intro to PR/Advertising Research class

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Anything made by McDonald's tastes better, preschoolers said in a

study that powerfully demonstrates how advertising can trick the taste buds of young children.

In comparing identical McDonald's foods in name-brand and plain wrappers, the unmarked foods

always lost.

Even carrots, milk and apple juice tasted better to the kids when they were wrapped in the

familiar packaging of the Golden Arches.

The study had youngsters sample identical

McDonald's foods in name-brand and

unmarked wrappers. The unmarked foods

always lost the taste test.

"You see a McDonald's label and kids start

salivating," said Diane Levin, a childhood

development specialist who campaigns

against advertising to kids. She had no role in

the research.

Levin said it was "the first study I know of that

has shown so simply and clearly what's going

on with (marketing to) young children."

Study author Dr. Tom Robinson said the kids' perception of taste was "physically altered by the

branding." The Stanford University researcher said it was remarkable how children so young

were already so influenced by advertising.

The study involved 63 low-income children ages 3 to 5 from Head Start centers in San Mateo

County, Calif. Robinson believes the results would be similar for children from wealthier families.

The research, appearing in August's Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, was funded

by Stanford and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The study is likely to stir more debate over the movement to restrict ads to kids. It comes less

than a month after 11 major food and drink companies, including McDonald's, announced new

curbs on marketing to children under 12.

McDonald's says the only Happy Meals it will promote to young children will contain fruit and

have fewer calories and less fat.

"This is an important subject and McDonald's has been actively addressing it for quite some

time," said company spokesman Walt Riker. "We've always wanted to be part of the solution and

we are providing solutions."

But Dr. Victor Strasburger, an author of an American Academy of Pediatrics policy urging limits

on marketing to children, said the study shows too little is being done.

"It's an amazing study and it's very sad," Strasburger said.

"Advertisers have tried to do exactly what this study is talking about -- to brand younger and

younger children, to instill in them an almost obsessional desire for a particular brand-name

product," he said.

Just two of the 63 children studied said they'd never eaten at McDonald's, and about one-third ate

there at least weekly. Most recognized the McDonald's logo but it was mentioned to those who

didn't.

The study included three McDonald's menu items -- hamburgers, chicken nuggets and french

fries -- and store-bought milk or juice and carrots. Children got two identical samples of each food

on a tray, one in McDonald's wrappers or cups and the other in plain, unmarked packaging. The

kids were asked whether they tasted the same or whether one was better. (Some children didn't

taste all the foods.)

McDonald's-labeled samples were the clear favorites. French fries were the biggest winner;

almost 77 percent said the labeled fries tasted best while only 13 percent preferred the others.

Fifty-four percent preferred McDonald's-wrapped carrots versus 23 percent who liked the plain-

wrapped sample.

The only results not statistically clear-cut involved the hamburgers, with 29 kids choosing

McDonald's-wrapped burgers and 22 choosing the unmarked ones.

Fewer than one-fourth of the children said both samples of all foods tasted the same.

Pradeep Chintagunta, a University of Chicago marketing professor, said a fairer comparison

might have gauged kids' preferences for the McDonald's label versus another familiar brand, such

as Mickey Mouse.

"I don't think you can necessarily hold this against" McDonald's, he said, since the goal of

marketing is to build familiarity and sell products.

He noted that parents play a strong role in controlling food choices for children so young.

But Robinson argued that because young children are unaware of the persuasive intent of

marketing, "it is an unfair playing field E-mail to a friend E-mail to a friend.

assignment:

Think about the McDonalds case presented in the supplemental reading. The controversy facing McDonalds speaks to the power in its advertising but it also speaks to the dangers posed when negative publicity is generated about a brand or company. First, do you believe the majority of the questions posed in this reach are questions of fact, questions of value, or questions of policy? Explain your response. Second, explain what issues, if any, news coverage of research such as this may pose to a company such as McDonalds and what research steps you might begin taking right now assess the impacts of this kind of publicity.

the prompt is at the bottom