Where I
come into contact with advertising.
• Study different ads and consider who made them.
• Who paid for them? What purpose are they intended to achieve? What group of people are
they aimed at? What methods do they use?
• Think about people's life cycle and what things are important in different stages of life.
Transparency: Life Cycle.
• Consider why different types of advertising influence people of different ages in different
ways.
• In teams pick out an interesting food ad and use it to prepare your own anti-ad or
commercial. Present the same product to people of different ages - but with a negative
slant.
Studying target groups
Think up an imaginary family with members of different ages and make paper dolls, put together a
collage, write a play or a story or choose some other interesting way to present them.
a) Place a life cycle chart on the wall of your classroom and put family members where they belong
on the chart.
b) Show what things interest each family member on the life cycle chart, using newspaper clippings
and drawings, for example.
c) Look for different types of ads and consider what group they target. Why?
d) Plan advertising aimed at people in different stages of life for the same product or restaurant
service. Consider the target group and the marketing channel and method.
Put yourself in a product designer's shoes
Plan a food package for tomorrow's world - decide how the future will look.
• smart package
• new product
• sustainable packaging
• what else?
3. Fast food culture
Western fast food culture has been growing at a dizzying pace for decades. Fast food has become
a huge business as people's lives have become busier and more automated. This has frequently
been blamed for increasing obesity and declining physical fitness among the population. In the film
the researchers interviewed by Morgan Spurlock suggest that obesity is already close to being the
biggest cause of illness and premature death in the United States. They stress that eating habits
learned in childhood and youth are difficult to change in adulthood.
Points to discuss:
(Transparency: Fast Food Culture)
• What advantages and disadvantages does fast food culture have?
• health perspective
• economic perspective
• safety perspectives (hygiene, additives, genetically modified foods)
• image created by packaging and the information it provides
• environmental impact of fast food: waste, production method
• consider the significance of fast food restaurants as employers of young people
Take a position:
• What things in modern life promote fast food culture?
• Are the legal suits that have been brought against McDonald's and other supranational
chains justified? Give reasons to support your position.
Hold a debate on food advertising:
Form three groups.
Each group should take a different position on food advertising.
Group 1 - allow all advertising
Group 2 - regulate advertising
Group 3 - ban all advertising
Support your arguments. Reserve 15-20 minutes for the task.
4. Food and nutrition - everyday choices
A single food choice does not make a diet healthy or unhealthy. What matters is the overall picture.
A consumer's experiences, expectations, knowledge and attitudes influence what is perceived as
desirable and what choices are made in different situations. Sweets, pastries and beverages are
typical choices between meals. Snacks account for a large part of many people's calorie intake. In
order to avoid obesity, the amount of energy people consume should correspond to the amount of
energy they use in physical activities. In evaluating a person's diet, look first at the number of
snacks and how many calories they contain.
Points to discuss:
• Are certain kinds of food junk food? Is there such a thing?
• What factors in a person's diet promote health?
• What factors cause people to make choices that are bad for their health?
• Why is it a good idea for families to eat together on weekdays as well as weekends?
Promoting well-being:
Plan a well-being week and then follow through:
• What will you eat?
• When will you eat?
• With whom will you eat?
• What other healthy things can you do during the week?
Plan a good snack
• What does it contain?
• What influences the ingredients you choose?
• Give reasons and consider what things produce a sense of well-being and pleasant
experiences.
Working group
School Film Association
www.koulukino.net
Consumer Agency
National Board of Education
Transparencies: Iiro Törmä