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Mcdonalds is always bomdarding the media with adverisements it should and be banned espeacially in childrens timeslots saying they are the healthy option but parents will take thier kid to mcdonalds seeing the healthy options on TV but when they get their the kids still want the BIG MAC

Nathan - Tuesday 15th of May, 2007

Mcdonalds is always bomdarding the media with adverisements it should and be banned espeacially in childrens timeslots saying they are the healthy option but parents will take thier kid to mcdonalds seeing the healthy options on TV but when they get their the kids still want the BIG MAC

- Tuesday 15th of May, 2007

Junk food is always going to be the preferred choice when it's up against a nutrition snack. A cheese burger is so much more appealing than a salad and most people don't care about the nutritious content. It's OK if people limit their intake and don't stuff their faces, it's only common sense.

Dylan - Tuesday 15th of May, 2007

Everyone knows junk food is bad for you. But why do they continulousy buy it and complain they are putting on weight. If prices go up on junk food and start making the healthy range more cheaper, maybe people will start to buy a yoghurt in stead of how many mars bars they can afford.

- Tuesday 15th of May, 2007

Yeah, familiarity is an interesting thing. See to me the familiar thing about McDonalds is it tastes vulgar. In fact the last time I bought it was when I was waiting for a train in Sydney at 6am when nothing else was open, and it was the worst Bacon & Egg muffin I've ever had (including the ones I've dropped in the dirt while camping). But in saying that, I continue to go back to KFC or Hungry Jacks even though I know it's expensive, unfilling, and not nutritious. This in itself is interesting because it seems the lure of being cheap doesn't entice me the way the school kids were attracted to Maccas.

Cola hurts my teeth, so I don't drink it, but I still drink stuff owned by Coca Cola Amatil (Deep Springs, Kirks, Powerade, Mt Franklin) because there isn't a lot of choice. I usually go out of my way to find Torquay or Echuca or Kyenton soft drinks. I once spent 20 minutes trying to find a local drink in the CBD and had to settle for a New Zealand drink.

I'm proud to say I don't own an iPod.

Ken - Sunday 25th of March, 2007

Wow, you really can't escape it can you? I lived in Alice Springs for a few months, and they built the first McDonalds there just before we left in 1996. At the time, the overall consensus of the locals was that it was a sign of "progress"

Like you said Ken, corporate marketing tactics are a whole new issue. It's something I brought up in my interview with Dr Michael Gard. (but this part could not be broadcast due to time constraints).

"None of us blink an eyelid when we see four McDonalds as we're driving along within five minutes of each other. This doesn't seem surprising." - Dr Michael Gard.

My mum worked at McDonalds when she was a teenager, and even then they would say "you have to get the kids, because the kids become the adults and bring their children to McDonalds". And this seems to be what's happened. The influence of marketing has extended across the generations. and it's become so entrenched in our everyday lives.

Take the high school students we spoke to in the segment. While they clearly described the food as disgusting, they admitted that, for some reason, they still go back there every week.

Could it have something to do with familiarity and habit?

I have to wonder myself... why do I still go to McDonalds, even though I'm a vegetarian and can't eat most things on the menu? Why do I drink coke, when I actually prefer pepsi? And why do I own an ipod?

Bree - Sunday 25th of March, 2007

One of my first ten words when I was a baby was 'McDonalds'. That in itself might not seem so strange, but I was born in Alice Springs, and back in 1984 the closest McDonalds restaurant to Alice Spings was 800km away in Adelaide. I had never seen a Maccas and as a toddler I was still brainwashed by the advertising on TV.

But that's an Issues In The News on its own... corporate marketing and consumer tactics, like Coca-Cola Amatil buying freshwater springs in Africa and then selling it back to the villages at higher prices in bottles.

Ken - Saturday 24th of March, 2007